Silverwood Appointed Essex Coach

Chris Silverwood has been appointed the new Head Coach of Essex. The position had been left vacant after Paul Grayson stood down at the end of the season after eight years in the role.

Silverwood, a former England bowler, will be aiming for Essex to improve on what they produced last season. They finished third in the County Championship Division Two, thus failing to secure a return to Division One. Essex have proved themselves to be a solid one-day unit in recent years, although they were eliminated at the quarter-final stage of the Royal London One-Day Cup. They also missed out on T20 Finals Day, losing out to Birmingham in the quarter-finals.

Although Essex have a talented squad which includes the likes of former England stars Ravi Bopara and James Foster, they have struggled due to big name departures in recent years. Tymal Mills departed the club to move to Sussex, and more recently England bowler Reece Topley has left and joined Hampshire. These losses will make it harder for Essex to reach Division One, although there is young talent coming through, including Nick Browne, who has been tipped as a future England player.

As well as restoring Essex to the top tier of County Cricket, Silverwood will also be aiming to improve Essex’s fortunes in limited overs cricket. With Essex performing well in the group stages of the limited overs tournaments last season, the foundations are in place for the side to go on and lift a trophy in 2016. The question now is whether or not Silverwood will be able to rejuvenate an Essex side that has failed to improve in recent years. If the more experienced players in the squad can perform and the youngsters in the squad continue to improve, then 2016 could be a memorable season fro the Eagles.