Essex's Stuart Law, who scored two magnificent centuries in last week's PPP Healthcare Championship match against Yorkshire at Chelmsford, has said that the county must start winning matches soon, if they are not to become among this season's also-rans.
Reflecting on a personal outstanding batting display against Yorkshire, a game that Essex lost by 174 runs, Law, who scored 159 in Essex's first innings and 113 not out in the second innings, said:"I probably batted better in the first innings when the wicket was a bit quicker but I enjoyed the challenge in both innings against one of the best attacks in the country."
Law admitted that when he was nearing his second 'century of the match, he was getting a little anxious because he was running out of partners.
"I've seen Peter Such bat a few times this season and he's improved out of sight but when Jamie Grove came in, I was a bit concerned.
''But the fella did alright and he was unlucky to get out the way he did when the ball rebounded off his foot onto the wicket."
The Essex overseas player finished on the losing side, which left the Australian saying: "I'm disappointed that we lost that game, and our old fault of not putting enough runs on the board was the chief problem. The same thing happened against Surrey and we paid the price there.
''It's very frustrating, particularly when one guy goes and gets 159 and you get bowled out for 335.
''When that happens it means that you're leaving the job up to a couple of blokes and that's not on.
''Our bowlers are generally doing alright - they had an off day against Yorkshire on Friday.
''However, it's the batting that bothers me, as we are just not getting the runs on the board."
The 30 year-old, from Brisbane, is also critical of a constant failing that seems to be affecting some of his colleagues, stating: "If you are not doing well and losing games, something is obviously wrong.
''What you have to do is learn from the mistakes you make but we've been making them for a year and a half now and it's not good enough.
Law added: ''It's all very well offering all the excuses but that's a soft option and in the end you have to point the finger at yourself.
''It's strange because we have a lot of talent in our dressing room but we are not putting the figures in the book.
''We need to start getting the right results now, starting with the game against Gloucestershire because we are getting to the stage where all these matches are starting to become crunch games with the County Championship being split into two divisions next year."
Stuart Law.
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