25 Years On

A special evening.

In a corner of the ECG, in front of the flats at the Hayes Close End, are some ladies toilets. For reasons long since forgotten, these have become affectionately known as 'Nasser's Loos'. The steps leading up to 'Nasser's Loos' are rotten and, despite them being in this state for a number of years, have never been fixed. Some seats in the ground are covered in dirt and cobwebs - we've often joked about cleaning for our memberships - and the place where Tendo smashed a six into the media hut is still visible due to the fact the polyfilla has never been painted over.

And there's something deeply comforting about all these things. You can visit a Test ground on a county day and you will be greeted by swathes of empty seats and, in the case of some international grounds (coughhampshirecough), some fairly soulless surroundings. Walking into the ECG via the steep path and past the street art of the underpass of the River Gate, you're greeted by a shed. No fancy turnstiles, just a shed. Here, you scan your membership card/ticket, something that only came in at Chelmsford a couple of years ago. And it's as you walk past this shed that you get a sense of 'home'.

On Wednesday, Essex lifted the County Championship trophy for the first time in 25 years. For perspective, a number of Essex's champions, such as Dan Lawrence, Sam Cook and Jamie Porter, weren't even born.

As someone who was less than a year old and not even living in England the last time this happened, Wednesday was a pretty momentous occasion. Having been crowned champions in Birmingham a couple of weeks earlier, the final home match of the season was very much a chance to celebrate in front of a passionate home crowd and see if Essex could end the season unbeaten.

Unfortunately for me, and one of my best friends who I've met through supporting Essex, my days of being able to rock up at Chelmsford during the day are very much over. I found myself leaving work as soon as I could with Yorkshire 36-6. I boarded the train at Ipswich with them 7 down. By the time I reached Witham, it was all over. Now it was a race to see if we could witness Essex lift the trophy.

Luckily for me, my friend was also in the same boat. We left Chelmsford station at a hasty pace, arriving at the ground to find that the River Gate shed was closed up. We could hear applause as the team made their way down the steps from the dressing room and raced towards the pavilion, only to find there was no room. Essex flags were being waved, chants of "Champione" and, naturally, "Essex" were being shouted and people were stood on the good old pavilion benches. The place was, in modern terms, buzzing.

And rightly so.

After years of consistently finishing third in Division 2, the departure of Paul Grayson in September 2015 was quickly followed by the promotion of his former assistant Chris Silverwood, temporarily taking charge for the end of the 2015 season before becoming permanent head coach in the close. Since then, Essex's form in the red ball format has drastically changed.

In June 2015, Essex became the first side to lose in a four day match to Leicestershire in three seasons. By September 2016, in a season where only one side was promoted, they were Division 2 champions.

Chelmsford on the opening day of the 2017 season.

The first opponents of the 2017 season were Lancashire, a side who, in 2013, had bowled Essex out for 20. Thankfully that didn't happen again, but Essex were bowled out for 159 and conceded a lead of 160. Lancashire batted again and, following an unbeaten century from wicketkeeper Alex Davies, set Essex the impossible target of 478 to win or to, somehow, bat it out for a draw. With Jimmy Anderson in the Lancashire side and Essex two down by the close on day three, it seemed like it was going to be a rough start to life in Division 1.

Step forward Dan Lawrence.

His seven hour unbeaten vigil to grind his way to 141* off 333 balls is, quite possibly, the defining innings of Essex's champion season. Aged only 19, he stood firm whilst others, with the exception of vice-captain Westley and captain ten Doeschate, failed. His innings set a precedent for the rest of the season.

Throughout the season, eight different batsmen scored centuries for Essex. No individual batsman, with the exception, naturally, of Alastair Cook, stood out for Essex all season. Instead, if someone hadn't scored a century or a collapse occurred, there was someone to stand up and put in a performance when it mattered - Tendo's 88 at Scarborough, Foster's 47 and Wagner's 44 down in Southampton or even Adam Wheater's 88 in the second innings versus Somerset spring to mind.

Conversely, the bowling definitely had stand out performers. Let's start with the spinner: Simon Harmer. A Kolpak player amongst a side full of homegrown players, he ended up taking 72 wickets @ 19.19. His performances in June, where he took 28 wickets in two matches, including a haul of 9-95 (Dan 'I got a wicket' Lawrence took the other one) to consign Middlesex to a last-gasp defeat, will remain in Chelmsford folklore for years to come.

Essex's history of overseas signings has been... questionable, to say the least, but for this season they really recruited well. New Zealand's Neil Wagner, a personal favourite of mine after an utterly hilarious incident in a Test match at Headingley, was signed until June and then, in quite a coup, Mohammad Amir was signed for the second half of the season. Injury prevented Amir from completing his full stay at Essex but Wagner was only too happy to return for the closing matches of the season.

Following the retirement of the ever-present and consistently excellent David Masters and Graham Napier in 2016, there were two massive pairs of bowling shoes to fill. Jamie Porter made his Essex debut in September 2014. In 2015, he played for Essex against Australia, taking the wicket of David Warner twice in the match. In 2017, at the age of 24, he spearheaded Essex's pace attack and ended up being the leading wicket-taker in the division, taking 75 wickets at an incredible 16.83 apiece.

Porter, like so many in the squad, is from Essex. An incredibly likeable (I won't hold him being a Hammer against him) and humble young man, he's a credit to club cricket in the county. He, along with Lawrence, made his England Lions debut back in June and should really be in their thoughts for this coming winter. So should, in my opinion, opener Nick Browne, the aforementioned Dan Lawrence and, despite everything that happened versus the West Indies, Tom Westley.

Essex, remarkably, finished the season unbeaten in the red ball game (don't mention the white ball stuff) and managed a win against every side in the division, bar Lancashire. Even when they were bowled out for 76 and forced to follow on against Hampshire, Essex went on to win. It was another youngster who bowled Essex to victory there with the 20 year old Sam Cook (aka Little Chef) taking 5-18.

The spirit and tightness of this squad is something that has made them a joy to watch over the past couple of seasons. In a week where cricket has been on the tabloid front pages for all the wrong reasons, wandering around the outfield at Chelmsford with one of my best mates and seeing all the players with theirs, happily posing for photos with fans and playing with their kids, was something that made me feel incredibly proud.

Ten Doeschate's post-trophy lifting speech thanking all the members of staff at the club (especially the car park attendants), along with the fans, before dedicating the victory to Doug Insole also goes to show the close nature of Essex County Cricket Club. As the players celebrated, members of staff, including the stewards, were invited into a group picture before the supporters were allowed to mingle.

In this era of cricket, where talk of T20 franchises and changes to every aspect of the game are daily discussions, Essex's victory was very much one for the little guy. We punched above our weight and we came out champions. Let's just hope we can avoid the fate of Middlesex next season.

10-0-4

Captain Fantastic