Ashwell Prince will make his final appearance for Lancashire against Essex, as the South-African batsman aims to end his career with a memorable performance at Chelmsford.
England duo Alastair Cook and James Anderson are also available
for their respective counties, as Essex host Lancashire in this important fixture, one which could decide the winner of Division Two in the LV= County Championship.
Lancashire held on for a tense draw against title-contenders
Surrey in their last four-day game at Old Trafford, a result which means the
Red Rose County can still win the second division title if events conspire in
their favour.
Surrey, who were narrowly beaten by Gloucestershire in the
Royal London One-Day Cup final at Lord’s, remain strong favourites to take the
Division Two title, taking an eight-point lead into the last round of matches.
They host Northamptonshire at the Oval, with the weather due to leave a
significant dent on the first day of their game, as well as the match between
Lancashire and Essex.
With Surrey and Lancashire both guaranteed first-division
cricket next season, Essex can only play for the pride of staying in third
place, although this would require a significant turnaround between Essex and
Northants, who are 16 points apart in the table.
Lancashire’s emergency loan-signing Phil Mustard is due to
take part in this fixture after Alex Davies failed to fully recover from a knee
injury sustained at Final’s Day. It is the Durham wicketkeeper’s second
appearance for Lancashire after making his debut against Surrey last week.
The last time Lancashire travelled to Chelmsford for a
four-day encounter, the Red Rose made history by bowling Essex out for 20 in
their second innings, the lowest first-class score since 1983.
Key Players:
Alastair Cook will make his third appearance for Essex this
summer following his triumph as England captain in the Ashes series against
Australia. The last time Cook played for Essex was against Gloucestershire in
June in preparation a 3-2 victory over England’s oldest rivals.
The left-handed opening batsman has scored 9,330 runs in the
Test arena, more than any other English player, as well as 17,305 first-class
runs, including 86 half-centuries. A hundred in this match would see Cook
register his 50th century in first-class cricket.
Prince, who is one of only two Lancashire players to have played in every single game this season, averages 67.95 with the bat and he will leave a sizeable void in the Lancashire ranks and indeed their dressing room when he retires at the end of this season. The South-African batsman has scored more Championship runs than any other player in the country and he was the first person to reach 1,000 four-day runs this summer.
Team News:
Essex 14-man squad: James
Foster (c & w/k), Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Dan Lawrence, Tom Westley,
Ravi Bopara, Jesse Ryder, Ryan ten Doeschate, Mark Pettini, Graham Napier, Aron
Nijjar, Jamie Porter, Jaik Mickelburgh, Jack Winslade.
Lancashire 14-man squad: Steven Croft (c), James Anderson, Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Glen Chapple, Jordan Clark, Haseeb Hameed, Simon Kerrigan, Toby Lester, Arron Lilley, Phil Mustard (w/k), Alviro Petersen, Ashwell Prince, Luis Reece.
Match Information:
Weather and
conditions: The forecast for the first day at Chelmsford leaves Lancashire
with the possibility of having to force a result by other means in this game. Surrey
are also due to have a rain-affected start to their clash with Northants, but a
high-scoring draw – or a draw of any kind for that matter – will be sufficient
if Lancashire are unable to better their result and overturn an eight-point
lead. For a full weather forecast, click here.
Ground:
Chelmsford
Start time:
10.30am
Umpires: TBC
Match odds (SkyBet): Essex
11/8, Lancashire 8/15
No comments:
Post a Comment