Simon Harmer: Spinner predicts 'trophies to come' for Essex despite T20 defeat
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Simon Harnmer hit the winning runs in Essex's T20 Blast semi-final win over Hampshire Hawks
Simon Harmer has predicted "trophies to come" for Essex despite their defeat by Somerset in the T20 Blast final.
The club were looking to repeat their 2019 success in the competition and were set a target of 146 at Edgbaston.
But Harmer's side struggled to 55-5 and were eventually bowled out for 131 in the 19th over, losing by 14 runs.
"We are trying to play an exciting brand of cricket and trying to take it on from ball one," T20 captain and spin bowler Harmer told BBC Essex.
"We've made some really good strides and understand that we are going to get it wrong from time to time, but we've learned some good lessons this year.
"One thing you can say about this Essex team is that they never give up and fight to the very, very end and I think that's something you can't buy, the rest of the stuff you can work on.
"If we can maintain that attitude, there will be trophies to come."
Essex have been one of the most successful counties in recent years, also winning the County Championship in 2019 and the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020.
They finished fourth in last season's Championship but are in contention for another title tilt this year, lying second in the table following last week's exciting 46-run win over Lancashire at Blackpool, just 13 points behind leaders Surrey.
"We are slowly but surely chipping away at Surrey's lead and starting to put some pressure on them," said Harmer.
"I think they know that if they slip up, we're right behind them but we need to keep focusing on ourselves.
"Tom Westley's having an unbelievable campaign as skipper, and with the bat as well. Long may that continue and hopefully we can continue putting in big performances."
They resume their Championship campaign with a home game against Kent on Wednesday, while Surrey take on Middlesex at Lord's.
And Essex also have the One-Day Cup, which starts next month, running concurrently with The Hundred, to aim for, having not won a longer-form limited-overs trophy since 2008.