Bowled over.

That was the reaction of our two competition winners after scooping sought-after tickets to watch England play cricket at Lord's.

Your Gazette teamed up with Test match sponsors npower to give two readers the chance to watch Michael Vaughan's men play in their current clash with New Zealand.

Brian Simon was first out of the hat and won a pair for Thursday's opening day, having correctly said that Vaughan is the current England skipper.

The 60-year-old, of Prettygate Road, Colchester, took his son, Paul, 32, and said: "I'm a big cricket fan and follow Essex and England, but this was the first time I'd watched a Test match.

"Ironically, I was due to go to Lord's last year when my sisters bought me tickets as a birthday present for my 60th.

"But the tickets got lost in the post so I missed out. Winning this competition definitely helps make up for that disappointment."

Jonathan Dinnes was the second winner and won a pair of tickets for Friday's action.

The 29-year-old, of Kerry Court, Colchester, is a keen cricketer himself and plays for Copford in the PDQ Cars North Essex League and Marshall Hatchick Two Counties Championship.

He took his girlfriend, Ellena, and said: "I'd had a taste of Lord's when I went for a tour of the ground and was lucky enough to be shown round by (former England skipper) Mike Gatting.

"But I'd never watched a match there so winning this competition was brilliant."

The winners of our recent ticket competition to watch Essex play in the Friends Provident Trophy were Richard Kingesley-Johnson, from Colchester, Shaun Gascoyne, from Colchester, James Neale, from Coggeshall, and Peter O'Sullivan, from Colchester.