FORMER England wicketkeeper Paul Nixon insists he has had no contact from Essex Cricket Club amid speculation surrounding Paul Grayson’s future at the County Ground.

Essex club chiefs yesterday refused to comment on speculation Nixon was being lined up to replace Grayson in charge at Chelmsford.

But, speaking exclusively to Echosport, Nixon revealed he had not been contacted by Essex and was instead concentrating on producing young players at his academy.

“My full focus in on my foundation at the moment and the new recruitment for our second year,” said Nixon.

“I haven’t spoken to Essex at all.”

Grayson has been head coach at Essex for the past eight seasons.

And he remains fully focused on making sure his side bounce back from last week’s frustratingT20 Blast quarter final exit at Warwickshire when they head to Sussex Sharks in the Royal London One-Day Cup tonight.

“We were all bitterly disappointed with the performance we put in at Edgbaston but the game with Sussex gives us the opportunity to move into the next stage of this competition and show what we can do in limited over cricket,” said Grayson.

“We’ll be looking for some big performances and we can’t dwell on the defeat by Warwickshire the other night either.

“It’s happened and we are all disappointed but we have to get that out of our system. “ Sussex have yet to win a match in this year’s competition having lost five and seen two matches washed out.

In contrast, Essex have been beaten just twice.

But Grayson will not be underestimating Sussex ahead of this evening’s encounter.

“Sussex will be disappointed with their results in the competition this summer but they have some very good cricketers in their squad and they will want to end their campaign on a positive note in front of their home crowd I’m sure,” he said.

“We’ve set high standards in our white-ball cricket and, for a lot of the time, we’ve attained those levels.

“Now we have to ensure that we are at the top of our game against Sussex. Our 50-over cricket has generally been excellent and we’ve beaten some good sides by playing some quality cricket.”

Victory for Essex will guarantee a place in the knockout stages of the competition and a home tie.

The Eagles have David Masters available despite him having to leave the field against Warwickshire due to a side strain but Graham Napier is still sidelined with a calf problem.

Essex Eagles (from): ten Doeschate, Browne, Pettini, Westley, Bopara, Ryder, Foster, Velani, Masters, Topley, Porter, Nijjar, Salisbury & Mickleburgh