Latest news with #Silverwood
BBC News
03-04-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Westley challenges Essex to end wait for trophy
Captain Tom Westley has challenged Essex's younger players to help propel the club to a new era of begin the new County Championship season on Friday with a home game against Surrey, who have dominated the competition for the past three Silverwood has returned as Essex's director of cricket, having previously guided them to the title in 2017, which was followed by a Championship and T20 Blast double in 2019 and the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020."We haven't won anything for a few years now and if we want to be remembered like the Gooch era, the Fletcher era, we need to add a couple more Championships before we're even considered," Westley told BBC Essex Sport."That's going to be the shift in the mentality of the players, to want to create their own legacy - which is going to be a challenge because we don't necessarily have the resources of some counties."What we do have is quality and talent in abundance in the changing room. We're tired now of competing or running them close, it would be nice if we can actually lift a trophy again." Essex, who finished fourth in Division One last season, will again rely heavily on the quality of prolific seam bowlers Jamie Porter and Sam Cook and off-spinner Simon Harmer, while Westley - now 36 - and South African Dean Elgar provide the experience in the batting they also have the likes of Noah Thain, Luc Benkenstein, Robin Das and Charlie Allison, who are looking to gain more game time with the first team."There's always a changing of personnel, people getting a bit older, and some of the younger guys are probably at a stage in their careers now where they want to stamp their authority on the club and want their own success," said Westley."It is an exciting time. In the last three or four years we've been competitive but my challenge to the squad and the management's challenge is you actually want to create your own success."There's only a handful of us who were involved in the trophy success of a few years back, so the challenge is can that next crop of Essex cricketers create their own legacy?"On former England and Sri Lanka head coach Silverwood's return to Chelmsford, Westley added: "He is familiar with the club, and is also desperate and hungry for the club to move forward and be successful (again)."Silvers has changed himself, he's had international experience which has been fantastic for him, and hopefully bringing that knowledge and experience back to Essex will only benefit us."
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Essex start search for Thakur replacement
Essex director of cricket Chris Silverwood says they are actively seeking a replacement for Shardul Thakur after the India pace bowler pulled out of a deal to join the 33-year-old will instead play in the Indian Premier League, having been named as an injury replacement by Lucknow Super was due to be with Essex throughout April and May for their first seven County Championship Division One games."It will be difficult to replace somebody of his calibre - we were all very excited to get him here into an Essex shirt - but it's the nature of the beast in modern-day cricket with so many competitions going on around the world," Silverwood told BBC Essex Sport."We knew that something could happen. We're obviously disappointed but it's back to the drawing board and look for plan B. It may mean doing things slightly differently - but that's exciting as well."Essex still have three quality seam bowlers, with the prolific Jamie Porter and Sam Cook, backed up by Shane Snater, plus the most successful spinner in county cricket in recent years, Simon England and Sri Lanka head coach Silverwood believes the right blend of experience and youth will enable them to challenge this year, having guided them to the title during his first spell in charge in won it again in 2019, but their last success was in the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy. Despite that, Silverwood said: "I don't see us being under pressure at all. For me, it's just about going out there and performing to our best, making sure we do everything we can do to perform on the field and make sure we're consistent in doing that."I see that as more of a positive than a negative and that's what I'll be trying to drive home." He added: "The last few years, we've been pushing and not quite got there but if we look at the years previous to that, we've got guys in there that have tasted a lot of success and know what it takes to win."If they can show the youngsters how to do that, it puts us in a great position moving forwards. I think we do have a lovely blend in there." Essex start the season on 4 April with a home game against Surrey, champions for the last three seasons.
The Independent
18-02-2025
- Sport
- The Independent
England and Sri Lanka spells helped Essex boss Chris Silverwood grow as a coach
Chris Silverwood is back at Essex after eight years away and feels he is a better coach for his experiences in charge of England and Sri Lanka. The Chelmsford-based county turned to old boss Silverwood after Anthony McGrath departed in October to take over at Yorkshire. Silverwood is 'home' and eager to build on an outstanding previous stint where he guided Essex to promotion in 2016 before a year later securing the County Championship title. The 49-year-old has been on a journey since with a difficult spell as England head coach followed by two years leading Sri Lanka before he was tempted to return to the domestic scene when he received a call from Essex this winter. Even though Silverwood last made major headlines for being dismissed by England following a Covid-19 disrupted 4-0 Ashes series defeat three years ago, he holds no grudges and is in no doubt he is a better person for it. 'There's always things you're going to look back on and say we could have done that differently. Would I have taken on so much? Probably not,' Silverwood said. 'At the time you do things for what you think are the right reasons and you learn from them, so I don't hold any animosity or any grudges, or anything like that. 'You put it down to experience. Has it helped me grow as a person? Yes. Has it helped me grow as a coach? Definitely. And the lessons I've learned, when I went to Sri Lanka, again, I was able to put them in place as well. 'As I said when I exited England, I'm still an England fan. I still want them to do well.' England's aggressive 'Bazball' style has taken the nation by storm since Silverwood was replaced by Brendon McCullum in the summer of 2022. Silverwood has enjoyed the bold philosophy from afar and also taken pride in the fact players he gave Test debuts to – Ollie Pope and Zak Crawley – have flourished under the leadership of Ben Stokes and McCullum. He added: 'Obviously the two guys that came in, Ben as captain and Baz, they put their character on there and it worked so good on them. Obviously the two guys that came in, Ben as captain and Baz, they put their character on there and it worked so good on them. Did we enjoy watching it? Absolutely Ex-England head coach Chris Silverwood on 'Bazball' 'Did we enjoy watching it? Absolutely. We enjoyed watching, I think everybody did, but equally, we have to understand that you go to Australia, you go to India like they have now, they're tough places to play cricket.' One-time England bowler Silverwood has long moved on from dwelling on what if and while he was dealt a bad hand with his tenure affected by the coronavirus pandemic following a fine 3-1 Test series win in South Africa, the immediate task for Essex's new director of cricket is to better his first spell. That will not be easy given Silverwood guided Essex to back-to-back red-ball titles, which was followed by further silverware under his old number two McGrath, but the Yorkshireman has a twinkle in his eye again. 'From a personal development point of view, Sri Lanka was superb and it came at a good time as well off the back of England and everything,' Silverwood said. 'You say I am a proud Yorkshireman, but Essex is home and it has been for a long time now. My kids are all born down here. 'For me, it is coming home. This is my home, so I'm very proud to be back. I'm obviously proud to have the involvement I did last time, but to come back and get to help again, I'm very proud. And we've got to beat it. 'I am proud of the system we left that works but equally I am proud of the fact Mags picked it up and ran with it. He continued to drive what we put in place and we have punched well above our weight. 'What we have to do now is make sure we continue to do that for many years to come.'
