Essex cricket captain Ronnie Irani issued a "lay off our coaches" warning yesterday (Thursday) as Keith Fletcher and Geoff Arnold bore the brunt of the county's latest dismal performance.

Head coach Fletcher and Excellence coach Arnold are facing increasing flak from a number of irate members and sections of the media for Essex's string of disasters since the opening match of the season.

And the last straw for many came at Southend on Wednesday when, angered by yet another appalling batting and bowling performance, a number of disgusted members went scurrying to David East, the county's chief executive, demanding copies of the county's constitution.

Bottom-of-the-table Essex were shot out by Kent for a paltry 107 after winning the toss and electing to bat on the opening day of the Southchurch Park festival before the visitors finished the day nine runs ahead with all their first innings wickets intact.

For a report on play so far, see 'Cricket: Essex need quick wickets' in the drop-down menu at the bottom of this story

Find out more about Essex County Cricket Club including player profiles and fixtures for the 2001 season as well as a link to the offical ECCC site with live scorecard. An angry Irani said: "I know things are looking bad, but some people are carrying out a witch hunt for the heads of Keith Fletcher and Geoff Arnold.

"Sacking those two will achieve nothing. They are both top-class guys.

"They have spent hours working to identify and rectify our problems and it's not their fault that we as a team are underachieving out in the middle.

"If there's nobody better to bring in when players are having a rough time, what chance have the coaches - or the team - got?"

Irani added: "It's all very well people demanding 'out with the old and in with the new', but if these guys are sacked where are we going to find the right calibre coaches to replace them?

"Both club captain Nasser Hussain and I agree Fletch and Arnie were good international cricketers and are the best two coaches we've come across. Both of them will still get our full support."

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