Ramirez pitched the eighth before Andrew Bailey pitched the ninth

There is an air of quiet satisfaction at Chelmsford, the morning after Essex sealed their return to the top division of the Championship. Chris Silverwood, the head coach, is in great demand, while club legends such as Graham Gooch, John Lever and Nasser Hussain can be spotted on their peregrinations, shaking hands and exchanging nods. Former captain Brian Tonker Taylor, at the venerable age of 84, was said to have commandeered a taxi to come to the ground.The players had been allowed a minor knees up the night before, sitting on the team balcony and belting out a few numbers, although celebrations will begin in earnest at the conclusion of their match against Glamorgan - and possibly once again after the presentation of the Division Two trophy at Canterbury next week. Promotion secure, the hard work done, Essex are heading in the right direction again. As Hussain jokingly puts it: The home of cricket is back.It will take a lot more hard work for them to stay in Division One, not that anybody here is about to dispute that. Essex have been promoted on three occasions since two divisions were instated only to be relegated immediately each time. But ambitions have been awakened - I dont just want to compete up there, I want to beat people, Silverwood says - and the planning to avert a similar fate next year begins almost straight away.I like dreaming, Silverwood says, the twinkle in his eye discernible despite the presence of shades. I say to the guys, dream and dream big and have the courage to chase it. Thats what were doing out there. The dream of playing for England, the dream of winning trophies and being successful. Lets chase it, lets have a go.Even as the T20 debate seemingly takes a decisive twist away from the smaller counties, Essex have found that the Championship is the stuff that dreams are made on. They are not ready for a rude awakening.Silverwood and his four-day captain, Ryan ten Doeschate, have enjoyed success at the first time of asking, pulling together a dressing room that had a reputation for failing to deliver despite a truckload of talent. Having been assistant coach under his predecessor, Paul Grayson, Silverwood had first-hand experience of seeing Essex stumble - and he remains disappointed by two more quarter-final defeats in this seasons limited-overs competitions - but he did not believe that major changes were required.I was very much a part of that era, working under Paul and Ill always be grateful to him for giving me that opportunity in county cricket. The time was right, we put a structure in place and everybody bought into it - partnerships with bat and ball, little targets, achievable goals - if we do this, this is where well end up.The tone was set by ten Doeschates decision to skip the IPL and commit himself to a full season of Championship cricket. It may not have been the glamorous decision but passing 1000 first-class runs in a campaign for the first time was rich reward. Define glamour, Silverwood grins knowingly.Taking each game as it comes and creating the right environment for players to excel in are sporting clichés but that does not necessarily neutralise their effectiveness. Ten Doeschate chose to focuse on the teams efforts after he had hit the run to secure promotion on Tuesday evening and Silverwood pushes a similar philosophy. The Yorkshire dressing room that I grew up in was very much about the team first, he says.With 18 Championship hundreds, shared between eight different players, and 10 five-wicket hauls, Essex have at last parlayed collective bargaining power into a season of compelling cricket. Alastair Cook, who arrived to take part in the celebrations, chipped in whenever England would let him, while the names of the key contributors - ten Doeschate, Graham Napier, Tom Westley, Nick Browne, James Foster, Jamie Porter, David Masters - inspire wide-ranging affection among the clubs passionate (and occasionally belligerent) support base.At any given point someone has dug deep, Silverwood says. Cooky dug deep for us at Sussex, Dan Lawrence dug deep for us at Leicester, when we were in trouble there - no one would have backed us to get the score we did after being 68 for 5. But again the confidence comes through from processes put in place, and playing on better wickets, really, allowing the batsmen to score a weight of runs which the bowlers can then use as scoreboard pressure to put other teams under the pump.It is perhaps ironic that the change to the toss regulations this year has helped Essex to come up with a promotion-winning strategy. Jesse Ryders two seasons of menacing visiting batsmen at Chelmsford were considered to be one of the reasons the ECB instigated change but Silverwood has been all in favour, with Essex posting big totals and then working through opponents with a battery of varied seamers.That will be harder to do in Division One, all the more so due to the retirements of Napier (confirmed) and Masters (expected). Mohammad Amir has been mooted as a potential overseas signing - Hes a good bowler, who wouldnt want him? Silverwood says - and a top-class spinner would also be a useful addition. Essex have barely employed spin this year - Westley, Lawrence and Ashar Zaidi have bowled less than 150 overs between them - with few Division Two sides having produced turning pitches but the situation in the top tier has been markedly different. These will be the topics under discussion between Silverwood and ten Doeschate, not to mention Ronnie Irani, the chairman of the cricket committee who Silverwood says he speaks to most days. Irani may have been occasionally divisive as a player - and his return last year also caused ructions - but Essex have forged a strong sense of common identity over the last 12 months. Where previous seasons have seen promising players depart for challenges elsewhere, this time they are coming back: Varun Chopra and Adam Wheater already re-signed to add some Division One steel.They wanted to come back to Essex because they can see what were trying to achieve, Silverwood says. Theyve seen the potential and theyre excited and want to be part of it. A few years ago the club was criticised because people were leaving us - well, I think we need praising now, because people want to come back. And I find that really exciting because an Essex boy in an Essex shirt will push hard for Essex because thats his county.Theres a hint of Yorkshire about this, too, though Essex, home to Englands two greatest Test run-makers, has a reputation of its own to polish. Silverwood, who is among Andy Flowers burgeoning network of Lions coaches, might also be on the radar at his home county - where there will be a significant vacancy opening up shortly - but he stresses that his current goal is beating Yorkshire rather than joining them. I would love to take the big boys down, he smiles, looking ahead to next season. Essex wont have to wait much longer for their chance. Swell Bottle Ombre . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Swell Bottle Nz . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. http://www.swellbottlesnz.com/swell-bottle-black-nz-sale.html .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. sWell Bottle Stockists . Numbers Game looks into the Canadiens securing the services of Thomas Vanek in a trade with the New York Islanders. The Canadiens Get: LW Thomas Vanek and a conditional fifth-round pick. Swell Wood Bottle Nz . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. HOUSTON -- The Houston Astros dont have enough time for their bats to go quiet like they did Thursday night.Albert Pujols hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Ricky Nolasco pitched seven solid innings, helping the Los Angeles Angels hinder the Astros wild-card hopes with a 2-0 victory.The Angels ended an 11-game skid and pushed Houston 1 1/2 game behind the Tigers for the second AL wild card.Were not perfect, Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. I dont know if anybody is going to run the table, and I think losses anytime of the year hurt. These obviously hurt when youre glued to whats going on.Pujols homered into the Crawford Boxes in left field, helping Los Angeles move to 2-11 against the Astros this season.Its nice to win, Los Angeles manager Mike Scioscia said. We have played some tough games. Those guys have had our number. Theyre a tough team. They have played well against us, but we are going to keep playing hard.Nolasco (7-14) gave up five singles and struck out five. He did not allow a baserunner past second. Nolasco had a second straight scoreless start after throwing six shutout innings Saturday against Toronto.I was spinning the ball pretty good, Nolasco said. I thought I was feeling the strike zone for the most part. I was challenging with fastballs when I had to. I was pitching off some good breaking balls to keep them off balanced.JC Ramirez pitched the eighth before Andrew Bailey pitched the ninth for his fifth save.Mike Fiers (11-8) allowed two runs and four hits with a season-high nine strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.We knew in April losing to any team in our division was a big loss, Fiers said. Obviously coming down here in September it seems bigger but its one game.The right-hander retired 13 straight at one point. Fiers had his second straight strong outing after throwing six scoreless innings Saturday in Seattle.Just came out of the gate slow and made too many mistakes in the first inning, Fiers said. Pujols capitalized on a first-pitch fastball and after that I settled inn and got my pitches working and kept them off-balance for the most part.ddddddddddddJose Altuve had three hits for Houston, which grounded into three double plays.We couldnt piece an inning together where we had multiple hits in a row or multiple baserunners, Hinch said. There was always something in the way either too late after a couple outs or starting something up with two outs and then them making a big pitch at the right time.TRAINERS ROOMAngels: LHP Tyler Skaggs (left forearm tightness) played catch and will throw some bullpens in the coming week. Hes symptom free, but we are going to obviously be very conservative where his treatment is now to make sure that this doesnt re-occur or turn into anything bigger, Scioscia said. Right now he feels great.Astros: RHP Lance McCullers, who has been out since Aug. 2 with a mild right elbow strain, threw a full bullpen Thursday. McCullers was pain free and will have another bullpen in a few days.BROWN RETIRESHouston Astros TV play-by-play announcer Bill Brown will retire this month. The 69-year-old Browns final scheduled broadcast will be the last regular season home game, Sept. 28 against the Mariners. Brown started with the Astros in 1987 and has called games for them for nearly 30 years.PUJOLS MOVING UP THE CHARTSPujols two RBI broke a tie with Frank Robinson for 20th on the career list. His 116 RBI this season are his most since driving in 118 in 2010. The home run was Pujols 53rd against the Astros.UP NEXTAngels: RHP Alex Meyer (1-3, 5.63) will make his fifth start of the season and fourth for the Angels on Friday. Meyer earned his first career win in his last start Sunday, tossing five shutout innings against Toronto.Astros: RHP Doug Fister (12-12, 4.45) will make his 31st start of the season Friday, looking to snap a four-game losing streak. Fister allowed seven runs in less than four innings Sunday at Seattle. ' ' '