Benfleet (244-5) - net score 219
Hadleigh (242-3) - net score 227
Hadleigh won by 8 runs

Rayleigh (281-1) - net score 276
OS&S (242-1) - net score 237
Rayleigh won by 39 runs

The evening with John Altman and Graham Gooch on Wednesday 5th August is fast approaching.

Due to popular demand we are releasing more tickets - these additional tickets will be entrance only. For just £15 you can enjoy an evening of entertainment with award winning composer, John Altman and Essex & England Cricket Legend Graham Gooch OBE.

Please note tickets including canapés and a full finger buffet are still available at £25 but must be purchased by Tuesday 4th August.

To reserve your place contact Perry Norton via (01245) 254000 / perry.norton.essex@ecb.co.uk.

As Essex cricketers prepare for their must-win championship game against Gloucestershire at Garon Park starting on Wednesday next week (5th August), they could well be forgiven if they whistle this well know terrace anthem following championship defeats in successive years at Southend.

However, if you want to hear the 'real thing' you will get an opportunity to do so after close of play on Day 1! Composer, jazz musician, Bunbury cricketer, BAFTA and Emmy award winner John Altman, who not only arranged the legendary music but was the one whistling, is appearing alongside Essex legend Graham Gooch in a unique evening of music, stories and fun.

Accompanied by Mitch Dalton - guitar (Herbie Hacock, The Crusaders, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald), Jeff Clyne - bass (Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Stan Getz) and Peter Cater - drums (Peter Cater Big Band) this event will appeal to jazz, cricket and music lovers in general plus anyone who wants to hear some fantastic stories (including something about Freddie Mercury and Sausages!).

Find out how Altman managed to dismiss four England captains in the space of 14 deliveries! Goochie will also be prompting Altman to elaborate on some amazing stories including how he:

• Taught Michael Caine to sing
• Wrote songs with Sir Salman Rushdie
• Gave Pierce Brosnan his first big movie role
• Was the only non-Australian allowed in their dressing room during Steve Waugh’s all conquering tour of England
• Played with Bill Haley's Comets and Little Richard
• Was musical director for the biggest movie of all time
• Put Bob Geldof on the road to creating Live Aid
• Had Muddy Waters play at his 21st birthday, Bob Marley at his 25th and Chaka Khan and Lionel Richie at his 50th and they all cost him nothing!

Essex committee man and Southend Festival Deputy Chairman Mike Smith who dreamed up the event says "John Altman is an absolute phenomenon. He's deliberately kept a low profile but is the inspiration behind thousands of well-known songs, film scores and catchy commercial tunes (including Sheila's Wheels!). He is a huge cricket fan, Essex supporter, Bunbury Player and dressing room musician to Test Match sides across the world. With Goochie featuring alongside him, this is a truly unique opportunity to listen to great music and stories, plus a question and answer session after close of play in the main marquee at Garon Park on Wednesday 5th August (7:30pm for 8pm)"

Remaining tickets for the event which includes canapés on reception, a finger buffet in the interval and a pay bar throughout, are priced at just £25 from Perry Norton at Essex County Cricket Club 01245 254000 Perry.Norton@ecb.co.uk. Tickets for entrance only (no food) can also be purchased for just £15 each. These can be purchased in advance or on the door.

A special evening with Graham Gooch and John Altman

As Essex cricketers prepare for their must-win championship game against Gloucestershire at Garon Park starting on Wednesday next week (5th August) they could well be forgiven if they whistle this well know terrace anthem following championship defeats in successive years at Southend.

However, if you want to hear the ‘real thing’ you will get an opportunity to do so after close of play on Day 1! Composer, jazz musician, Bunbury cricketer, BAFTA and Emmy award winner John Altman, who not only arranged the legendary music but was the one whistling, is appearing alongside Essex legend Graham Gooch in a unique evening of music, stories and fun.

Accompanied by Mitch Dalton - guitar (Herbie Hacock, The Crusaders, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald), Jeff Clyne - bass (Tubby Hayes, Ronnie Scott, Stan Getz) and Peter Cater - drums (Peter Cater Big Band) this event will appeal to jazz, cricket and music lovers in general plus anyone who wants to hear some fantastic stories (including something about Freddie Mercury and Sausages!).

Goochie will be bringing along former England colleague John Emburey and some of the current Essex team, and amongst other things will be finding out how Altman managed to dismiss four England captains in the space of 14 deliveries! Goochie will also be prompting Altman to elaborate on some amazing stories including how he:

• Taught Michael Caine to sing
• Wrote songs with Sir Salman Rushdie
• Gave Pierce Brosnan his first big movie role
• Was the only non-Australian allowed in their dressing room during Steve Waugh’s all conquering tour of England
• Played with Bill Haley's Comets and Little Richard
• Was musical director for the biggest movie of all time
• Put Bob Geldof on the road to creating Live Aid
• Had Muddy Waters play at his 21st birthday, Bob Marley at his 25th and Chaka Khan and Lionel Richie at his 50th and they all cost him nothing!

Essex committee man and Southend Festival Deputy Chairman Mike Smith who dreamed up the event says “John Altman is an absolute phenomenon. He’s deliberately kept a low profile but is the inspiration behind thousands of well-known songs, film scores and catchy commercial tunes (including Sheila’s wheels!). He is a huge cricket fan, Essex supporter, Bunbury Player and dressing room musician to Test Match sides across the world. With Goochie featuring alongside him, this is a truly unique opportunity to listen to great music, stories plus a question and answer session after close of play in the main marquee at Garon Park on Wednesday 5th August (7:30pm for 8pm)”

Remaining tickets for the event which includes canapés on reception, a finger buffet in the interval and a pay bar throughout, are priced at just £25 from Perry Norton at Essex County Cricket Club 01245 254000 Perry.Norton@ecb.co.uk

Southend on Sea Cricket Club Youth section entertain the crowds at Southend United's pre season friendly against Ipswich Town with a Kwik Cricket demo.

The winner of the competition in the Outlook Magazine is Mr Alec Banyard who wins a family ticket for the match agains Notts Outlaws on 9th August.

Daily Car Display

Festival sponsor Essex AutoGroup will again be displaying their latest range of showroom cars during the five days of the 2009 festival

Adventure Island under 11 Kwik Cricket tournament

Benfleet Cricket Club will be attempting to win this popular annual competition for the third successive year at the 2009 Festival. It takes place during the lunch interval form Wednesday to Friday with the final at noon on Sunday. The full draw is:-

Wednesday 5th August 2009: Benfleet vs. Hadleigh (A); Old Southandians vs. Rayleigh (B)

Thursday 6th August 2009: Southend vs. Ecko Monarchs (C); Leigh vs. Eastwood (D)

Friday 7th August 2009 - Semi-Finals: Winners A vs. Winners D (AA; Winners B vs. Winners C (BB)

Sunday 9th August 2009 – Final: Winners AA vs. Winners BB

Our Biggest Ever Real Ale Festival

24 real ales from five different breweries will be featured at the popular daily beer festival at Garon Park This will include a special Shepherd Neame ale for the Southend Cricket Festival and beers from Essex breweries:- Crouch Vale Brewery, Maldon Brewing Co, Mighty Oak Brewing Co and Wibblers Brewery.

Leigh-on-Sea Seafood

New for 2009: A traditional Leigh Sea food stall will be set up at Garon Park for the NatWest Pro40 game on Sunday 9th August

Blind Cricket Demo

Essex Tigers Visually Impaired Cricket Club will be demonstrating how to play blind cricket during the interval of the NatWest Pro40 game on Sunday 9th August. Essex Tigers VICC was set up in early 2009 to try and provide opportunities to play cricket for visually impaired people throughout the county of Essex. The team is taking part in blind cricket national league and cup competitions this summer.

Members’ Guests Offer

Essex CCC members may bring guests to the new look Garon Park this summer at the special daily price of £10 for adults and £5 for juniors (under 18). This represents a saving of up to £8 per person per day. Please note these special prices are only available if tickets are purchased in advance from the ticket office at Chelmsford tel: 01245 254010.

Roslin Hospitality Offer

We have teamed up with Roslin Beach Hotel and Restaurant, where festival caterer Wayne Hawkins is head chef, for some special offers for those booking hospitality tables (minimum 8 people) at the 2009 Southend Cricket Festival. This year’s value added Garon Park hospitality package includes a cricket bat autographed by the 2009 Essex Cricket first team squad and offers 10% discount on meal and wine for diners at the Roslin Restaurant. Phone Perry Norton on 01245 254000, mobile 07768 552435 for full details or e-mail perry.norton@ecb.co.uk.

By Peter Butler, Chairman Festival Committee

A four day game against table topping Gloucestershire, the very last 40 over Sunday game at Southend against Nottinghamshire Eagles and an action packed programme of seaside fun. That is the line up for the 2009 Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival at the new look Garon Park from 5th to 8th August.

There are big savings to be made by buying tickets in advance and these are now available from the Blues Box office at Roots Hall, the Box Office at the Cliffs Pavilion and Southend Borough Council’s 24 hour on-line ticketing system in addition to the normal Essex CCC outlets.. See panel for details (Greg – please extract from leaflet which I thin k you have but will send again the Daily ticket Prices box and the Book Your Advanced tickets now at a discount box on the reverse of the leaflet.)

This is an official event supported by Southend Borough Council and free tickets are available for community groups such as schools, charities, church and youth groups from the councul on 01702 216716 or e-mail southend cricket festival@southend.gov.uk.

Garon Park is being prepared for twenty20 cricket from 2010 and the spectator areas have been re-shaped with over 1500 lorry loads of earth during the winter. As I write an electronic scoreboard attached to a magnificent wood framed building is being installed at the Shopland end and is expected to be operational for the festival. So it is a fond farewell to our travelling van with all its eccentricities. The Norman Garon Trust and Essex & Southend Sports Trust (EASST) have made major contributions to these new facilities and their trustees will attend an official opening ceremony at 1pm on Friday 7th August as part of the annual lunch for Patrons and Essex fans who have supported the EASST fund-raising public appeal.

The first stage of a plan to eventually cultivate over 1000 trees and hedge plants at the Park was carried out in the spring thanks to the generosity of three Southend based Essex members. Mike Bradley who lives in Leigh and runs Claremont Nurseries at Woodham Mortimer in Maldon has generously arranged for the nursery to donate all the trees and plants for the project free of charge. He supervised the planting of a laurel hedge round the new outdoor nets and behind the pavilion and provided around 100 fast-growing poplar Lombardy trees that were planted by Great Wakering farmers and Essex cricket lovers Pendril and Arthur Bentall.

My thanks to all the volunteers and donors who have helped with these projects and in particular to Mike Bradley. There were delays, bad weather, the building contractor pulled out at the last minute and big problems with the irrigation system. We have not achieved as much as we originally hoped over the last year and there remains much to do. We have always said that establishing a new ground at Garon Park on a shoe-string budget was a 10 year project and this is only year 5 – so we are well on the way.

Peter

Free tickets for community groups. Click here for full details.

Article as published in the Essex CCC handbook - click here to view.

Visitors to Garon Park for this year’s Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival will see a number of changes from last year and more developments are planned. The aim is not only to improve spectator comfort and facilities for first class cricket but also to develop the ground as a Centre of Cricketing Excellence for the whole of South Essex.

Thanks to generous financial support from the Norman Garon Trust and the Essex & Southend Sports Trust (EASST) permanent security fencing has now been installed to separate the cricket facility from the rest of the park and boundary fences have been built behind the boundary rope. The new outdoor nets will also be available for local school and community use. County cricket has been played in Southend for over a hundred years so the building of proper practice nets is long overdue!

Essex CCC has also improved the kitchens and the inside of the Pavilion for use at the various second X1, academy and inter-county age group matches for boys and girls that are now a regular part of the Garon Park cricketing programme.

Funds from the public appeal organised by EASST are still being used to finance the cost of a full time groundsman who lives adjacent to Garon Park. The square has been extended and turned and the quality of the outfield is amazing compared with the problems local club cricketers found in fielding there just a few years ago.

But extra funds are desperately needed to keep the project moving. We need more Garon Park patrons prepared to donate £25 a month or £300 a year to EASST under the gift aid scheme. One off donations of any amount would be very welcome. EASST continues to match all public donations pound for pound so with tax relief a single donation of £50 would add £128 to available funds. Donations should be made out to EASST and may be sent to the club office at the Ford County Ground. Patron forms are available from the club office or contact Perry Norton (01245 254000) or Joe Sims (Trustee) for more information. Click www.easst.org.uk for further information.

by Philip Tolhurst, Trustee, Norman Garon Trust

When Garon Park was first conceived at the meeting with the then Leader of Southend Borough Council we saw it as a sports complex that would provide a number of first class facilities particularly for young people.

Fifteen years on and with various improvements over the years we have developed that vision and now see Garon Park not simply as a regional centre of excellence but an exemplary joint venture between private, public and sporting sectors to produce a truly comprehensive multi-sport facility.

We already have one of the best indoor tennis centres in the Country; which draws a lot of young people into that sport. We already have indoor basketball, netball and similar training facilities and an international standard athletics track.

Essex County Cricket Club has now taken a Lease on the Cricket Ground at Garon Park and this year depending upon timing of relevant consents, we hope to establish not only first class outdoor nets but a first class electronic cricket scoreboard together with workshop and storage facilities for the ground-staff. Weather permitting we also hope to remodel the mounding around the oval to provide a mezzanine level, which for the festival will accommodate the marquees and similar, but for a Twenty20 match could provide an additional raised platform for seating. Space will be left for grandstands to be built both temporarily and more permanently in the future.

The clubhouse will also have a makeover this year and while doing that the club will also be looking to create a separated area for the players.

Looking forward we have a visionary plan to establish indoor centres of excellence both for cricket and football and working with an organisation supported by leading ex-footballers we hope to provide a sensational facility for them and will combine of the indoor training facilities for use by both cricket and football as well, as well as providing an indoor cricket school. We have recently made planning applications for all these facilities.

Outside of the main sporting facilities we are in negotiations with a hotel operator to create a 4* hotel on site and this will necessitate the rebuilding of certain of the other facilities that exist and the area to the right of the access road.

Southend Borough Council now has planning permission for a new 25-metre pool with a world-class pool and diving facility and they are hoping to complete the construction of that, alongside the tennis centre, in 2010.

On the golf course we are in discussion with the operators with a view to carrying out a number of improvements, and with that we hope to include some fairway watering.

The tree planting we undertook on the golf course is now well established and will be increasingly visible and contributes to a substantial improvement in the overall environment over the previous uses of the land, not just in the trees and vegetation but also in the wildlife and fauna, which has been created within the golf course area.

Finally, we are discussions with the University of Essex, and together we will be discussing with Southend Borough Council access to all of the facilities both here and elsewhere for students at the University campus in Southend. This new campus opened at the beginning of 2007 and the numbers of students will increase substantially next September and in the following years thereafter. Their use of all these facilities will ably demonstrate that our vision is being achieved, and that, when all these works are complete we have created the best sporting centre, not only regionally but also possibly in the Country for all the leading sports – except perhaps for sailing but then we do have the sea at Southend as well!

Editor’s note:- the above article was written earlier this year and is reproduced from the 2008 Essex Yearbook. Planning permission has now been obtained for outdoor nets, electronic scoreboard with storage facilities for the groundstaff and the mezzanine level referred to above. The nets have been financed by Essex and Southend Sports Trust and are expected to be open in time for the 2008 festival.

Essex members living in Southend are playing a major role in a transformation of Garon Park that has begun to take place over the winter.

Some 1500 lorry loads of earth and rubble from nearby building works were delivered to the site in the autumn to create a new mezzanine spectator facility around the ground. This area is currently being re-seeded.

A new storage space for ground equipment is under construction at the end opposite the pavilion and an electronic scoreboard has been ordered to attach to this new structure.

The poor winter weather has caused some delays but it is hoped this will be completed well ahead of August's Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival.

The next stage of the project is a plan to plant some 1000 trees and hedge plants inside the perimeter fence which separates the cricket ground from adjacent facilities. An irrigation system is being installed and we expect to revive most of the oak trees planted a few years ago.

This project is now well underway thanks to the magnificent support of three long-term Southend based members.

Mike Bradley, who lives in Leigh and runs Claremont Nurseries at Woodham Mortimer in Maldon, has generously arranged for the nursery to donate all the trees and plants for the project free of charge. At the time of writing he is personally supervising the planting of a laurel hedge round the new outdoor nets and behind the pavilion.

In January he provided over 100 fast-growing poplar lombardy trees. These were all planted by Great Wakering farmers and Essex cricket lovers Pendril and Arthur Bentall.

Further planting will take place next winter.

"I would like to publicly thank these three for their tremendous help and support," says Peter Butler, Chairman of the Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival. “This is typical of the enthusiasm in the Southend area to create a Centre of Cricketing Excellence in south Essex and continue the tradition of county cricket visiting the town, which has been going on since 1906."

"The County's financial support for this project is very limited, as resources need to be conserved for the Ground Development Project at Chelmsford, but thanks to the success of our fund-raising appeal to the public in Southend, and the generous contributions from the Norman Garon Trust and Essex & Southend Sports Trust, we are able to make steady progress. We always thought this would be a ten-year project. The 2009 Festival will be the fifth at Garon Park, so we are getting there."

”Every festival at Garon Park to date has generated a profit for the county club but with the current financial crisis we are going to have to work really hard in 2009 and hope members will help us rally support.”

A new article from Peter Butler, the Chairman of the Southend Cricket Festival Committee, has been added to our article library. Please click here to view...

Tune in to Southend FM all next week to win tickets for the Southend Cricket Festival. To win, just listen to the Drivetime show between 3pm and 7pm.

Southend FM will be broadcasting daily from The Festival with live updates every 30 minutes throughout play.

The map to the left details the Southend Cricket Festival setup at Garon Park. Please click on the map to enlarge.

As well as the cricket the ECB Roadshow will be present as well as full catering facilities. Essex Autogroup will also be presenting their range of cars.

We have introduced an "Articles" section to the website where you can learn about The Southend Cricket Festival and Garon Park. The articles can be found on the menu on the left.

Since the Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival was re-launched as a family fun event in 2004 the emphasis has been on local community links. The five day festival is now the most popular in the county for kids of all ages and this will be boosted in 2008 by regular broadcasts on Southend Radio. This new station, which was launched in March this year, broadcasts on 105.1 from studios next to Adventure Island on Southend Seafront. It can be heard throughout south Essex including the southern parts of Chelmsford. There will be live link updates and interviews from Garon Park on the state of play, reports on the Adventure Island under 11 Kwik cricket tournament taking place at the cricket festival, competitions to win free tickets and news of the evening entertainment events taking place in the marquees at the close of play.

Radio broadcasts on BBC Essex (103.5 and 95.3 FM) will continue as normal during the Southend Festival as will BBC Essex’ on-line ball by ball commentary service.

Community groups, schools and charities across Southend are again being given the chance to get their hands on hundreds of free tickets for the 2008 Essex Auto Group Southend Cricket Festival through a joint venture between Southend Borough Council and Essex and Southend Sports Trust. A number of free tickets are available for every day and will be allocated on a first come first served basis.

In 2007 a wide range of local community groups benefited from the free ticket offer, including:

• Avro Day Centre (for adults with learning disabilities)
• Southend Citizens Advice Bureaux
• Southend Huntingdon Disease Association
• Southend YMCA (helps young people move towards independent living)
• Peaceful Place (for members of the community with dementia and their carers)

If you know of a community group, school or charity that would like to take advantage of the free cricket festival ticket offer for 2008, please contact Southend-on-Sea Borough Council on 01702 215119, or email southendcricketfestival@southend.gov.uk.

Kids will be particularly welcome on Thursday and Friday of the Festival when the ECB Cricket Factory will be visiting Garon Park. This provides a platform for 4-18 year olds (including their parents!) to test their cricket skills, batting bowling and fielding. Southend United Community and Educational Trust are hosting a soccer school at the Ground on Sunday morning (August 3). Call Steve Goodsell on 01702 341351 for details.

Last but not least senior citizens have a special day on Thursday July 31 when Carewatch are arranging for the first 100 senior citizens to arrive at the ground to get admission for just ten bob. And if you do not know how much that is you do not qualify for the concession!

Save £££££s by buying advance tickets: Special ticket offers and lower ‘at the gate’ prices for the Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival are available at the Cliffs Pavilion Box office on 01702 351135 or online at www.cliffspavilion.co.uk. For example save up to £2 (adults) or £1 (kids under 18) on daily tickets; five day Rovers cost just £46 (adult) or £10 (kids); buy a family saver (two adults and two kids) any day for just £29. These prices are ONLY available on advance purchases.

Special Members’ Offer for Southend Festival: members can get £5 (adult) and £3 (kids) off the daily admission price at Garon Park for every guest that they take. Tickets must be purchased in advance from the Ford County Ground, Chelmsford (tel:01245 254010); closing date is Wednesday 23rd July 2008.

This year’s Southend Cricket Festival is again sponsored by Essex AutoGroup and there will be a full programme of entertainment both day and night. Essex play Glamorgan from 30th July to 2nd August and Essex Eagles take on Northants Steelbacks in the Natwest Pro 40 competition on Sunday 3rd August – the Festival Fun Day.

Essex AutoGroup feature Ford, Mazda, Fiat and Kia cars and provide Jaguar, Land-Rover and Volvo service centres in South and East Essex from their distributor and service centres in Southend, Rayleigh, Billericay, Basildon and Thurrock. Call 08448 444315 for details.

Special 2008 festival attractions include:

• Essex AutoGroup car display
• Free community tickets scheme provided by Southend Borough Council and Essex & Southend Sports Trust
• ECB Cricket Factory Roadshow – fun for all the family – on Thursday 31st July and Friday 1st August
• Carewatch Senior Citizens day on Thursday 31st July – the first 100 senior citizens pay just ten bob to get in!
• Beer festival featuring a ‘festival brew’ specially prepared by Shepherd Neame
• Under 11s Kwik Cricket tournament sponsored by Adventure Island
• Southend United Community & Educational Trust Soccer school at Garon Park on Sunday morning 3rd August. Call Steve Goodsell on 01702 341351
• Festival brochure
• An exciting programme of evening events in the marquees.

The Festival Committee has hired top Essex chef Wayne Hawkins with his ‘2 Chefs and a Jeroboam’ to provide a top class catering service. Wayne has a big reputation in the Southend area for high quality catering at outside public events and prestigious private parties. He provide the very best of contemporary cuisine using fresh high quality ingredients. Our aim is to provide high-quality, value for money catering for all visitors to the 2008 festival. Hospitality packages are available from Perry Norton on 01245 252420 or just book a lunch for two in the Festival Restaurant.

The ECB Cricket Factory Roadshow will be visiting the Essex AutoGroup Southend Cricket Festival from 10am to 6pm on Thursday July 31st and Friday 1st August.

Full details can be found here - http://www.ecb.co.uk/development/kids/ecb-cricket-factory/

A busy schedule of matches for Essex teams at Garon Park, Southend, gets into full swing this week when the 2nd XI take on Surrey 2nd XI in a four-day match from Tuesday (April 22).

Hard on the heels of the opening Essex representative fixture of the season – which ended in a narrow defeat for Essex women against their Middlesex counterparts on Saturday – an experienced second team will get their Second Eleven Championship campaign underway at the County’s newest first-class venue.

Essex 2nd XI team to play Surrey 2nd XI at Garon Park in the Second Eleven Championship, Tuesday April 22 to Friday April 25 (11.00am start each day)

• Varun Chopra
• Grant Flower
• Chris Marsden (Trialist)
• Tim Phillips
• Jono McLean (Trialist)
• Alex Roberts (Trialist)
• Alan Ison (Academy)
• Mervyn Westfield
• Tony Palladino
• Maurice Chambers
• Harry Beddows (Academy – Wicketkeeper)
• Theeban Tavarasa (Development Squad)

Updates over the four days of this week’s 2nd XI match will appear in the Essex CCC Diary section of the Essex CCC website at www.essexcricket.org.uk. Admission is free.

Garon Park fixtures - 2008

• Saturday April 19 – Essex women v Middlesex women (midday)
• Tuesday April 22 to Friday April 25 – Essex 2nd XI v Surrey 2nd XI (11.00am)
• Saturday April 26 – Essex U-13 girls v Middlesex U-13 girls (2pm)
• Saturday May 3 – Essex U-15 girls v Surrey U-15 girls (2pm)
• Wednesday May 7 to Friday May 9 – Essex 2nd and Kent 2nd XI v Middlesex 2nd XI (11.00am)
• Saturday May 17 – Essex U-13 girls v Kent U-13 girls (2pm)
• Sunday May 18 – Essex Academy v Middlesex Academy (11.00am)
• Saturday May 24 – Essex U-15 girls v Sussex U-15 girls (2pm)
• Monday May 26 – Essex U-13 girls v Surrey U-13 girls (2pm)
• Wednesday May 28 – Essex U-11s v Hertfordshire U-11s (1pm)
• Friday May 30 – Essex U-10s v Norfolk U-10s (1pm)
• Saturday May 31 – Essex Under-17 girls v Middlesex (1pm)
• Wednesday June 4 – Kwik Cricket Festival (midday)
• Saturday June 7 – Essex U-13 girls v Sussex U-13 girls (2pm)
• Saturday June 14 – Essex U-15 girls v Middlesex U-15 girls (2pm)
• Saturday June 21 – Essex U-17 girls v Hertfordshire U-17 girls (1pm)
• Saturday June 28 – Essex U-17 girls v Sussex U-17 girls (1pm)
• Sunday June 29 – Essex 2nd XI v Regional U-17s (11.00am)
• Saturday July 5 – Essex U-15 girls v Hertfordshire U-15 girls (2pm)
• Monday July 7 to Friday July 11 – Shoeburyness Schools Finals (3pm-6pm)
• Sunday July 13 – Essex U-11 v Surrey U-11 (1pm)
• Wednesday July 30 to Saturday August 2 – Essex 1st XI v Glamorgan 1st XI (11.00am)
• Sunday August 3 – Essex Eagles v Northants Steelbacks (1.45pm)
• Saturday August 23 – Essex U-15 girls v Cambridgeshire (2pm)

Changes and additions to these fixtures will appear on the official Southend Cricket Festival website at www.southendcricketfestival.org.uk

More information on the 2008 Essex Autogroup Southend Cricket Festival can be found on the official Essex CCC website at www.essexcricket.org.uk

Tickets prices for the 2008 Essex Auto Group Southend Cricket Festival have been announced. Advance purchase tickets remain unchanged from 2007. Full details can be found here.

The flyer for the Essex Auto Group Southend Cricket Festival has gone to print. The flyer will be distributed throughout the area and will have details on The Festival, ticket prices and corporate hospitality.

You can download the flyer (2.3Mb) here.

When the Southend Cricket Festival was relaunched four years ago our aim was to encourage more families, and in particular kids to follow cricket and support our county cricket club. This year more kids attended the Garon Park Festival than any other Essex home ground for equivalent games and the Adventure Island Kwik Cricket under 11 tournament, held for the first time in 2007 during the festival, was a resounding success; eight local clubs took part and Benfleet CC beat Rayleigh CC in an exciting final. In addition the free community tickets programme organised jointly by Southend Borough Council and Essex & Southend Sports Trust distributed over 750 free festival tickets to 38 different schools, churches, youth and sports clubs and charities.

We hope to build on this in 2008 by giving our support in the Southend area to the ECB's Chance to Shine initiative which with government backing aims to establish high quality, sustainable cricket programmes in a third of all UK state schools by 2015.

The Cricketing Centre of Excellence at Garon Park expects to play a full part in this and our development programme for next season includes plans to install outdoor nets at the venue which will be made available to local schools as part of the Chance to Shine initiative. It is also hoped some inter-schools matches will be played at the venue.

The County Cricket festival had a difficult year but more or less broke even financially. During the winter we are planning a number of improvements to the venue in response to constructive comments from members and we are also planning a special members offer for 2008. Full details will be included with our March mailing.

The 2008 festival will be a week earlier than this year starting on Wednesday 30th July with a four day game against Glamorgan followed by a 40 over game against Northants on Sunday 3rd August – so book your holidays now!

Great cricket - shame about the results!

Two defeats, the first ever at Garon Park, were hardly the results Essex fans wanted from the 2007 Essex Ford Southend Cricket Festival, but the games were close and the cricket was always interesting. In fact the matches once again demonstrated that county cricket can be a great spectator sport.

The LV Championship match against Gloucestershire saw some excellent bowling, great fielding but below par batting especially when Essex were dismissed for a dismal 88. It was a game of fluctuating fortunes right up to the final morning but in the end it was Essex first innings batting performance that cost the game. Regrettably the weather at Garon Park on the third day, when play finished at lunchtime, and on Sautrday when there was no play was the best we have seen in three years of Festival cricket at Garon Park - warm and sunny.

The weather forecast for Sunday predicted rain in Southend for most of the day - but fortunately it was inaccurate and allowed an exciting 34 over game to be played between Essex Eagles and Warwickshire Eagles on what for the most part proved to be a sunny and mainly dry afternoon. The forecasters always seem to overlook the fact that a mile or two from Garon Park is the driest part of the country and Essex cricket fans need to get wise to the frequent mis-information in the weather forecasts! Essex were all out off the last ball of the game trying to hit a six that would have tied the match - you cannot get much closer than that.

The wicket was sporting with some evidence of the Garon Park equivalent of a Lords ridge at one end, but there were no complaints and the general view was that the championship game finished inside seven sessions because of a combination of good bowling and poor batting.

Kids were much in evidence amongst the spectators on Sunday and the Adventure Island under 11 Kwik Cricket tournament between eight local clubs was keenly fought with Benfleet emerging as the winners. The competition was a great success and a credit to the organisers on the Southend Task Force. We hope to repeat the competition next year.

The early finish to the Gloucestershire game and the poor weather forecasting on Sunday affected the week's finances and gates were slightly down on last year.

Timing and fixtures for next year's festival will not be known until the official 2008 cricket fixtures are published in November.

My personal thanks to the members of the Essex Ford Southend Cricket committee and Task Force and to our key sponsors and supporters including Essex Ford (now being rebranded Essex Autogroup), Southend Borough Council, Adventure Island, Carewatch, Essex FM and Essex & Southend Sports Trust. Without their help and the support of all those who enjoyed hospitality in the marquees it would not be possible to keep the Southend Festival alive. Those interested in sponsorship, hospitality or advertising in our glossy festival brochure in 2008 should phone Perry Norton on 01245 254000 or e-mail Mike Smith on msmith@testing-solutions.com.

Peter Butler

Chairman Essex Ford Southend Cricket Festival.

Benfleet CC won the Adventure Island Kwik Cricket Competition in an exciting final against Rayleigh CC. A full review of the competition and all results will follow shortly.

Following the defeats for Gloucestershire in the Liverpool Victoria County Championship and then to Warwickshire Bears in the NatWest Pro40 competition, the 2007 Southend Cricket Festival closes.

Over the next couple of weeks, we will be adding reviews and photos to this site. Please keep checking back to catch the latest updates.

Essex couldn't capitalise in the last hour to cap a good day.

After bowling Gloucestershire out for 278 on the first day of the Southend Cricket Festival, Essex looked in a very strong position but fell to 36-3 by the close of play.

A century partnership between Craig Spearman and Kadir Ali saw Gloucester start strongly but three wickets apiece from Ravi Bopara and Danish Kaneria held up the innings.

A tough hour for Essex at the end of the day saw them lose the wickets of Varun Chopra, skipper Mark Pettini and Ravi Bopara for just 36 runs.

Entrance charge reduced to ten bob

Senior citizens are advised to arrive early at Garon Park, Southend on Thursday 9th August - the second day of the LV County champioiship fixture between Essex and Gloucestershire. This is because the gate admission charge of £17 will be slashed to just ten bob (50 pence in new money) for the first 100 senior citizens to arrive.

This special offer is sponsored by Carewatch which is one of the country's largest providers of home care and has a local base in Southend. Phone 01702 557007 for details.

'We hope that this deal will encourage Senior Citizens who would not otherwise be able to attend to come along and watch first class cricket in Southend.' says Peter Butler Chairman of the Essex Ford Southend Cricket Festival.

Spectators, including senior citizens, planning to attend several days of the 2007 Essex Ford Southend Cricket Festival are advised to buy a 5 day Rover ticket costing £46. This represents a saving of £32.50 on the normal admission price at Garon Park over the five days. Please note that there are no concessions for Senior Citizens at the gate other than the Carewatch special offer on Thursday referred to above.

Daily family tickets costing £29 for two adults and two children are another great offer. BUT the 5-day Rover and family tickets cannot be bought at Garon Park and must be obtained in advance at the box office at the Cliffs Pavillion - phone 01702 351135 for details.

A big crowd is expected for the NatWest Pro40 game on Sunday 12th Augusr between Essex Eagles and Warwickshire Bears. Reserved seats can be bought in advance again from the Cliffs Pavilion for £23 (kids under 18 £14.50).

Bus details for getting to Garon Park have been updated on the Getting to Garon Park page.

The draw for the Adventure Island Kwik Cricket Competition has been made. Click here for full details.

The festival kicks off with a LV County Championship match against Gloucestershire on Wednesday 8 th August and finish's with a Pro40 Division 1 match against the Warwickshire Bears on Sunday 12th August.

We currently have Hospitality spaces left available on Wednesday 8th August, Friday 10 th August and Sunday 12th August. Please note Thursday 9th August is now completely sold out.

The Essex FM Roadshow will be visiting Garon Park on Sunday, 12th August before the NatWest Pro40 match between Essex Eagles and Warwickshire Bears.

The Roadshow will start at 12:30pm and will have bands, dancers and will be giving away lots of prizes.

The Roadshow is part of Funday Sunday and will have many other events for the whole family.

Full details about the event can be found on the Funday Sunday page in the events section.

For the NatWest Pro40 match with the Warwickshire Bears on Sunday, 12th July, there will be a free shuttle bus operating between Southend Victoria Station and Garon Park.

The times of the bus are as follows:

• Southend Victoria to Garon Park - between 12 noon and 2pm
• Garon Park to Southend Victoria - between 7pm and 8pm (times may vary depending upon game finish time)

Details of the Southend Cricket Festival Kwik Cricket competition have been announced.

Adventure Island have given their support by sponsoring the event which will involve 8 local clubs.

Full details can be found on the dedicated Kwik Cricket page within the Events section.

The Southend Cricket Festival Committee and Southend Borough Council have issued a press release detailing it's intentions to give away free tickets for the Southend Cricket Festival to local community groups.

Tickets will be available for all four days of the Liverpool Victoria County Championship Division 2 clash with Gloucestershire and the NatWest Pro 40 match against Warwickshire Bears.

All details can be found on the press release.

If, due to adverse weather conditions, play is restricted to 10 overs or less the Essex County Cricket Club will exchange a valid ticket for a Rain Check Ticket. This ticket permits the holder to free admission to the public enclosure to a subsequent Festival match day at Southend or to any other day at the County Ground, Chelmsford in the current season. The Rain Check Ticket will also be valid at the Essex Ford Southend Cricket Festival in 2008

The ticket must be exchanged for a ground entrance ticket on the day of use.

In no circumstances can money be refunded

David East
Chief Executive.
Essex County Cricket Club

On the first three days of the County Championship match against Gloucestershire, there will be a Kwik Cricket competition for under 11s.

Eight local clubs will be invited to take part. Matches will take place during the lunch break of the County Championship match.

Full details will appear in the events section of this website when available.

Essex continued their 100% record at Garon Park in 2006 with convincing victories over Somerset in the Championship and Middlesex Crusaders in the NatWest Pro40.

Gloucestershire and Warwickshire are the latest counties to visit the Essex fortress next summer looking to become the first away victors.

Gloucestershire take on Essex in a Liverpool Victoria County Championship match from Wednesday August 8 to Saturday August 11 before Warwickshire Bears come to Southend for a NatWest Pro40 encounter on Sunday August 12.

Click here for ticket details for all five days of the Festival, with discounts now available for advance bookings.

Contact the Cliffs Pavilion Box Office on 01702 351 135 for more information or buy on-line at www.thecliffspavilion.co.uk.

Keep checking the Essex CCC website at www.essexcricket.org.uk in the coming weeks for more updates on the Essex Ford Southend Cricket Festival.