KENT TO ESSEX TRAVELOGUE

By Peter Davies,

ESSEX MAN

After one visit to Essex in 48 years , I have now done three in three months:Chelmsford for cricket,my Essex tour (Manningtree,Harwich,Clacton -on-Sea ), and today . Bizarre. But it is a big county and I do not feel I know it very well at all.

FULL MONTY

The Southend ground , Garon Park, is a bit unusual: no stands ,just open plan and a small tearoom.No pavilion as such. Surrounded by trees and bushes. Nice big scoreboard but nothing else.Essex are playing in red today, Sussex in yellow.The only name on view is Monty Panesar,trying to revive his career in the south-east.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

But the tearoom is nice : a woman and a bloke on teas duty and cups of tea at £1 a time.Lunch was at 2 PM.Very sunny but also windy. Essex used to play at another Southend ground : Southchurch Park. Also did some reading and writing.

SIGNING UP

Drunk a lot of tea and also had some lunch in the tearoom: Portuguese rice, poti-poti and chicken salad.Fruit too. Kept bumping into Monty Panesar as I wandered about. In the end I asked him to sign my pad of file paper; "To Peter ,best wishes, Monty Panesar ".I asked him how it was going at Essex and he said " Very well, thank you ". He was courteous and polite. He took a look at my Curtly Ambrose book and then said at the age of 33 he still thought he could play more Tests for England. Seven or eight years ago he was playing Test cricket in Australia, winning series with England, publishing his autobiography and bring out comedy DVDs. Now he is playing 2nd X1 cricket at Southend. How the mighty have fallen.