A place in the knockout stages is still up for grabs, with a potential away quarter-final on Thursday if the Eagles defeat Derbyshire and results elsewhere go their way. A quarter-final spot would belong to Essex should Gloucestershire beat Hampshire, with Essex having a far better net run rate compared to Hampshire.

Tom Huggins’ group started the campaign slowly with three opening defeats, but has since hit the ground running and taken the momentum under their stride to deliver four successive victories going into the final group stage match.

Essex Men boosted their chances of qualifying for the knockout stages with an emphatic victory over table-toppers Gloucestershire at the Ambassador Cruise Line Ground in Sunday’s special HelpForHeroes fixture.

Gloucestershire arrived in Chelmsford unbeaten in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, but Essex ended their run with a dominant all-round display.

Captain Tom Westley continued his prolific form with a fluent 92 from 103 balls, sharing key stands with Matt Critchley (64) and Charlie Allison (40) to guide Essex to 289 all out. A late collapse against Gloucestershire’s spinners, led by Jack Taylor’s career-best 5-61, prevented a bigger total.

In reply, Gloucestershire faltered after losing James Bracey (37) and were bowled out for 159, with Critchley taking 3-27. The 130-run win marked Essex’s fourth straight victory. While Gloucestershire are already assured of a knockout place, Essex’s qualification hopes have been strengthened.

Next up, Essex face Derbyshire, who sit eighth with just one win from seven matches. In their latest outing, Derbyshire fell to a three-wicket defeat against Hampshire despite Caleb Jewell’s 98 and captain Brooke Guest’s 76. With the ball, wickets were shared between Ben Aitchison (3-50), Joe Hawkins (2-59) and Nick Potts (2-77).

Derbyshire’s key players so far include Caleb Jewell, the competition’s standout for them with 422 runs at an average of 70.33, and leading wicket-taker Ben Aitchison, who has 11 wickets in five matches with best figures of 4-34.
 

Squad

Tom Huggins has named a 13-player squad for the trip to Derbyshire, which includes batting all-rounder Paul Walter after his release from the Welsh Fire for this game.

Curtis Campher has returned to Ireland upon the expiry of his deal, and everyone at Essex Cricket would like to thank him for his contributions and wish him the very best for the future.

Dean Elgar is not available to play in the One Day C,p whilst Sam Cook, Michael Pepper and Jordan Cox are all participating in the Hundred.