Essex

It feels like the longer I watch cricket, the less I understand it. Just how is it that that Essex can perform so damn well in the white ball format of the game but look less than spectacular when the ball is red?

June, July and August have seen Essex put something of a smile back on the Chelmsford faithful's faces, cumulating in the brilliant performance at Trent Bridge that saw them shock Nottinghamshire and join the party at Finals Day.

It was always going to be during this point of the season that James Foster's men really excelled. The seemingly obvious decision to focus on the shorter format, infuriating as it is, once again seems to be bearing fruit. And another final at Lord's in the Yorkshire Bank 40 final isn't beyond the realms of possibility.

As Graham Napier snared his fourth wicket in four balls during Essex's YB40 game against Surrey at Chelmsford recently, it got me thinking, has there been a player so cruelly overlooked by England in recent times? Well, maybe, but it seemed like a good angle to wax lyrical about Colchester's finest anyhow.

Not content with his brilliant showing in the 40-over format, Napier has also been instrumental in Essex's fast-improving season, which has seen them haul themselves from the foot of the table into the promotion race, with some vital Napier contributions with both bat and ball. His stand of 88 with James Foster on day one of the Championship game against Kent, ensured Essex ended up escaping with a draw against the rabble from Canterbury.

Napier's career has been one that's seen him hampered by injuries at the wrong time, but he's shown the strength to fight back and perform superbly in all forms of the game. After equalling the highest number of wickets taken by an Essex player in a one-day campaign, 33 in 2003, Napier found himself selected in the initial party for the 2004 Champions Trophy but didn't feature.

Hope springs eternal, unless you're an Essex fan at the moment it seems. Two games into the season and dreams of a return to Division One look misguided at best and there won't exactly be a rush to the bookies to lump on any sort of success in the one-day format.

It is time for a change at the top. Paul Grayson has been in charge for six years and Essex are moving nowhere other than backwards. Some of the decisions already this season look utterly bizarre. Saj Mamood, signed from Lancashire in the winter, finds himself playing for the second XI despite an injury to David Masters, while the decision to bat Ben Foakes at No. 3 instead of Ravi Bopara is, well, just plain odd and a run of failures will do nothing to help Foakes' confidence.

There is little doubt that IPL pair Ryan ten Doeschate and Owais Shah are big misses in the batting line up. It is difficult not to feel some sympathy for the club, as initially there were rumblings that they wanted to adopt the Nottinghamshire 'no IPL' rule for their players, but for whatever reason this doesn't seem to have been implemented. Despite some misgivings about Shah, he averaged a shade under 50 last year in the four-day format and ten Doeschate weighed in with 45.77. Luckily Bopara was not taken in this year's IPL auction. Alastair Cook makes a rare and extremely welcome return to the side for the next two games and the timing couldn't have been better as Essex take on the two sides heavily fancied for promotion this year, in Hampshire and Lancashire.

Goodness me, we could do with a barnstorming cricket season couldn't we? I mean like a real humdinger. Perhaps it was Essex's rank showing last term, along with the awful weather, that means I'm really hungry for some quality cricket this year.

With ten games affected and over 1,800 overs lost to rain, Essex's bid for promotion was horribly derailed in 2012. After winning the opening game against Gloucestershire, there wasn't another Championship win until early August. This year, with seven four-day games scheduled before the end of May, a good start will be imperative.

Lancashire and Hampshire aside, this looks to be a pretty poor second division. Peter Moores will expect to lead Lanky straight back up, leaving the rest fighting it out over other slot. I'd expect serious competition to come from Hants and Kent but, really, Essex should be looking to make a serious attempt at promotion this year. If Derbyshire can do it, then there has to be hope for the rest.