Essex County Cricket Club captain Ronnie Irani concludes his three part pre-season article this week, and looks ahead to the new campaign with confidence.

Ronnie joined Essex for the 1994 season and was immediately welcomed and made to feel at home by all at the club.

He reflects: "Everyone was absolutely superb both on and off the field. Graham Gooch had just finished his stint as England captain and for the first couple of years, he made me feel very welcome.

"He went out of his way to start my career off with the county and after that Keith Fletcher, who was England coach when I arrived at the club, then took me under his wing.

"I have to admit that at first I was in awe of them a bit but they helped and did so much for me.

"I couldn't have asked for two better people to structure my career and I was fortunate that both were around. Hopefully, I can reward them by some good performances."

Irani 28, agreed that his move to Essex was a gamble, explaining':"I knew I had to leave Lancashire to get an opportunity to get regular first team cricket but I didn't know anyone personally at the club apart from Graham Saville who had been the manager of the England Under 19 side.

"Apart from him, I had played a bit of junior cricket against Mark Ilott but that was about it. I was coming in cold but everybody was superb and I had no doubts that this was the club for me."

The genial all-rounder also struck an immediate empathy with the crowd: "I don't know why or how but I just spoke to some of them and they took to me.

"I always give 100 per cent, that's my commitment and I suppose the supporters recognised and appreciated that. There's no room for pretenders" he reflected.

Asked to name the highlights of his career so far, Irani said, "There has been a number but if I have to narrow it down then my England debut was one and that was down to my performances with Essex.

"We won the match but from the team point of view, there was no over the top celebrations of great euphoria. For me the biggest team achievement was our NatWest Trophy final win against Warwickshire in 1997.

"When you've played together throughout the summer and experienced the highs and lows, to get to a Lord's final and win is a special occasion, it means so much.

"Not only for the players but to look down from the Lord's balcony and see a wave of Essex supporters including people who had followed us around throughout the season is something special."

Now the tall, dedicated and engaging character has been entrusted with piloting the fortunes of the county on the pitch, thus writing another chapter in the book, which, Ronnie hopes; "will have a success story at the end of it."

Special occasion: Ronnie Irani would like to again sample the delight of lifting a major cricket trophy in a Lord's final.

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.