Essex County Cricket Club
Essex County Cricket Club: competitions
Essex County Cricket Club: First-Class Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins YearsEssex County Cricket Club: Limited Overs Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins Years
Royal London One-Day Cup
3
1985, 1997, 2008
Essex County Cricket Club: Twenty20 Cricket Competitions
Logo Tournament Wins YearsEssex County Cricket Club: overview
Essex County Cricket Club is one of the eighteen first-class county clubs in the structure of cricket in England and Wales. It was founded in 1876. It represents the county of Essex.
Essex County Cricket Club: origins and early history
Essex County Cricket Club had a secondary status until 1894. Nevertheless, the tradition of playing cricket in the county by that time numbered at least a hundred years: according to some sources, matches between teams of church parishes were already held here in the seventeenth century. Since the rules were not yet unified at that time, sometimes it came to curiosities: for example, in 1718, Chingford’s team refused to finish the match against Mr. Stead’s wards, which caused dissatisfaction with the spectators who had time to place bets. As a result, the situation was resolved by nothing less than the chairman of the Supreme Court Pratt himself, who told the teams to finish the match (this happened only in 1726).
A few years later, the local team already played away with the Londoners and won. However, it disappears from the radar for a long time and cricket fans again raise the question of creating a full-fledged club in the second half of the XIX century local. On January 14, 1876, the founders signed the documents establishing ECCC at a meeting in Shire Hall, Chelmsford.
After being awarded the first class, the club became a full participant in the County Championship, which remains to this day. In the first season, leaders showed themselves – James Burns, who completed 114 runs in the game against Warwickshire, and George Frederick Higgins, who scored the second hundred in the same match. Walter Mead stood out among the bowlers, whose throws were distinguished by deadly accuracy, despite the relatively low feed rate.
Essex County Cricket Club currently
Essex County Cricket Club showed excellent results in the first seasons – in particular, in 1897, the club fought for the championship with Surrey, but later its results declined. This was largely due to the lack of good bowlers (which, however, was partially compensated by the famous “Essex twins” – batsmen Perrin and McGahey). The club’s best result in the interwar period was fourth place, which they took in the 1933 season.
After the Second World War, the affairs of Essex County Cricket Club deteriorated significantly – in particular, in 1950, the team received a wooden spoon. The main bowler at that time was Trevor Bailey, who, however, was often absent due to calls for test matches. As a result, the main work fell on the shoulders of spinner Peter Smith and other players who clearly could not cope with the proposed challenges.
Starting from the second half of the 50s, Essex County Cricket Club is gradually regaining its position. However, the situation changed dramatically only in the 70s, when clubs were allowed to sign foreign cricketers. One of the key players of this period was the outstanding batsman Graham Gooch, who was a real thunderstorm of bowlers due to the combination of excellent physical data and a serious approach to training. Around the same time, Keith Fletcher came on the scene, who finally managed to build a dream team that won six County Championship trophies between 1979 and 1992.
In the following years, Essex County Cricket Club increasingly attracted foreigners (a striking example is Nasser Hussain). In 2005, the club won the title of the first division of the National League and, a season later, was able to defend it, although not without effort. In the future, she performed well in the Twenty20 Cup and won the County Championship several more times.
Essex County Cricket Club: trophy list and interesting facts
Essex County Cricket Club has won the County Championship eight times – in 1979, 1983, 1984, 1986, 1991, 1992, 2017 and 2019, and won the Second Division trophy three times – in 2002, 2016 and 2021.
Over its long history, it has changed several sites:
- Lower Castle Park in Colchester;
- Valentines Park in Ilford;
- Leyton Cricket Ground;
- Romford Cricket Ground, Gidea Park;
- Garon Park;
- Southchurch Part.
Essex County Cricket Club is currently based in Chelmsford.
The official emblem is a scarlet shield with a gold border, which depicts three curved blades with the tip down. The official name of the team playing in the limited-overs format is the Essex Eagles.
