After the County Championship drawn match with Glamorgan, Essex captain, Ronnie Irani, explained his approach, saying: "It was a slow, flat, nothing pitch and I had to make sure that we didn't lose the game.

''At the time I declared, it ensured that there would only possibly be two results, we win or we draw.

"I'm charged with the responsibility of trying to win promotion into the First division for this team and that's what I intend to achieve. We've got to get the best out of this summer and that means finishing top of the table.

"We didn't have two top batters, both of whom are top-class international quality and even when we were 263 for seven, we could have been in trouble if we had been bowled out for 280.

"Danny Law and then Tim Mason played exceptionally well and personally, I was delighted to have played a captain's innings to make sure that we would end the game undefeated at this stage of the championship."

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