Ronnie Irani said today 'it's never over until the fat lady sings' after Essex broke their Frizzell County Championship duck for the season with victory over Leicestershire.
Essex saw off their fellow Division Two strugglers by 48 runs at Grace Road on Saturday - their first win in ten Championship matches - to move up into mid-table behind leaders Nottinghamshire, Glamorgan, Hampshire and Yorkshire.
"The lads were great," said Irani as he paid tribute to his Essex team-mates.
"Now we know what it feels like to win we must get on a roll and finish the second half of the season strongly.
"There are still six Championship matches left to play and we are only 26 points adrift of third-placed Hampshire.
"If we push ourselves really hard promotion could yet be on. As they say - it's never over until the fat lady sings."
Lowly Leicester, who included former County Ground favourite Darren Robinson in their line-up, pushed Essex all the way.
But Irani declared: "Our boys were up for it and were very aggressive throughout on a pitch that became flatter and flatter over the four days."
Published Monday July 26, 2004
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