ESSEX Cricket head coach Chris Silverwood says he is faced with a real selection headache ahead of Sunday’s County Championship game with Glamorgan.

Silverwood watched Essex draw their third game of the season against Derbyshire this week, as rain once again hindered their progress in Division Two.

But Silverwood remains in buoyant mood with a trip to Wales to follow, beginning on Sunday with overseas pair Matt Quinn and Matt Dixon keen to feature.

It’s a real headache as we need to get people in and it bodes well moving forward,” he said. “Matt Quinn hasn’t featured yet but he has now returned to fitness and is desperate to be involved, as is Matt Dixon.

“In terms of the game it is a case of starting the process over again. We take all the games as they come and tackle each game in the same way.

“It could be a juggling act with the bowlers as we have a lot of different formats coming up (County Championship, T20 Blast, 50-Over matches) and we can’t expect people like Napes (Graham Napier) to play them all. We want to make him as available as possible so we may look after him at some point.”

However, Silverwood will find it difficult to ignore the claims of young duo Jamie Porter and Aaron Beard, who excelled against Derbyshire.

Both took three wickets, with 18-year-old Beard particularly impressive on his County Championship debut.

“It’s great to see Beardy out there playing so well,” said Silverwood. “It is time for the youngsters to show what they can do and we have the old guard there to help out as well, and they will play a part but we will keep an eye on the future.

“Dan Lawrence (who scored 116) was very good with the bat as well. He capitalised on a great wicket and hopefully he can build on that. He is hungry for runs and he loves batting.

“Despite the draw there were a lot of big positives. Obviously Nick Browne (255 runs) Dan but everyone chipped in around them.

“I love the way the guys never gave up but we never gave up and that is part of the side we are trying to build.”

Essex, who are 22 points clear at the top of the division, begin at the SWALEC Stadium at 11am on Sunday.