CC Home versus Essex, 17-20 April

Yeah poor Davis. If only he'd had a few months to address some issues rather than being chucked in at the deep end like that. Who did he sign and who did he release, that's what I'd like to know? There was a confusing cross over at the same time as deals were being done, that's why I confidently predicted Robinson was going nowhere, because he was commenting on signings and stuff. *** farce, the whole winter. I said our signings were poor and ill thought out and I already suspect I was right.

For me CP, there's every chance we didn't put enough weight on our seamers during the Northants game. They didn't bowl enough overs. The fact of the matter is, and if you don't know this you don't know anything, you do not play a holding spinner in a five man attack, tactically or otherwise. You do not need to rotate four seamers around an economical spinner.

If our thought process was working properly during the last game against one of the weakest batting line-ups in professional cricket, we would have not played Briggs or Beer. Wells could have a done a more effective job, given the inclusion of four seamers, than Briggs - unless Brown's knowledge of his team is as good as S&F's, then he'd have just been surprised to see him.

The Essex squad is

Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (captain)
Alastair Cook (26)
Nick Browne (10)
Tom Westley (21)
Ravi Bopara (25)
Dan Lawrence (28)
Jesse Ryder (77)
James Foster (7) (wicket-keeper)
Graham Napier (17)
Jamie Porter (44)
Matt Dixon (30)
Ashar Zaidi (99)
Matt Quinn (94)

www.essexcricket.org.uk/2016/04/15/match-preview-sussex-v-essex/

After the last-minute shocks of injury at Northampton I hope that we've learned our lesson and won't name anyone in a squad unless they are genuinely fit.

Temptin to include Hatchett on the basis of the wickets he got for the seconds, probably in the place of Briggs, but whatever frauster might think, Hatchett has never looked like having the class to step up convincingly to first team cricket. Again there will be a temptation to keep Wells in (at the expense of Finch) on the basis of his second innings dash against Surrey IIs.

I wondered that, it's obviously not people who watched them regularly last season, lazy journalism. The reality is, looking at the two squads, I'd say we start second favourites in this game

Wells and Hatchett to miss out.

What is the character of Finch & Wells? Are they battlers when under pressure or wilters?

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