Essex captain Ryan ten Doeschate is not fazed by the run-scoring rampage Nottinghamshire went on to set up today’s sell-out Royal London Cup semi-final at Chelmsford.

Notts, skippered by former England player Chris Read, rattled along at T20 pace throughout the 50 overs of their play-off match against Somerset at Taunton on Tuesday in posting a formidable 429 and winning by 24 runs.

But under the scorching Chelmsford sun, on the eve of Essex’s biggest one-day game in a decade, a typically laid-back ten Doeschate said: “I honestly don’t think it is anything to worry about too much – Taunton is notoriously flat and there are some small boundaries there.

“I think it is more important that we focus on what we’ve done well at Chelmsford, what a good score is at Chelmsford, what are the ways to defend big scores at Chelmsford, what are the ways to create big scores.

“So certainly I don’t need to worry about that, and if anything they will be tired from an exhilarating quarter-final tie at Taunton!

“Maybe five years ago when it got over 10 or 11 (an over), you started to panic.

“Now you see guys scoring regularly between 90 and 100 in the last 10 overs.

“It is probably even more important now that you don’t fall into that trap and think it’s all right to go for 10 an over.

“That’s where you can create a differences in winning games. It is where the game has changed, and I think T20 has had a lot to do with that.

“Certainly the skills we now possess it is not uncommon to see big totals being created and chased.”

Essex sat out the quarter-final stage after finishing top of the south group and moving directly into a home semi-final tie.

They won seven of their eight matches in an almost perfect qualifying campaign, bar an agonising one-run defeat at Glamorgan, their only defeat to date in any form of cricket this season.

He said: “It wasn’t perfect, the chase at Surrey was a bit of a mess-up, but we found ways to win it. But there were certainly a lot of positives to take out of our campaign. The spread of runs and wickets, the matchwinning performances across the board.”