10 best Essex cricketers of all time 

8 John Lever

John Lever

Left-arm swing bowler John Lever was one of the greats of Essex during a first-class career that lasted around 22 years and in 1976, he made it to the England team on the back of excellent performances in the domestic circuit.

In a dream Test debut against India at Delhi, he picked up 7 wickets in a display of superb swing bowling and followed it up with 2 more wickets in India's second innings.

He picked up 26 wickets in the series but could not replicate that in later games and ended up playing only 21 Tests in his career. For Essex, he was a giant and in a long first-class career, he took 1722 wickets.