Ripley satisfied with County’s bowling options as Chambers comes in

The former Essex man has signed a two-year deal at the County Ground and will bolster a squad that has lost Lee Daggett, Luke Evans and Sam Sweeney in recent weeks.

Those departures had left the County short on numbers but with an overseas bowler on the shopping list to replace Trent Copeland, head coach Ripley is of the opinion that Chambers can fill the breach.

He said: “Maurice will certainly add competition and he’s got plenty of raw materials to work with.

“He finished the season strongly in Division One (on loan at Warwickshire) and a change of environment will hopefully help him.

“It wasn’t too long ago that he was playing with England Lions and he has the type of cutting edge that we will need in the top division.”

The initial impression is that Chambers’ capture represents something of a coup for the County, a fact that Ripley acknowledged and thinks will have been helped by the club’s recently earned promotion.

He continued: “He first crossed our radar when we went to Colchester and he wasn’t playing.

“Stephen (Peters) has faced him a few times and rated him and Geoff (Arnold, bowling coach) worked with him when he was at Essex.

“We wanted to see if we could get him playing a bit of Second XI cricket with us but then got a call to say that he was going to Warwickshire on loan.

“We thought that may have out them ahead of the game but I think the cricket that we were playing, and the fact that we are going to be in Division One, helped our cause.

“And the fact that we beat a couple of other clubs to sign him is a good sign for us.”

As for any more additions, Ripley is sticking to the same line that has been doing the rounds for a short while.

“Numbers-wise that will be us,” he said.

“We’ve made it known that we’re after a left-arm spinner and an overseas bowler and if we can get those then there won’t be any more coming in.”