With the County Championship season now in full swing, Worcestershire visit Chelmsford for round three of the red ball season. Neither side has registered a win in their opening two matches, with 5th place Essex unbeaten following draws against Surrey and Nottinghamshire, while visitors Worcestershire sit in 9th after a record 504 run defeat against Yorkshire, following up their heroic rearguard draw against Somerset.
For Essex, the second coming of Chris Silverwood has brought solid, but not spectacular, results. A revamped opening pair of Paul ‘the yeti’ Walter and young Charlie Allisson has got off to a reasonable start, covering Dean Elgar’s early-season absence following the birth of his daughter. The batting lineup has been productive, with three batters averaging near or above 100 and the bowling attack has seen a very even sharing of wicket-taking responsibilities. The seam attack has been bolstered by the addition of Sri Lankan, Kasun Rajitha on a five match deal, with strong chatter suggesting that Sam Cook may finally get the England test call up he richly deserves. As a result, the ECB has asked Essex to rest him over the next couple of rounds to keep him fit and fresh for the Zimbabwe Test at Lord’s.
Worcestershire are many people’s tip to be relegated this season, but they often demonstrate that they are more than the sum of their parts. On their last visit to Chelmsford in August 2024, they won by 43 runs and will be hoping for a repeat of that performance. The opening game at Somerset perhaps demonstrated this best, looking relatively toothless with the ball, but showing plenty of grit and determination with the bat to survive 200 overs for the draw. Unfortunately, they could not back that up against Yorkshire, as the white rose county won by a record margin in terms of runs. Their main issue has been with the ball and the failure to take wickets or build consistent pressure. Overseas signing Jacob Duffy, the New Zealand international seamer struggled on his debut at Headingley, going at more than six an over throughout the match and as a team they conceded runs at close to five per over. They will need to find a way of taking wickets soon, otherwise this could turn into a long season for them.
Essex will be favourites for this one due to the quality in their bowling attack, but as last season shows, you cannot write this Worcestershire team off.
Key Players
Jordan Cox has quickly established himself as one of the most talented batters on the county circuit and has shown that he is a three-format player. He has started strongly with 199 runs at 99.50 in his first two games, as he fights to get himself back in the England Test reckoning, especially with an Ashes trip on the horizon. Kasun Rajitha is an interesting signing, and someone that Chris Silverwood knows well from his time as Sri Lanka coach. He is a tall skiddy bowler, with the ability to extract movement, so should make an excellent replacement for Sam Cook.
For Worcestershire, skipper Brett D’Oliveira carries the family name with pride and perfectly exemplifies the spirit in his side. He showed his fighting qualities with a fine, gritty hundred at Taunton, sawn off by what many believed to be a shocking LBW decision. Jake Libby is also one of the most underrated opening batters on the county circuit. he churns out plentiful runs in the red ball game and in another era, might have won international recognition by now. He is the key player in their batting lineup, and alongside Gareth Roderick, makes for a steady and capable opening partnership.
Team news:
Essex squad: TBC.
Worcestershire squad: TBC
Weather and conditions:
With the weather set fair for the first three days and the threat of a bit of rain on day four, the toss could be crucial if previous games at Chelmsford are anything to go by. The pitch for the Surrey game looked to be pretty docile for much of the game.
Date: 18th April 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: County Ground, Chelmsford
