Sussex v Essex (Chelmsford) RL50 Wed 10th May

Within a week this competition has turned on its head and this match could be the one to guarantee progress to the quarter-finals and beyond, given the vulnerability of Gloucestershire and the inconsistency of Hampshire. It is good to see that two of the South African signings have made decisive contributions, even better that three young players who have come through age cricket and/or the second eleven have had a big impact, and best of all that the old stagers Nash and Wright have found form to pull this collective together and capitalise on the different strengths available to them. This was the kind of optimism that existed pre-season and that took such a fearful battering from the chilly and unsatisfactory practice games, the early championship defeats and the near-disasters of the first two 50 over games. Could it be that the true catalyst of change was just the sheer luck of getting a point because of the rain that staved off a well-deserved defeat at Middlesex? That would be ironic, but it might just have been the spark that smouldered and burst into the flame of these three games where, according to all those who have watched, confidence has grown and performance has followed. A couple of weeks ago the finger injury to Brown would have had a devastating effect on team confidence and spectator attitudes alike; now we have the confidence to give Burgess his chance and to see how well he took it, perhaps to give us a new option for the future.

Some statistical pointers for the Essex game: Sussex have three of the heaviest-scoring batsmen in Evans (211), Finch (208) and Nash (187). Essex have Cook on 208 and Chopra 192. Wiese has 11 wickets, Briggs 8 and Archer 5. Essex have Wagner (10),Bopara (8) and Quinn (6). Sussex have won their games by 95 runs, 59 runs and by 6 wickets, while the Essex margins have been 29 and 25 runs and 1 wicket. There is not much in it but the odds seem to be slightly in favour of Sussex and the impact of these wins in a format where our expectations have been lowest must be considerable.

Does the phrase, "The Chelmsford Fortress" still apply for Sussex or can their present momentum simply batter it down? It is a 
floodlit game too which should make the pink shirts stand out more.

Sussex name an unchanged squad

www.sussexcricket.co.uk/news-1/preview-the-only-way-is-essex-for-sharks-as-sussex-head-to-chelmsford

Hhs,

Are you implying we are going to shock them into submission with vulgarity?

Under floodlights both the pink ball and pink shirts combined will dazzle the Eagles into submission.
They will need to wear sunglasses! 

The Essex squad is:

Varun Chopra (6) (Ilford)
Nick Browne (10) (South Woodford)
Simon Harmer (11)
Tom Westley (21) (Mildenhall)
Paul Walter (22) (Billericay)
Ravi Bopara (25) (Hainault & Clayhall)
Alastair Cook (26) (Maldon)
Ryan ten Doeschate (27) (Harwich) Captain
Dan Lawrence (28) (Chingford)
Adam Wheater (31) (Woodford Wells) Wicket Keeper
Jamie Porter (44) (Chingford)
Callum Taylor (67) (Swardeston)
Matt Quinn (94)
Ashar Zaidi (99) (Ilford)

Hat trick for Jerome Taylor!!!!!