Essex's hopes of bidding farewell to the second division of the Frizzell County Championship were finally blown apart at Chelmsford yesterday when they suffered an eight-wicket defeat against Lancashire.
The visitors, left a modest 155 target, never looked in danger of being denied the victory that guaranteed them promotion - leaving Essex skipper Ronnie Irani bitterly disappointed but in no mood to offer excuses.
"We had the good fortune to win the toss but didn't put enough runs on the board. And then our bowlers under-performed as a unit," he said.
"We can't complain about this defeat. As for promotion the fact is we weren't good enough to go up. We are at least one good seamer short and that's something I hope will be addressed in time for next summer.
"I'm not overlooking that we have some good youngsters coming through but until they are ready, we could do with a quality bowler with experience to provide support for Darren Gough."
In this match, however, it was the batting that proved the biggest disappointment.
After conceding a first innings lead of 73, no-one managed to top 50 in the second innings.
More in today's Evening Gazette
Published Monday, September 12, 2005
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