2021 County Championship – Essex vs Warwickshire Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Essex vs Warwickshire taking place? Thursday 20th May, 2021 – 11:00 (UK)
Where is Essex vs Warwickshire taking place? The Cloudfm County Ground, Chelmsford
What is the expected weather for Essex vs Warwickshire? Dry on the first day with temperatures staying down at 13 degrees but intermittent showers over the weekend.
Where can I get tickets for Essex vs Warwickshire? The County Championship will initially be played without spectators but it is worth checking each county’s official website for updates
What channel is Essex vs Warwickshire on? This match will not be televised live in the UK
Where can I stream Essex vs Warwickshire? Matches can be streamed live on the official websites of the First-Class Counties
THE PREDICTION
Since 2017, Essex have pretty much dominated county cricket and have been effective in all-formats. However, they have begun this season in inconsistent form with some scrappy victories despite poor performances as well as some downright poor results. Having said that, they do come into this one on the back of an impressive win against Derbyshire in which they took maximum points and won the game by an innings and 15 runs. A score of 412-3 declared in just 76 overs included an impressive 152 by Dan Lawrence as well as another century for their captain Tom Westley. Those two followed an opening stand of 137, too. Westley and Simon Harmer have both been clear that their home advantage will be crucial as the campaign goes on and that was case in this one as spinner Simon Harmer and part-time spinner Dan Lawrence opened the bowling in Derby’s first innings as the pair bowled 36.5 of the 56 total overs.
They come up against a Warwickshire side that have lost just one match so far this season and that was in a collapse against Durham whereby they travelled to Chester-le-Street on a gloomy morning and had to face the returning Mark Wood - so, almost excusable. The impressive form of Robert Yates will please the Bears as he has now scored two centuries following his 104 in their rain-affected draw at home to Worcestershire a fortnight ago. Their bowling attack led by Olly Stone, Liam Norwell and Oliver Hannon-Dalby as well as Tim Bresnan and supplemented by the spin of Will Rhodes and Danny Briggs is extremely well balanced and had been yet to concede more than 300 in their opening three matches. However, their last two matches has seen the opposition, Worcestershire and Durham, score a combined 755 for the loss of 17 wickets with both sides declaring in their first innings.
That potential impotency in recent weeks will be cause for concern for Warwickshire as they head into a challenging away trip. The home advantage that Essex have discussed will once again give them confidence of making it back-to-back wins in this one.
