Essex release five players but aim to keep festivals

Faced with the prospect of relegation from Division One of the Frizell County Championship, Essex have announced the release of five players, while they are to continue with their festival weeks at Southend and Colchester.

The most prominent name among the five players who will not have their contracts renewed is opening batsman Darren Robinson. He made his debut in 1993, was capped four years later and last season scored 1474 runs in first-class cricket at an average of 46.06 with five hundreds. This season, however, he has not been as successful and at the age of 30 he no longer features in the county's plans.

Wicket-keeper Barry Hyam also made his first team debut in 1993, on his 18th birthday, and was capped in 1999. The following year he topped the list of first-class keepers with 55 dismissals, but the emergence of England's James Foster along with the arrival of Andy Flower from Zimbabwe meant that he has been confined to a single first-class match in the last two seasons.

Others to go are pace bowlers Joe Grant, who used to open the bowling for Jamaica with Courtney Walsh, Andrew McGarry, and Nick Denning who did not play any first-class cricket during his one year on the staff.

Chief executive, David East, commented: "This is always a sad time of the year when certain players are not retained, but our cricket committee made the difficult decision not to renew a number of contracts at its recent meeting. The club should like to wish them every success in their future careers, particularly Barry Hyam and Darren Robinson who have made a significant contribution in their many years with the club."

Meanwhile, Essex are to continue with the Southend and Colchester festivals for 2004 provided there is continued support from the local communities.

East said: "The club committee has reaffirmed its wish to see festival cricket remain at Southend and Colchester, and has set up two sub-committees to drive the promotion of the festivals locally. However, the committee stated that it is essential that the club continues to receive local support at both venues so that the financial viability of the events can be assured, otherwise it may be necessary to return the fixtures to Chelmsford next season."

At one time Essex were a nomadic county playing home matches at Leyton, Ilford, Gidea Park, Clacton, Westcliff and Brentwood as well as at Southend and Colchester before their headquarters in Chelmsford was developed as it is today.