Essex show dramatic turnaround

When Essex's coach Paul Grayson said before the season that he thought his side could gain promotion from Division Two of the County Championship and win a one-day trophy, he wasn't being disingenuous.

Essex have seven international players in their squad, plus experienced first-class cricketers. Hopes were rightly high that they could do better than last season in the first class competition, where they finished only eight points short of promotion to Division One and in one-day cricket, where they fell at the quarter final stage in both competitions.

By the end of May, however, they were languishing at the bottom of the Championship, the first team in over two years of first-class cricket to be beaten by Leicestershire, and had won only one of their first five games in the NatWest T20 Blast.

Some reasons were obvious. IPL commitments ruled out Essex's two best players, Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate, which robbed them of valuable runs and wickets. When they returned, it took them time to adjust from Indian pitches to conditions in early English summer.

Injuries also played a part: Overseas player Jesse Ryder injured a groin; Tom Westley broke a thumb; Mark Pettini twinged a hip; Reece Topley was being eased back in to the side after a serious back injury.

Essex have a small squad lacking depth in first team experience, and these absences were simply too much to take. Add in some out of form players and Alastair Cook away with England in the West Indies and you can see why they struggled.

One positive is that it gave Essex's academy players an opportunity to gain some first team experience. Dan Lawrence, only 17 years of age, became the third youngest Championship centurion when he made 161 against Surrey and looks an excellent prospect.

Jamie Porter, a local boy from Leytonstone, has led the bowling attack impressively and now has 38 wickets from ten first-class games at under 20 apiece - not bad for someone who has just turned 22.

Other youngsters Callum Taylor (17), Kishen Velani (20), Matthew Salisbury (22) and Aron Nijjar (20) have all had opportunities at various points. No doubt this is a positive for the future of the club and their success shows the academy is doing good work, but it has meant that results have been inconsistent.

In the last month, however, there has been a dramatic turnaround in performances which simply underlies the strength of the squad when everyone is available. Two wins and the better of a draw in the Championship and four wins from five games in the T20 Blast has restored some pride.

Those two victories in the Championship, against Derbyshire and Gloucestershire, were built on solid contributions from the whole team rather than any standout performances - there were no centuries or five wicket hauls. At the start of the season there weren't many of those contributions at all and success in the Championship is now unlikely - but not impossible - with Lancashire and Surrey well clear in the promotion spots.

In the T20 Blast, they may qualify for the quarter final stage, having beaten Gloucestershire, Sussex, Glamorgan and Hampshire in the month of June, but much depends on other results. The return to the side of Pettini, a much underrated opener in short form cricket, has helped as have good returns from a match fit Topley with the ball.

Regardless of what happens in the T20 competition, they are likely to be dangerous in the Royal London One-Day Cup later in the season.

For Essex supporters, it has been a familiar tale; the last success they had to cheer was promotion from the second division of the Championship in 2009, but even this was short-lived as they were relegated the season after.

The younger players do offer promise for the future, especially Porter who has the look of someone who could lead the county's attack for years to come. He bowls decent pace from a wiry build, much like that of James Anderson, and in the win against Derbyshire was the pick of the bowlers.

Tom Westley has also been in excellent form, topping the county's averages in both competitions and scored an excellent hundred against the touring Australians, He is clearly relishing the responsibility of batting in the top order and at 26 should be entering his prime.

Along with the Lawrence and Salisbury, these players should form the backbone of the county for the next five years, gradually taking the mantle from the likes of James Foster and Bopara.

The major issue for the future of the county, as always, is whether they can attract players both financially and by offering Division One cricket. Essex have only been in the top division twice since the inception of the two divisional system in 2000 and they will struggle to attract and keep better players unless they get promoted.

All things are still possible for Essex this campaign but it will be a turnaround of quite magnificent proportions if they are able to achieve what Grayson set out at the start of the season. More than anything, they will be rueing their bad luck with injuries and IPL commitments.

There is genuine reason to be optimistic about the future but for this season, it will likely be a case of what might have been.