Originally Posted by Andy Mellon

Yes. Those were the heydays for Essex too. Gooch, Hardie and McEwan at the top of the order. Pringle and Foster were handy with bat and ball. There was always an Essex player to root for during England matches. In fact, it was a pretty decent time for county cricket in general. A lot of characters were still involved - Viv Richards, David Gower, Ian Botham, Mike Gatting etc. County cricket does generally seem a lot more professional these days (excepting some in-fighting in recent years, particularly in Yorks and Derbys - although Essex has been a victim too with the Stuart Law affair)