Assertive batting from Irani and Peters gains Essex promotion

Essex gained promotion to the First Division with a six-wicket victory over contenders Warwickshire after the two captains had agreed to declare innings in an attempt to set up a positive finish.

Drizzle delayed the start of play until 1.30pm and two declarations left the home side with a target of 201 from a minimum of 56 overs. They got off to a flying start before the visitors claimed their first wicket, that of Paul Prichard for 19, with 36 on the board in the 7th over. The fall of three further wickets in five overs swung the initiative towards Warwickshire as Darren Robinson, 5, Paul Grayson, 7 and the prolific Stuart Law for 10 all perished in the quest to maintain the scoring momentum.

However, skipper Ronnie Irani and 21 year-old Stephen Peters played assertively as they capitalized on some indifferent bowling and necessarily attacking field settings to tilt the balance back in favour of Essex.

The pair added an unbroken 138 for the fifth wicket in 25 overs, with a fine display of attacking shots all around the wicket and an abundance of quality driving to steer Essex to their 6th championship win of the season and promotion to Division One.

Speaking afterwards, Irani who only assumed the full captaincy of the side this season said, "We set out at the start of the season with one particular aim and that was to get into the First Division. Its to everybody's credit that we've achieved our aim - all the players and all the coaching staff - everyone at the club has worked so hard and now we've reaped the benefit. We battled hard all season and retained the determination to succeed throughout even when we had the occasional setback. But we've come through and I'm delighted for everyone involved with the club that Essex will be playing First Division championship cricket next season.