Essex will be attempting to end a depressing sequence of five successive one-day defeats when they embark upon their Southend Festival Week in a Totesport League clash against Northants on Sunday.

Sandwiched between three Twenty20 Cup reverses were league defeats at the hands of Warwickshire and Lancashire which left them in dire straits near the foot of the Division One table.

And another setback against their weekend visitors at Southchurch Park would see them rock-bottom if Surrey win their match at Guildford.

It all adds up to a despairing time for Essex skipper Ronnie Irani and his players as they seek to salvage some semblance of self-respect from a season which before going into their current Championship match at Leicester has seen them win only six of their 29 competitive games.

And two of those were against Cambridge UCCE and Scotland.

Those figures help explain yet again why there are rumblings of discontent among members who have been fed on a diet of mediocrity -- and even that is something of an understatement.

If they are to silence, albeit temporarily, the groans of disapproval, Essex will need to play out of their skin at Southchurch Park.

Northants are one of several counties nursing Totesport title ambitions and will arrive with confidence sky-high as they try to repeat the success they enjoyed when the two sides met at Northampton at the beginning of June.

They kept up the pressure on table-topping Glamorgan with a five wickets triumph over Hampshire last weekend, thanks largely to 63 from David Sales.

Not that Essex need reminding of his muscular power because he smashed a career-best 303 not out against them five years ago.

Published Friday July 23, 2004

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