The secrets behind Essex's fairytale County Championship success: talent, smart signings and 'shaking things up'

The county is on the verge of its first title in 25 years, just a year after promotion, and it now looks perfectly primed for the future

Jamie Porter is one of a number of homegrown talents to thrive in the First Division (Getty Images)

Essex’s march to their first County Championship title in 25 years is as unexpected as it is extraordinary.

The champagne may have been put on ice given second-placed Lancashire’s stubborn refusal to fold against Somerset.

But the corks will surely be popped in Chelmsford on Friday when the result from Taunton is confirmed. Lancashire need to win a match they have been forced to follow on in if they are to deny Essex their first title since 1992.

Even in the unlikely event that they do, it is still a matter of when rather than if Essex get over the line.

Given the club were only promoted to Division One of the Championship last summer after six years in the second tier, it will be a particularly noteworthy triumph.

Much is said about the gap between the two divisions, which has been getting bigger each year since the introduction of promotion and relegation back in 2000.

But Essex have managed to not only bridge it but make it appear non-existent such has been their form during a season that, with just two matches to go, has seen them remain unbeaten.

How have they done it? Well, the answer is not simple. However, good coaching, smart recruitment and some significant changes behind the scenes have led Essex to this point.

Those changes, beginning with the appointment of Ronnie Irani as chairman of the club’s cricket committee in July 2015, have been the key to Essex’s renaissance.

Irani, the former England all-rounder and Essex captain, came in with a brief to shake things up after years of underachievement.

His appointment of Chris Silverwood as coach and Ryan ten Doeschate as captain at the end of that summer kicked things off.

Silverwood had been assistant to former coach Paul Grayson, who left the club towards the end of the 2015 season after eight years in charge. Grayson, a good man who was popular with the players, had been left to carry the can for Essex’s failure in the Championship.

Silverwood changed things, bringing in the heavily-influential Anthony McGrath from Yorkshire as his assistant, and promptly earned promotion in his first summer.

Irani’s second big decision – stripping club stalwart James Foster of the captaincy and appointing Ten Doeschate in his place – was not popular. It has, though, proved a masterstroke, with Ten Doeschate proving over the past two years he is one of the sharpest captains on the county circuit.

If those decisions by Irani in 2015 paved the way for promotion, it was what happened after that which proved significant in terms of this summer.

In a sign that Silverwood and Irani were already planning ahead for life in the top flight, two former players in opener Varun Chopra and wicketkeeper-batsman Adam Wheater were brought back to the club before the 2016 season had even ended. For a county who had lost so many of their academy graduates to so-called bigger clubs in the preceding years, it was a significant psychological recalibration.

Former captain Ronnie Irani was brought in as chairman in 2015 with a brief to shake things up (Getty Images)

But Essex still had a significant problem to overcome given they lost Graham Napier and David Masters to retirement at the end of last summer. Between them, the pair took 103 wickets during the club’s promotion campaign.

That’s some gap to fill. Yet the signing of Simon Harmer on a Kolpak deal has proved a stroke of genius, the former South Africa spinner taking 63 wickets this season.

Alongside Harmer, a home-grown talent in Jamie Porter has thrived in Division One. The 24-year-old seamer had enjoyed a fantastic 2016 summer, taking 55 Championship wickets.

Porter, though, has kicked on spectacularly after being given the responsibility of leading the attack. He is the leading wicket-taker in the country this season, with 64 at an average of 17.85.

Porter has also been assisted by some astute overseas signings, with New Zealand’s Neil Wagner having two spells at Chelmsford in between the arrival of Mohammad Amir. Getting the Pakistan fast bowler to the club was a coup. Although he only played three Championship matches, Amir’s 10 wickets against Yorkshire at Scarborough in early August proved critical to a win that gave Essex real belief that the title could be won.

Former England captain Alastair Cook helped Essex adjust to life in the top flight (Getty Images)

Having Alastair Cook, England’s all-time leading Test runscorer, available for the first seven matches of the season also played a significant part in helping Essex readjust to the top flight.

However, like Porter, Cook is just another success story of the club’s renowned academy.

Cook wasn’t part of the team that beat Warwickshire this week. However, eight members of the XI that moved Essex to the brink of glory at Edgbaston were products of the Chelmsford academy.

Of those, Tom Westley, Ravi Bopara and James Foster have already represented England. In 20-year-old middle-order batsman Dan Lawrence, opener Nick Browne and Porter there are three more academy graduates who look destined to follow them.

This mixture of quality home-grown talent, smart signings and astute moves behind the scenes have been the secret to the club’s success.

It may have come as a surprise this summer, but Essex now look well equipped to continue competing for the biggest prizes for years to come.