County Ground, Chelmsford – Pitch Report

Average Inning-Wise Score in County Championship matches in 2023 at Chelmsford: 1st - 325, 2nd - 237, 3rd - 283, 4th - 174

Batting First vs Batting Second in County Championship matches in 2023 at Chelmsford: Win Bat 1st - 33%, Win Bat 2nd - 33%, Draw - 33%

Pitch Report: It is generally a good batting surface but the pacers can also be effective due to the light grass cover, which helps keep the surface moist. Therefore, new ball bowlers will get enough assistance to pick up a couple of wickets especially if they bowl with the slope.

Predicted Playing XI - Essex vs Hampshire, English County Championship 2023

Essex: Nick Browne, Alastair Cook, Tom Westley©, Dan Lawrence, Matt Critchley, Paul Walter, Adam Rossington(wk), Simon Harmer, Umesh Yadav, Sam Cook, Jamie Porter

Hampshire: Toby Albert, Fletcha Middleton, Nick Gubbins, James Vince©, Tom Prest, Liam Dawson, Ben Brown(wk), James Fuller, Keith Barker, Kyle Abbott, Mohammad Abbas

Stat Box - Essex vs Hampshire, English County Championship 2023

ESSEX

Performances of Essex players in English County Championship 2023:

Tom Westley: Inns - 23, Runs - 985, Avg - 46.9, 50s - 3, 100s - 3

Matt Critchley: Inns - 22, Runs - 870, Avg - 41, 50s - 6, 100s - 2; Bowl Inns - 15, Wickets - 16, Bowl Avg - 21.3

Alastair Cook: Inns - 22, Runs - 808, Avg - 38.4, 50s - 6, 100s - 1

Dan Lawrence: Inns - 17, Runs - 696, Avg - 41, 50s - 1, 100s - 3

Nick Browne: Inns - 20, Runs - 525, Avg - 28, 50s - 1, 100s - 1

Simon Harmer: Inns - 19, Runs - 450, Avg - 35, 50s - 2, Bowl Inns - 23, Wickets - 51, Bowl Avg - 28.3, SR - 56, 4W+ - 6

Paul Walter: Inns - 12, Runs - 248, Avg - 25, 50s - 1, Wickets - 8

Adam Rossington: Inns - 11, Runs - 188, Avg - 19

Michael Pepper: Inns - 7, Runs - 145, Avg - 29, 50s - 1

Doug Bracewell: Inns - 11, Runs - 151, Avg - 15, 50s - 1, Wickets - 24, Bowl Avg - 27.4

Jamie Porter: Inns - 23, Wickets - 53, Bowl Avg - 17.3, SR - 34, 4w+ - 5

Sam Cook: Inns - 22, Wickets - 44, Bowl Avg - 18.6, SR - 42, 4W+ - 3

Umesh Yadav: 3w, 0w

HAMPSHIRE

Performances of Hampshire players in English County Championship 2023:

Nick Gubbins: Inns - 20, Runs - 921, Avg - 54, 50s - 4, 100s - 3

James Vince: Inns - 20, Runs - 802, Avg - 47, 50s - 5, 100s - 1

Liam Dawson: Inns - 18, Runs - 673, Avg - 39.6, 50s - 4, 100s - 2, Wicekts - 35, Bowl Avg - 18.9, 4W+ - 5

Fletcha Middleton: Inns - 20, Runs - 527, Avg - 26, 50s - 4

Ben Brown: Inns - 18, Runs - 387, Avg - 21, 50s - 2

James Fuller: Inns - 15, Runs - 359, Avg - 27.6, 50s - 2, Wickets - 22, Bowl Avg - 27.1, 4W+ = 3

Ian Holland: Inns - 12, Runs - 302, Avg - 33, 100s - 1, Wickets - 10

Keith Barker: Inns - 11, Runs - 247, Avg - 24.7, 50s - 1

Kyle Abbott: Inns - 15, Runs - 200, Avg - 15, 50s - 1; Bowl Inns - 20, Wickets - 38, Bowl Avg - 20.4, 4W+ - 2

Tom Prest: Inns - 5, Runs - 40, Avg - 10, Wickets - 1

Tom Albert: 31, 26

Mohammad Abbas: Inns - 22, Wickets - 44, Bowl Avg - 20.4, 4W+ - 4

Keith Barker: Inns - 17, Wickets - 19

Fantasy Notes - Essex vs Hampshire, English County Championship 2023

Points to Consider

  • From the wicketkeeping section, only Adam Rossington and Ben Brown played in each of the two team's last matches. There is no confirmation regarding the squads for this match so we have not yet considered Michael Pepper in our team for now.
  •  Either way, it is always better to back the player with the gloves in a Test match as they can guarantee points wwith catches and stumpings apart from their batting.
  • Nick Gubbins has been in great form in the County Championship averaging 54 and was also the third highest run scorer in the One Day competition for Hampshire. He is selected in just 11.7% of the teams which makes him a good differential to try but if Hampshire bats first, he will face a threat against the new ball.
  • Simon Harmer is a top captaincy option in this match due to his potential allround value. In the last match between the two teams at Chelmsford, Harmer picked up 15 wickets and scored a half century as well. We will make a call on this depending on the nature of the pitch but regardless he is a reliable option.
  • Another quality bowling bowling option from Hampshire is Mohammad Abbas, who is one of the most experienced bowlers from Pakistan.He is a seasoned bowler in this format of the game and if there is grass and movement on the surface, he will definitely be in consideration for our fantasy team.
  • With the uncertainty regarding pitch, it might be a good strategy to rely on an all-rounder like James Fuller, who hs so far had a good season with both the bat and ball. In case of early wickets, he will be expected to contribute runs with the bat in the lower order as well.

Fantasy XI - Essex vs Hampshire, English County Championship 2023

WK: Adam Rossington

BAT: Tom Westley, Dan Lawrence, James Vince, Nick Gubbins

AR: Liam Dawson, Simon Harmer, Matt Critchley

BOWL: Jamie Porter, Sam Cook, Kyle Abbott

Differentials: Nick Gubbins (11.6%), Paul Walter (8.8%), Mohammad Abbas (6%), James Fuller (4.5%)

C/VC: Simon Harmer, Tom Westley

Note: Return after 15 minutes of the toss for a fully updated XI, Also stay tuned to our telegram channel for regular updates

Stats Credit: Cricinfo, Cricmetric

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