Tour match, County Ground, Chelmsford:
Essex v West Indies
Saturday 25 April-Monday 27 April
 Cook will hope to play himself into some form against the West Indies |
England opener Alastair Cook will kick off his preparations ahead of the West Indies series when Essex face the tourists in a tour match from Saturday. The left-hander has not turned out yet this season because of a broken finger, but is expected to play in the three-day game at Chelmsford. Fellow England hopeful James Foster will also be hoping to impress. West Indies will be looking to build on their impressive batting display in the tour match against Leicestershire. Lendl Simmons scored a century and Brendan Nash also impressed as the Windies racked up 315-6 in the draw.  | 606: DEBATE |
And the tourists may have another opportunity to get in some good batting practice at the County Ground, with Essex opting to rest a number of their frontline bowlers. "We have taken the decision to rest a few of our bowlers as we have a number of games coming up in the next few weeks," said coach Paul Grayson. "But we have a full strength batting line-up and the squad are looking forward to the test that the West Indies will provide." England's two-Test series against the Windies gets under way at Lord's on 6 May.
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