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Essex sign bugs malone

bugssy

Cricketer Of The Year
in a press confrence today at the ground, bugs malone cwx1 and cwa rep has signed a long term deal with essex officials to coach the team to what will be a successful relationship between the 2.

we got a quick word with bugs about his decision:

just happy to take my career to the next step and hopefully it is a long and successful one with the boys from essex, played alot of my cricket here and hopefully we can gel and get many a cabinet full of flags for the club.

our first game is against gloucstershire on the 24th of april in a 4d game so it will be good to have a few training runs and see how we go. and we signed a young rookie who has a lot of skill so he maybe one to look out for.


stay tuned.

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Justin greens diary:

got a phone call today from my manager and i am the happiest bloke in the world. found out that the team i was willing to play for , which was essex have accepted my bid and i am boarding a plane tomorrow to get moved into my new house where they have set me up, also looking forward to meeting the new coach, a guy by the name of Bugs Malone an ozzie coach who they say i can learn alot from.

so this is day 1 in my career journal. i am so happy, stay tuned for my deepest emotions with alot of happy times but i guess there will also be some bad times.

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some comments would be nice guys
 
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bugssy

Cricketer Of The Year
Justin greens diary game day 1

a very nervous day for me as its my first game for my club, and a chance that i could cement myself in what will be a big test. not thiking i will be picked to play but you never know your luck and i am very keen getting to the ground 1/2 early to have a bit of a look out in the middle with my best mate in my hand. i just picked up a bat sponsorship from one of y favourites companies puma, so i have all the new gear for hwat hopefully is a solid season.

bugs malone, my coach turned up and took me aside and we had a long chat and just wanted to settle my nerves, he was really good about the hole situation and said that i had alot of ppl hoping i go well.

that talk really helped my nerves so i was alot more relaxed, going to have a warm up session with our physio and trainer, this could be a very special day.

essex v gloucestershire

the team was picked and it was named as follows

j stephenson
a grayson
a habib
n hussain (c)
r irani
j green (debut)
j dakin
j foster (keeper)
j middlebrook
a cowan
m llot

with what looked a solid side, maybe lacking the bowling depth time would soon tell.


gloucestershire winning the toss and deciding to have a bat. m llot was given the new ball, with roni irani. irani striking in the 4th over with a spectacular caught and bolwed which got the essex boys of to a great start.
the opposition then started to get into a routine and grab a partnership but when irani struck again the visiting side where in a little trouble being 2 / 34. when m llot was replaced gloucestershire had fought back to be 2 - 72 and a cowan was bopught into the attack. irani was also replaced for middlebrook and his off spin bowling hoping to grab another couple before lunch. middlebrook picked up windows when he hit a skyer to irani at deep cover for 58 the visitors where 3 - 89. lunch on day 1 the visitors had fought hard to be 3 - 114 . 2nd over after lunch cowan got a nice ball to jag back and rwrap snape on the pads and the umpire had no hesitation then to give it, well bowled and a good early breakthrough gloucestershire 4 - 125 and essex doing well not to let the visitors to get a solid partnership going.
middlebrook then took another wicket and the visitors just couldnt get ontop and where 5 - 143. very next ball middlebrook went through the defences of alleyne and was on a hatrick. gloucestershire where know 6 - 143. the hatrick was not to happen though a double wicket maiden was a very good one, which seen bugs malone a very happy coach so far. middlebrook then picked up another wicket 2 overs later and @ 7 - 157, very next ball he picked up lewis for a duck, 8 - 157 and in trouble. cowan picked up the last 2 wickets and with 50 mins left in the 2nd session the home side had a relatively good morning with
j middlbrook 19 overs 5 maidens 5 - 40 and was well backed up by a cowan 15.5 oevrs 1 maiden 3 - 48 and irani 15 overs 4 maidens 2 - 44. the pick of the batsmen where windows for 58 and aussie import i harvey 35*


J Green refelcts first morning of 1st class cricket

wow what a 1/2 day i have had, and the team. it all started when coach bugs read out the starting x1 and i was shocked to hear y name in it. i was presented with a cap and a mini bat which was autographed by the boys which was a nice touch. but when we took the field the boys really bowled well and great channels which seen us roll them for a nice small total and it has set up a very good chance of maximum points but we still have a job to do , and i will be nervous when i go out to the middle, if that does come. skipper and mentour n hussain dragged me aside and had a quick chat and it was all good. can wait till i get out there.
 

bugssy

Cricketer Of The Year
essex batting 1st innings

grayson and stephenson went out to open up the batting and the boys survived till tea which was 25 mins and essex where 0 - 27 at tea on day 1. after tea grayson fell early to a good ball and essex where 1 - 35. when habib fell for 3 essex where not looking too comfortable @ 2 - 47. essex really needed a partnership and when stephenson fell for 21 with the score still at 47 irani and hussain where out in the middle. essx really needed a good solid partnership. with 20 mins to go irani fell to a poor decision but was out for 31 and essex had moved along to 4 - 121, which bought out young debutant to the middle, to bat with his skipper and try and last the last 20 mins. at the end of day 1 essex had moved to 4 - 142 with skipper hussain 46*.

day 1 my view
well i finaly got a taste and i love it. i got to bad with one of my favourite players and lasted the final 20 mins which wasnt made easy by the visitors but i hung in there and it was all worth it. played and missed a few but i think nerves got the better of me to start of with, but nasser in my ear i soon settled down and played some lovely shots. was a thrill to get of the mark and score my 1st 1st class run. hopefully i have alot more of them. how good is it we can just leave our gear here and go for a massage and some pasta before having an early night as i dont want to let my skipper down tomorrow.


day 2

seen nasser and green start of where they left off. nasser bought up his 50 in the 2nd over. the pair moved the score to 175 before young debutant was giving lbw on what looked like a big inside edge, however he managed 23 on debut and looked a classy player. essex 5 - 175 and only trailing by 4 runs. with 8 mins left nasser fell for a well made 97 which was ashame as he played a chanceless innings, but fell just 3 short. essex had moved along to 6 - 235 with dakin unbeaten on 25. lunch on day 2 seen essex reach 6 - 243 with a lead of 65. not a great lead but a lead is better than trailing. after lunch dakin and foster moved the scoring along nicely to reach 279 before dakin fell for 41. middlebrook feel for 5 , foster fell for 29 and cowan went for 14, llot was the not out batsmen with 10 which seen the home side reach 313, a lead of 135. with over 2 1/2 days there was going to be a result.alot of the boys got starts and only nasser going on with it but it was a good alround effort to start of with, know they just needed to bowl well.

gloucestershire 135 behind where in trouble early with irani getting the early breakthough, gloucestershire 1 - 23. they fought back and at tea where 1 - 53.

the arvo session saw alot of good cricket. irani then picked up the next wicket and gloucestershire where 2 - 78 still a further 57 runs behind.
when middlebrook took taylor for 37 the score was 3 - 108 and essex where making ingrounds in the middle order. barnett went cheaply thanks to middlebrook and the visitors where 4 - 118 with 47 mins left. at the end of day 2 gloucestershire had chased down the runs and had a slight lead of 23 runs with only 6 wickets in hand. day 3 was going to be interesting.

day 3

cowan picked up snape early and gloucestershire where 5 - 160. essex wanted to hammer in the screws so they where not chasing to manuy on this pitch. cowan and middlebrook then swept through the lower to tail order to have the visitors all out for 185, only a 50 run lead. the bolwers all bowled well with middlebrook taking 6 - 65 of his 28.2 overs which gave him 11 wickets for the match. irani and cowan also took 2 wickets each.

essex only chasing 50 with alot of time on there hands looked like they where in an unbeatable position. with 57mins left in the 1st session of day 3. the boys come out to bat.

stephenson was the first to go for 17 and habib next for 8 but they where the only 2 wickets to fall and essex passed the 50 in 16 overs with 8 wickets to spare and grabbed a comfortable win. the not out batsmen where grayson with 17 (41) and hussain 10 (12).
a really good first up match for the boys from essex and hopefully alot more of that to come.
middlebrook picked up the man of the match honours for his 11 wickets but hussain could have easily taking it out for his 97 on what looked like a bowlers friendly wicket.
 

bugssy

Cricketer Of The Year
first game thoughts

wow what a couple of days i have had. got picked in the starting line up for essex fist x1,got to bat with one of my hero's, while he scored 50, we won in magical fashion with in 3 days and got of to a flyer in the fc comp, and the coach was very happy.

and got to hang out with some quality cricketers.

doesnt get any better than this, well time to hit the nets as i batted strongly but only hit 23 so i shoud have really gone on with it, but hey 1st game so can ony hope.

stay tuned for more of my diary on debut for essex
 

Cloete

International Captain
wow brilliant story nugs. best we've had in a long time. i'm sure alot of people are readin gyour story. just not too many comments. post away though guys because we certainmly want bugs to keep is story still going :)
 

bugssy

Cricketer Of The Year
Game 2

j green thoughts

well this is game 2 of my short career with essex and its against susse in a super cup match. good chance to score some quick runs and show i do have what it takes in the big league. coach bugs spoke to us at training yesterday morning before giving us the arvo off and said that we really needed to consolidate our early form and a win here would show a few ppl we mean business.

after training a few of the boys and i went back to skippers house (hussain) for a bbq and a quite swim. "wow look who i am hanginga round with" butcher and a stewart also turned up as they are good fiends of nassers and i got introduced. i had a really long chat with butcher and he gave me some useful tips.

cant wait till 2morrow, hopefully get amongst them, that is if i get picked.


the team remained unchanged and sussex won the toss on what looked like a nice deck. our groundsmen really knows how to prepare a wicket.

llot and irani opened p the bowling and irani got the breakthrough early in the 2nd over with a magnificent catch by middlebrook, sussex 1 - 3 and what a great start, just what we wanted.
m goodwin and c adams then started to put together a partnership and they played some magical shots. cowan come on in the 14th over and got goodwin trying to drive just outside off stump and 2nd slip took an easy catch. essex 2 - 73. the 15th over seen middlebrook come on and the field stretch out. middlebrook then got adams with an easy caught and bowled and sussex where 3 - 86. good start for us, as wickets are the key in one day games. middlebrook then got house next ball lbw for a duck and he was on a hatrick, and sussex where struggling at 4 - 86. the field come in for the hatrick ball, but it wasnt to be, yet a very good over, and we where full of confidence. middlebrook bowled his overs straight through and finished with great figures of 2 - 24 of 10 overs. sussex had got yet another little partnership going and where 4 - 132 after 35. we still needed to do a lot if we where to keep them at bay. sussex fought back well and recovered due to some handy batting by p cottey who finished with 95*(111) and r martin-jenkins 57*(83). they both batted well and there total of 50 overs was 4 - 233

pick of the bowling was middlebrook, we had a fight on our hands and just needed to keep wickets in hand for the onslaught if need be, coach bugs alone was still confident and he said it was probably a 260 - 270 wicket so.


the chase

grayson and stephenson opened up and grayson fell early for 4 we where 1 - 13. when habib fell for 60 (91) we where 2 - 128 of 33, and we really needed a quick cameo from someone.nasser was next to go for 32(33) and we where 3 - 185 of 43 still needing a further 49 runs at 7.0 runs per over but we had wickets in hand. irani was next in then me, and i was sweating and getting nervous. j stephenson fell for 78 (128) and i was in. this was it, could i do it. irani went for 1 and i only managed 12 we ended up falling 23 runs short, we finished up 6 - 210 of 50 overs, we shook hands and headed up to the dressing room.

it was a somber room with coach bugs just saying boys we let that one get away, we had it in our hands and let it slip.

my view

wow it was very somber in that room after our lose to sussex, how a room can change, just 28 hours we where ontop of the world with a convincing win in the fc but know back to reality, coach bugs went around ad spoke to the players and he said as a team he was going to introduce the paper theory, which is what the acb do, its a meeting a couple of days before game day with tactics and stats on the teams and players we will be playing and its a game plan we need to stick to. could be interesting, bugs is a perfectionist and although he was trying to be happy you could see that the loss really hurt him deep down. i dont want to let him down like that again.

our next game was in 6 days time against middlesex in another super group match. we had 6 days to get ack to the winning circle. coach called for training the next day, an early swim and weights session. better be off, got early start 2morrow.
 

DJellett

International Debutant
Yeah, great story Bugs. I think i have read this on ICC forums on cricketgames.com but maybe i'm confused...
 

bugssy

Cricketer Of The Year
Super cup match

.supercup match v middlesex

Was against middlesex and after our last super cup loss we really needed to come up with a big win.

my thoughts

after my not so solid start i was hoping that bugs malone would have me named in the starting eleven, so i could prove my worthiness in picking me up in the draft.

the game

the essex team was as follows
J Stephenson
A Grayson
A Habib
N Hussain (captain)
R Irani
J Green
J Dakin
J Foster
J Middlebrook
A Cowan
M Ilott

D Robinson was 12th man

middlesex won the toss and had a bat first on what looked like a great batting deck and there was some rain in the air.Llott and irani opened up and where going along well with a few big lbw appeals and when llott picked up the first victim we where celebrating like crazy, early wickets are cruicial in one day game. middlesex 1 - 19. the boys bowled well and after 14 overs middlesex where 1 - 36 and doing it tough, with some good fielding we had restricted them well beyond what we planned so it was all going nicely. cowan and middlebrook where both bought on and both bowled well but no wickets as the batsmen started to settle down. middlesex had moved to be 1 - 87 of 24 and looking to set a platform. another change when green was bought on to replace cowan, green worked in tandem with middlebrook to try and get the breakthrough. middlebrook got weekes for 52 middlesex where 2 - 116, and very next ball he bowled strauss with out scoring and they where now 3 - 116. middlebrook was on a hatrick and the field gathered around the bat, the crowd where clapping, dot ball . but next ball essex would pick up shah run out from the deep by a magnificent throw, 4 - 117, what an over, and it wasnt over yet, 6th ball of the over he bowled razzaq with an absolute belter. 5 - 117 at the end of the over, before the over started 1 - 116. he finished his 10 overs 3 - 32 of 10 overs.while green at the other end was not taking wickets but was bowling without luck and extremely well. he then picked up the wicket of nash for 3 and middlesex where 6 - 123 of 35 overs and struggling. with middlebrook out of the attack cowan was bought back in.green then picked up koeing (who was the only batsmen who looked like doing anything) 44 (79) middlesex had lost 6 - 13. cowan then picked up fraser ldw and the tail was exposed.the last 15 overs didnt pick up a wicket however the bowlers bowled very well. the bowling figures where as follows,

M Llott 10 2 23 1
R Irani 10 0 25 0
A Cowan 10 1 41 1
J Middlebrook 10 1 32 3
J Green 10 1 38 2

the pick of the batsmen where

p weekes 52 (99)
s koenig 47 (79)
s cook 20 (60)

essex had set the game up well , know it was up to there batsmen to get them home.

stephenson and grayson opened up, stephenson was the first to fall for 27(48) with the score 1 - 40 of 11, with captain promoting young gun j green to have a stint out in the middle, however the young fella didnt last long and got a great ball by razzaq and went for 4(16), essex 2 - 52.habib went for 26 (57)which seen the skipper come in needing 50 of 13 overs at 3.7 runs per over.grayson fell for 66(127) essex only needed 4 of 6 overs. irani was next but didnt score a run as hussain hit the winning runs and scored 25*(28).essex win by 6 wickets.

a very good win.

essex batsmen

j stephenson 27(48)
a grayson 66(127)
hussain 25(28)

middlesex bowling was razzaq
2 - 26 of 10 overs

that win gives essex 2 points which puts them in 4th spot and = with 4 other teams but they all have a game in hand.

j green's thoughts

it was a great mood in the dressing room after the game, but i wasnt in the best of moods after my poor batting display. i felt like i have let everyone down, although they all told me that my bowling today was outstanding, i am in the sie for my batting, coach malone noticed i was down in the dumps and come over and spoke to me, saying that it will all gel together soon, i have only played a handfull of games, and that i was not expected to score 5 tonnes in my first five games, he assured me that i just needed to settle down and be relaxed and it will all come together. that made me feel a little better.

what a win for the side.

next game was against surrey in a super cup match.
 

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