Through time: Yorkshire versus Essex

The county was formed after a public meeting on January 14th in the Shire Horse Inn at Chelmsford in 1876. First-Class status was secured in 1894 and the following year, the club joined the County Championship. They have won the competition eight times.

Essex’s first home was Brentwood, but crowds were small and they moved to Leyton in 1885. Chelmsford became the club’s new headquarters in 1934. One of the club’s early captains was JWHT ‘Johnny’ Douglas, who also captained England to Ashes success in Australia in 1911/12. He also won the Middleweight boxing gold medal at the 1908 Olympic Games.