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Essex had to wait until the late seventies and the advent of one day cricket to produce a team strong enough to win trophies, but the county had produced many famous players in its former years. Medium pacer and barnacle batsman Trevor Bailey , who later graced Test Match Special for many years, was the antithesis of Ian Botham in style but not far short of his fellow all rounder in performance. Keith Fletcher was a brilliant captain and fine batsman. against Australia in 1975 . He didn't return to the team until 1978 , but after a slow start began to assert his dominance over Test batsmen as he had on the county scene. Dedicated to training, he forced his burly physique through a tough training regime to prolong his career long after some of his contemporaries had retired. Gooch starred in a powerful Essex outfit in the late seventies, with tireless left arm seamer John Lever , belligerent South Africa n Ken McEwan and spinner and prankster Ray East well to the fore. In the nineteen eighties Essex produced England all rounder Derek Pringle and fast bowler Neil Foster . In the 1990s, Essex had more internationals, including Nasser Hussain , who was to become a successful England captain. Bowlers, Ashley Cowan, Mark Illot and Peter Such all earned caps, as well as wicket keeper James Foster . Essex were also able to sign England fast bowler Darren Gough after he left Yorkshire. Enjoying a new sponsorship deal at their Chelmsford home, and a pitch which is always full of runs, Essex, led by combative all rounder Ronnie Irani and boasting the excellent Zimbabwe -born batsman Andy Flower in their ranks, have a young team with the talent required to relive their glory days. Recent use of overseas international players including Danish Kaneria and Andre Adams has also increased the overall strength of their squad. They fulfilled their promise by winning the National League Division 1 title in 2005 , their first major title in eight years. The future looks bright for Essex, especially with the breakthrough of young talent. Alastair Cook , a 20 year old who has become a regular in the first team, was recently called up to the England squad in Pakistan, after previously being England Under 19s captain, and scoring a famous double century against the touring Australians in 2005. Ravinder Bopara is another promising youngster, who is widely tipped for success. With regard to the 2006 season, it is notable that Essex have an extremely long batting line up, with strength right down through to the lower order. In particular, this can be evidenced with the fact that Andre Adams , an extremely talented allrounder, has been batting at 10, and the tail has capable of putting up some extremely strong rearguards. This is one of the reasons that Essex has had great one day success. However, this should be contrasted against Essex's relatively weak bowling attack, with the leading seamers Darren Gough and Alex Tudor being injury prone. Their promotion chances for Division 2 may depend on the performances of Andy Bichel , an experienced ex Australian Test player. In one day cricket, Essex will be looking to successfully defend their status as Division 1 champions. In 1895 James Burns scored the first hundred for Essex in the County Championship, scoring 114 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston. |
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