Essex spin king Simon Harmer: I’m not really a stats guy

Essex off-spinner Simon Harmer admitted he wasn’t a stats guys after helping his side to a nine-wicket win over Warwickshire in the LV= County Championship.

Harmer finished with match figures of 10-230, from 68.4 overs, to record the 14th 10-wicket haul of his first-class career.

And it also saw him claim his 33rd five-wicket innings return and move past 400 victims for the county.

But Harmer said: “I love taking wickets. I was getting extremely frustrated there when I couldn’t finish things off towards the end.

“But I am not really a stats guy. If you asked me I couldn’t tell you how many five-wicket hauls I’ve taken or how many wickets I’ve got. I’ve got no idea.

“I think it’s something you look back at the end of your career. But I definitely take time to enjoy the successes because you’re only just around the corner from a dry spell, so enjoy it while it’s raining – or the sun’s shining!”

Essex had recovered from the early loss of Feroze Khushi and Sir Alastair Cook on the first day to post 457, thanks largely to a 227-run stand between captain Tom Westley (114) and Dan Lawrence, who made 152 before joining the England squad.

The visitors lost their openers cheaply to Jamie Porter (3-20) and Sam Cook, before Harmer worked his way through the rest of the line-up.

After Essex enforced the follow-on after dismissing Warwickshire for 158.

“I wouldn’t have been able to bowl the way I did but for Dan and Tom’s innings that set us up and get us over 450. So it was definitely an all-round performance,” added Harmer.

“When you’re in that position you can definitely be more aggressive when you’re setting fields because you are not too fussed about conceding runs because you understand we’ve got runs to play with.

“If we were only 50 ahead you obviously have to mix the aggression with making sure you’re not leaking runs. So it helps going into the third innings 300 runs ahead.”

Warwickshire’s batters made a better go of it second time around, but they still looked set for an innings defeat until the tail wagged.

Having been 269-8, they were eventually dismissed for 381, but Feroze Khushi hit a quickfire 40 as Essex raced to their 83-run target in 15 overs.

“They batted really well second time around,” added Harmer. “Rob Yates and Will Rhodes had a really good partnership in the second innings and made it difficult for us.

“I think there was probably a lot more on offer for the right-handers than there was for the left-handers in terms of the spin aspect. But they batted nicely and took us on a bit when the ball got a bit softer.

“I enjoy getting the ball as early as possible [in an innings]. When it’s harder everything happens a lot quicker and I think especially at Chelmsford when the games get into days two and three they slow down a lot so when the ball gets older it’s difficult to the ball to move quickly.

“They fought hard and did extremely well to push us back. But the way Feroze [Khushi] came out – we were chasing what could have been a tricky total and he got us out of the blocks so quickly and put the nail in the coffin early – was an example of how the team has played over the last three days.”

The win left Essex 23 points behind leaders Surrey – who slumped to a 123-run home defeat against Lancashire.

And, after Vitality Blast T20 clashes with Middlesex (Friday) and Surrey (Sunday), Essex head to Blackpool to take on Lancashire for their next red-ball test on Monday.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves. If you’re winning games of cricket you never know what’s going to happen,” said Harmer.

“It’s a funny game and we don’t want to look back having given up thinking we weren’t going to catch them. We just need to make sure we keep winning.”