PAUL Grayson feels his Essex squad is stronger than last year and can avoid being the bridesmaids of English cricket again this season.

Essex were pipped to promotion out of Division Two by Hampshire and Worcestershire last term and also reached the quarter finals of two one day competitions.

But Grayson is certain his side can do even better this term.

“We want to go one further than we did last year and I think we can too,” said Grayson.

“We played some really good, positive cricket in all three formats last year but ended up being the bridesmaids.

“We fell just short in the end but this year we want to get promotion and we want to win a one day competition too.

“I also think we have a stronger squad than last year to try and make that happen too.”

Essex have lost pace bowler Tymal Mills and bowler Ben Foakes since the end of last season.

But Grayson has been boosted by the pre-season form shown by youngsters Jamie Porter, Dan Lawrence and Kishen Velani.

And he is happy with the balance of the squad.

“We lost three or four from last year but some of them didn’t really play a lot of cricket last season and we’ve got some youngsters stepping up now,” said Grayson.

“Jamie has done very well and he’s probably been our stand out bowler during pre-season, Kishen got a hundred in the game with Surrey last week while Dan has done well too.

“I’m happy with the squad because we’ve got a nice balance of youth and experience.

“But the key thing is to start the season like we finished last year so we can remain confident and get some momentum going for when the likes of Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara and Ryan ten Doeschate come back in.”