Essex County Cricket Club played their cricket during the 2005 season in Division Two of the County Championship and Division One of the Sunday League. They started the season 8–1 to win the Second Division Title, and were second in the Championship table at 9 May, but five matches without a win following that sent them down to fifth place at the Twenty20 break in June. They only intermittently broke into the top three after the Twenty20 break, and when they did their opponents behind them usually had a game in hand. They finished fifth, 15.5 points behind the promotion spot, and with 36 bowling points they picked up the fewest in the entire Division Two. In the National League, however, they only lost once in sixteen games – against Gloucestershire Gladiators in August – and won the League on 28 August with three games to play. In the C&G Trophy, they went out to Lancashire at the second round stage, while they finished fifth in the group stage of the Twenty20 Cup, two points off a guaranteed quarter-final spot.

Essex played 17 first-class games in 2005, winning six, drawing seven and losing four. They also played 18 List A games, winning 14, losing two and having two no-results, and in eight Twenty20 games they won three, lost three and had two no-results.

Players Andre Adams Danish Kaneria André Nel Dale Steyn Jahid Ahmed Justin Bishop Ravinder Bopara Maurice Chambers Andy Clarke Alastair Cook Ashley Cowan Ryan ten Doeschate Andy Flower Grant Flower James Foster Darren Gough Paul Grayson Will Jefferson James Middlebrook Graham Napier Tony Palladino Mark Pettini Tim Phillips Nick Thornicroft Alex Tudor Mervyn Westfield Paul Grayson Tables

Championship

+ 2005 County Championship – Division Two Pos Team Pld W D L Pen Bat Bowl Pts 1 Lancashire 16 7 6 3 0 43 47 212 2 Durham 16 6 8 2 0 45 44 205 3 Yorkshire 16 5 10 1 0.5 49 42 200.5 4 Northamptonshire 16 5 8 3 0 45 46 193 5 Essex 16 5 7 4 0 51 36 185 6 Worcestershire 16 5 4 7 5.5 53 46 179.5 7 Leicestershire 16 3 7 6 0.5 45 45 159.5 8 Somerset 16 4 5 7 0 42 37 155 9 Derbyshire 16 1 7 8 0 31 43 116

totesport League

+ 2005 totesport League – Division One Pos Team Pld W L NR Pts 1 Essex Eagles 16 13 1 2 56 2 Middlesex Crusaders 16 10 5 1 42 3 Northamptonshire Steelbacks 16 7 7 2 32 4 Glamorgan Dragons 16 6 6 4 32 5 Nottinghamshire Outlaws 16 6 7 3 30 6 Lancashire Lightning 16 6 9 1 26 7 Gloucestershire Gladiators 16 6 9 1 26 8 Worcestershire Royals 16 5 10 1 22 9 Hampshire Hawks 16 5 10 1 22

Twenty20 Group Stage (South)

+ 2005 totesport League – Division OneTeamMWLNRPtsNRRSurrey Lions853010+0.64Middlesex Crusaders84319+0.16Sussex Sharks83239+0.13Hampshire Hawks83239+0.20Essex Eagles83328-0.06Kent Spitfires81613−1.02

Match details

April

Their first first-class game of the season was a four wicket win against Cambridge UCCE, as a warm-up before their first County Championship game against Yorkshire, which was drawn after rain fell on all four days. Then there was a rain-affected win in the Sunday League against Hampshire and a mid-week game against Glamorgan, which was abandoned as a "no result" without a ball being bowled. Essex then beat Somerset by nine wickets in the Championship, chasing 77 to win to go second in the Division Two table, seven points behind Durham.

MCC University Match: Cambridge UCCE v Essex (9–11 April)

Essex beat Cambridge UCCE by 4 wickets

Cambridge UCCE and Essex started the season at Fenner's Ground in Cambridge. For the first time the Cambridge UCCE team was dominated by players from Anglia Polytechnic University rather than Cambridge University. Cambridge UCCE batted first and completed an innings of 321 on the first day, after being seven down for 139. Matthew Friedlander, who has represented Boland in South Africa, made 81, getting together with Wright, who made 76 to help the students past 300. James Middlebrook took 5 for 54 for Essex. On the second day, Essex put together 307 for 4 declared, although no player scored more than Ravinder Bopara, with 69. Cambridge UCCE scored 64 for 3 by close of play. On the third and final day, Cambridge UCCE piled on more runs, finally declaring on 255 for 4, the top-score of which being 129 not out from Adnan Akram.

This left Essex 270 to win. They lost wickets in doing so, with Palladino (who would later this season go on to play for Essex) taking four wickets, and the students gamely going for a win. However, an all-round performance by Essex finally saw them home with four wickets left. (Cricinfo scorecard)

County Championship: Essex v Yorkshire (13–16 April)

Essex (12pts) drew with Yorkshire (5.5pts)

At Chelmsford, Yorkshire won the toss and put Essex in to bat. Essex lost two of ten wickets on the first day, as Will Jefferson, Essex' 6'10'' opener put on 149 before being out leg before just before the end of the first day's play. Essex captain, Ronnie Irani, said, "People think his height is a weakness, they try and over-test it – they try and pitch it up too much or bowl short too much." Jefferson could have been run out for 0 after a mix-up with Cook – who fell early for 11 – and was dropped on 6. However, Jefferson was given support by Zimbabwean Grant Flower, who was 55 not out at close, with Essex on 224 for 2, after 26 overs were lost to rain. Seven Yorkshire bowlers were used, but few had any success, and England bowler Matthew Hoggard went wicketless on the first day.

A total of 47 overs were possible in the next two days, as Essex moved on to 394 for 4 – losing two men to Hoggard. Andy Flower, Grant's brother, and Ronnie Irani were on unbeaten half-centuries at the close of the third day's play, a draw a virtual certainty.

After adding 7 in 11 balls on the fourth and final day, Essex declared on 401 for 4, batting on to score the extra bonus point before putting Yorkshire in. Whilst Yorkshire's captain, Craig White, resisted with 59 not out, the team were bowled out for 205, 196 behind. Essex enforced the follow-on, but as rain affected play and cutting down the length of their innings, Yorkshire held on. Jaques scored 67 not out from 88 balls out of his team's 105 for 2, as Yorkshire escaped with the draw, but were fined 0.5 points for a slow over rate during Essex' innings. (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Hampshire v Essex (17 April)

Essex (4pts) beat Hampshire (0pts) by 16 runs (D/L method)

At the Rose Bowl, Hampshire Hawks batted first, scoring 175 for 9, as Tim Phillips took 3 for 31. It was a good day for spin, with Grant Flower also taking 2 wickets. In reply, Essex Eagles' Will Jefferson was 44 not out, and Essex 69 for 2 off 16 overs when rain put an end to play, leaving Essex the winners on the Duckworth–Lewis method. England's star one-day player of the winter, Kevin Pietersen, managed only 5 off 14 balls for Hampshire before being bowled. (BBC scorecard)

National League: Glamorgan v Essex (22 April)

Match abandoned – Glamorgan (2pts), Essex (2pts)

This match, which was scheduled to be played at Sophia Gardens, Cardiff was abandoned without a ball being bowled. It was the first time for almost eight years a one-day league match at Cardiff has ended as a no-result. (BBC scorecard)

County Championship: Somerset v Essex (27–30 April)

Essex (22pts) beat Somerset (2pts) by nine wickets

On 35 overs were possible on the first day. On a green Taunton pitch, Somerset fared poorly against Essex's seam attack. Alex Tudor, who had moved from Surrey, took the first two wickets, including Marcus Trescothick for 4. Somerset were on 119 for 5 at stumps.

Somerset were soon dismissed on the Thursday for 190. Essex's youngsters, Alastair Cook, who looked to be headed for an England call-up before long, and Ravinder Bopara, aged 20 and 19 respectively, made merry with the bat. Although the pitch did not seam as much as the first day, they put on 181 together. Cook was finally out bowled for 111, and Bopara not out for 71 at close, with Essex on 224 for 3, 34 runs ahead.

Bopara could not add to his overnight total on the third day, as he was caught off Richard Johnson's bowling. But Essex were able to take control, finally declaring on 427 for 8 when Tudor was run out for 57. Somerset's fast bowlers, Johnson and Andy Caddick had picked up three wickets each, but had not been able to stop the flow of runs. Foster was not out on 78 when the declaration came. In reply, Somerset fared okay till Trescothick went with the score on 57, and then, at 65 for 1, Andre Adams, Essex's New Zealand import took a hat-trick. Mike Burns edged an outswinger, and Sanath Jayasuriya and James Hildreth were both leg before. With Adams picking up one more wicket before the close of play, Somerset finished on 128 for 5, still 109 runs off making Essex bat again.

On the Saturday, Somerset's tail was quickly reduced to 180 for 8. There was then something of a rearguard action with 63 put on by Caddick and Robert Turner for the ninth wicket, and Turner and Nixon McLean putting on 70 for the tenth. This left Essex with a target of 77 to win, which they did easily with the loss of just one wicket. (BBC scorecard)

May

May began with wins over Devon (in the C&G Trophy) and Leicestershire in the Championship, before they played out a draw against Northamptonshire despite trailing by 374 runs on first innings, as they batted out the remainder of the match to make 495 for 6. Following that, a League game against Glamorgan was won by five wickets. On 17 May they were eliminated from the C&G Trophy at the second round stage at Old Trafford. Two Championship matches followed, a defeat against Worcestershire which saw them go out of the promotion zone and a draw with Yorkshire, which left them third in the table behind Durham and Yorkshire at the end of May, though with Worcestershire trailing four points behind with a game in hand.

C&G Trophy Round One: Devon v Essex (3–4 May)

Essex beat Devon by 180 runs to progress to Round Two of the C&G Trophy

No play was possible on the originally scheduled day of play at Exmouth because of rain, and the reserve day had to be used. When play started on what was a wettish pitch with a slow outfield Essex hit over the top and ended on 264 for 5 off their 50 overs, with Andy Flower and Ravinder Bopara recording half-centuries. Devon were bowled out for just under a third of that score, making 84, although that could be seen as a recovery from 23 for 6 – a position they were in thanks to Essex pacers Andre Adams and Darren Gough, who shared three wickets each with the new ball. Devon's Neil Hancock, who turned out in two Twenty20 games and one National League match for Somerset in 2004, top scored with 40 despite batting at seven. (Cricinfo scorecard)

County Championship: Essex v Leicestershire (6–9 May)

Essex (21pts) beat Leicestershire (3.5pts) by six wickets

In a relatively closely fought game at Chelmsford, the Essex team showed more resilience than the visitors, as all the Essex players contributed with either 25 runs, five wickets or five catches. It started with a good bowling effort on the first day after Ronnie Irani had chosen to put Leicestershire in. Darren Robinson and Darren Maddy then put on 98 as Essex failed to get a wicket in the first hour and a half, but the part-time medium pace of Essex number three Ravinder Bopara got Maddy out, and four middle-order batsmen were dismissed in single figures as Leicestershire lost eight wickets for 69. David Masters (27) and Phil DeFreitas (20) added 49 for the ninth wicket to take Leicestershire to a final total of 220 in 81 overs. Dale Steyn, the young South African pace bowler with three Test caps, took three for 69 on Essex debut, but Darren Gough got the best figures with three for 46 – including Robinson, Paul Nixon for a golden duck and DeFreitas.