Michael Pepper

Wicketkeeper Michael Pepper broke into the Essex first team as a turbo-charged T20 batter before establishing himself as first-choice behind the stumps in red-ball cricket as well. A key member of the team that reached the 2023 Blast final, he was consistently Essex's best performer in T20 over a number of seasons, leading to opportunities in the Hundred and ILT20 as well as an England call-up for the tour of the Caribbean in late 2024.

His breakthrough in first-class cricket took a little longer. He made 92 in his fourth appearance, at Chester-le-Street early in the 2021 season, but it wasn't until August 2024 that he notched a maiden Championship hundred, against Worcestershire at Chelmsford. Another came 10 days later, at home to Notts, and he then added three more the following summer, while averaging 42.94, to confirm his progress.

Pepper, who played his club cricket for Cambridge Granta in the East Anglian Premier League, signed a summer contract with Essex in 2018 after a string of impressive performances for the 2nd XI. His Championship debut came in a day-night affair against Somerset at Chelmsford in June that year. Essex held him in such high regard that they felt able to release their long-serving keeper James Foster at the end of the season.

In 2021 and 2022, Pepper led the run-scoring for Essex in the Blast - performances which won him a chance as a replacement for Northern Superchargers in the Hundred. He helped fire Essex to Finals Day in 2023, before going to greater heights the following year: 535 runs at a strike rate of 193.84, which included his first two hundreds in the format. In October, he was added to England's ODI squad for the West Indies as cover for the injured Jos Buttler.
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