The results on Saturday were respectable with a win over fellow relegation rivals Buckinghamshire and a narrow (6-4) loss against a Nottingham team that is currently in second place. However other teams have beaten Bucks, who look likely to finish last, more comprehensively and so the win by 6-4 represents a disappointment.
The Sunday match featured bottom of the table rival Warwickshire but their position is artificially low because of a 9-1 thrashing by Surrey on the first weekend. Their subsequent results suggest they will be strong enough to survive and on the day they were too strong for a fighting Essex team taking both the mixed rubbers to win 6-4.
Essex consistently do well in the singles where Joel Gayle and Tanapat Pisitpong are unbeaten but a good start if often reversed by the time the 4 level doubles games have been played out. Strength in depth, partly due to availability of our strongest players, prevents the team from securing big wins.
The final weekend brings games against Yorkshire, who are traditionally strong in the last weekend, Cheshire and Lancashire. To avoid a return to Division 1 the team will probably need to do well against Yorkshire and beat both Cheshire and Lancs who could themselves get dragged into the battle at the bottom.
