Essex hoping win will set them on the path to Lord’s (From Gazette)

Essex hoping win will set them on the path to Lord’s

1:20pm Thursday 2nd September 2010 in

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ESSEX Eagles are hoping to edge closer to a Lord’s final when they play Middlesex Panthers today.

The Eagles are taking on the Panthers in the final scheduled one-day home game of the 2010 season. And this crunch Group B game of the Clydesdale Bank 40 could not be tighter.

Essex Eagles have qualification to the semi-finals in their own hands – victory today coupled with success over Yorkshire Carnegie on Saturday at Headingley would guarantee them a semi-final spot.

Depending on other results in Group B, two victories for Essex Eagles could even secure a home semi-final, which wouod be a big fillip to the team’s chances of success.

The semi-finals of the Clydesdale Bank 40 take place on Saturday, September 11, with the final at Lord’s on Saturday, September 18.

Today’s game will be Grant Flower’s last scheduled one-day home game for the county.

After six successful years with Essex, Grant will be joining the Zimbabwe coaching team.

And a special presentation will be made to Flower prior to today’s start to mark the occasion.

Essex head coach Paul Grayson said: “We have two matches left to play in the group and two wins could allow us to sneak the place for best runner-up of the three groups.”

“Our one-day cricket has been pretty good in the past few weeks.

“We turned in a good all-round display down at Bristol against Gloucestershire last week and then followed-up with a professional performance in the rain-affected match with Netherlands, so we go into the match with confidence”.

“We are all bitterly disappointed of having to face relegation in the Championship, but our one-day game has been good and the CB40 competition offers us a chance to win some silverware and round off the season on a positive note”.

Alastair Cook is available following the conclusion of the Test match series between England and Pakistan. The match starts at 4.40pm at the County Ground, Chelmsford.