Leicestershire Story

[Scurvy]

Thought it would be fun to play a game as Leicestershire, my aim in the first season is to achieve a mid-table position in the CC, and to attempt not to have a losing record in the CT or T20. Realistically I think it could be a difficult season for a below-average team.

Team for the first game away at Hampshire is:

1. Niall O'Brien, Bat Av. 35.68 - Ireland international, aggressive opening batsman in CC and OD games
2. Matthew Boyce, 28.30 - poor average from 140 innings, but better than alternatives.
3. Shiv Thakor, 51.42 - excellent young batsman
4. Ramnaresh Sarwan (c), 39.17, Bowl Av. 41,79 - WI international, will be key batsman and useful backup bowler.
5. Ned Eckersley (w), 31.39 - Young Wicketkeeper-bastman with alot of potential.
6. Greg Smith, 28.84 - Unremarkable young batsman, can open
7. Jack Cobb, 24.96, 58.89 - Aggressive batsman and decent bowler
8. Jigar Naik, 26.63, 32.22 - Solid off-spinner who can bat a bit.
9. Claude Henderson, 18.95, 30.82 - Experienced bowler, ex-SA international, 899 first class wickets
10. Matthew Hoggard, Bowl Av. 27.52 - ex-England international, experienced bowler, 770 first class wickets
11. Alex Wyatt, 30.59 - Young bowler with potential

Lose the toss and asked to bowl first on a good pitch but poor conditions.

• Day 1: Good first day to season, with an opening stand between NoB and Boyce of 250, Boyce out on 106, NoB on 161, and team end day at 330/2.
• Day 2: Declare at tea on 572/5, with Thakor on 158* and Eckersley contributing with a useful 89. Chris Wood is best bowler with 47-9-129-3-2.74. Hampshire openers bat out the day to 63/0.
• Day 3: Hamps. reach 392/2 at close, led by James Adams who scores a sublime 201*
• Day 4: Adams falls early for 218, but Michael Carberry gets in and scores a fluent 114, with Hamps eventually bowled out for 573 just after lunch. Naik bowls well with 39.5-8-112-5-2.81, supported by Henderson (49 overs at 2.69 econ.) We bat out a draw, ending on 124/4.

Draw on a pitch clearly favouring batting.

[Scurvy]

Second game at home to Kent. Win toss and elect to bat. Same team selected.

• Day 1: Another good start, ending the first day 300/4, NoB scoring 69
• Day 2: Heavily rain effected, ending on 379/7
• Day 3: Sarwan reaches 103 and useful tail batting by Naik on 54* helps team reach 423 midway through day. Kent bat well to 239/4.
• Day 4: Kent overtake total just before tea and declare 16 ahead on 439/8, Powell scoring an excellent 148. Naik again the best bowler with 46-6-150-6-3.26. We bat out day ending 86/3.

Another draw, very similar to the first game.

[Scurvy]

Next up is a match against Leeds UCCE, which I used to have a look at the rotation players, match drawn, NoB scores 362, Angus Robson 212*

Then its home to Gloucestershire. 2 changes to the team, with Angus Robson (a promising young batsmen who impressed against Leeds) and Tom Wells (young all-rounder) in for injured Eckersley and Boyce. We lose toss and are asked to bowl.

• Day 1: Yet again a good first day, with Gloucester struggling on 98/5 at lunch. Wyatt and Hog take a wicket each with the new ball, and Naik then takes 3 as first change. A 99 stand after lunch between Will Gidman and Payne inhibits progress, but eventually Gloucs. are all out for 246. Naik with 21-2-64-5-3.05. Openers end day 30/0.
• Day 2: Even day, ending 300/6, runs were scored at a decent rate but wickets fell consistently.
• Day 3: Strong batting from tail takes team to 413. Norwell pick of a strong Gloucs. seam attack with 5-129. Thakor gets 79, Tom Wells scores 79 on debut and most impressively Henderson top scores with 88. Gloucs. have another poor innings, and end on 190/5.
• Day 4: Gloucs. stick around for an uncomfortably long time, and are eventually out for 299. Naik gets 4-80 and Wells very impressive with 19-4-34-2-1.79. Meaning 133 is needed off 1 and a half sessions, which we make relatively easily with 18mins to spare.

First win of the season. batting is very good, reaching 400 in the first innings for the 4rd consecutive match. The bowling was aided by some poor Gloucs. batting, but Naik continues to be outstanding, and Wells did well on debut.

[Scurvy]

Gloucestershire visit again for the first CT game of the season. OD team starts as follows:

1. Niall O'Brien
2. Ranmaresh Sarwan
3. Jack Cobb
4. Shiv Thakor
5. Angus Robson
6. Rob Taylor (Young all-rounder I know very little about, in for Smith who is a defensive batsman)
7. Tom Wells
8. Jigur Naik
9. Claude Henderson
10. Matthew Hoggard
11. Nathan Buck (decent bowler with unflattering bowl average of 39.33, but a good economy compared to Wyatt, who he replaces)

Win toss and bat first.

• Leics: NoB and Sarwan really struggle to score in opening overs, with NoB eventually bowled on 12 off 38 balls and Sarwan reaching 70 off 108. Even the usually aggressive Cobb only managed around a 50. SR of 43 off 82. Restricted to 145/2 in 40ovrs.
• Gloucs: Much more assured batting, led by Cockbain scoring 66 off 57, and the total is reached in 23.5 overs for loss of 3 wickets.

Disappointing first OD match of season, batsmen never really got going against arguably the best seam attack in division.

[Scurvy]

Back to the CC, away at Worcestershire. The same team is selected following the win at Gloucs.

• Day 1: Maybe remembering his timidity in the OD game, NoB races to 100 off 152 balls, before being bowled for 104. Thakor accumulates a steady 109, but no batsman is able to stick around at other end, leaving team at 297/7 at close.
• Day 2: Scuttled out within 30mins for 306. Worcs. struggle at 94/4 at lunch, but a good partnership by Samaraweera and Gareth Andrews of 190 leaves them 326/5 at close.
• Day 3: Samaraweera is out early for 127 and the seamers clear the tail by lunch, Worcs. finishing on 441, 135 ahead. Seems that NoB got his dates confused, turning up for a 4 day game against Gloucs. and a OD match today, as he races to 50 off 64 balls and is out on 61 caught trying to drive through the off-side. More considered batting from Smith and Thakor sees team to 213/1 at close with the dangerous situation at lunch defused.
• Day 4: Thakor out early for 90, but Smith builds to 100 off 301 balls, and we declare at tea on 380/2 with Sarwan on 75* and Smith 116*. Worcs. play out the draw for no loss.

Quite happy with result after first innings deficit. Batting was acceptable, especially in second innings. Bowling poor on a pitch not good for spin.

[Scurvy]

Next game is away at Northamptonshire. One change to the team with Robbie Williams (a promising seam bowler who used to play for Middlesex) in for Wyatt who has been disappointing so far, in 4 matches taking 8 wickets at an average of 48.62 and SR of 84.12. Hopefully he will gain some form in 2nd XI.

We win an important toss in wonderful batting conditions, and as a result choose to bat.

Day 1: Smith falls early, but Thakor and NoB play almost to tea, with Thak getting 76, and NoB falling on 110. We end day in a good position on 301/4.
Day 2: Sarwan in out just before lunch for 103, but with support from Robson (20), Wells (41) and Cobb (20*) moves total to 400/6. Cobb eventually out for 45 in second session, but Naik (40) and Williams (27*) put on 49 for last wicket, seeing team to 491. Trent Copeland was exceptional in an otherwise ineffectual bowling attack, with 37.3-8-73-4-1.95. Norths. end day on 109/2.
Day 3: Excellent 145 by Kyle Coetzer forms foundation of the 484/6 effort at the end of the day, with support from David Sales, Andrew Hall (both 83) and David Willey (82).
Day 4: Norths. declare early on 507/7, ahead by 16, and after a jittery start (40/3) Thak and Sarwan both hit 50s and we declare at 220/5, leaving Norths to play out 22/0 to end of play.

Always going to be a draw when both teams exceeded 450 in first innings. Bowling was anemic from both teams.

[Scurvy]

Now a home game against Glamorgan.

Playing the same team as the previous match. We win toss and choose to bat.

• Day 1: NoB does well to 45 but after he falls at 90/3, the batting collapses completely with only Thakor resisting, left stranded on 79* with team out for 253 at close of day. Not likely to be enough against a strong Glam. batting lineup (Newman, North, Allenby and Goodwin and 2-5).
• Day 2: Glam. reach our total for the loss of just 4 wickets at the start of the 3rd session, and push on to 352/6 at close.
• Day 3: Allenby hits a wonderful 252* as Glam. declare halfway through the day on 508/8. He is supported by Newman (63), Mark Wallace (43) and Michael Hogan (51), a woeful bowling performance (see image below) with Angus Robson having the only decent spell. We start 255 behind, but the openeners play well to survive day at 161/0.
• Day 4: Both NoB and Smith reach centuries and then get out in morning session, (115 and 116 respectively) but Sarwan and Thakor step in and seem to be playing us out of trouble at 359/4 heading towards tea. Unfortunately both get out and team collapse to 371 all out. This leaves Glam. needing 117 to win off one hour. They start well, smashing Williams for 7.50 an over and Hog for 6.65, leaving 60 needed from 30mins. Good bowling by Naik (5-0-25-3-5.00) seems to have stemmed momentum, but no bowler can hold the other end. Williams gets hit for 15 off one over by North. Glam. just knock off the last 6 runs they need from the last over to take a dramatic win. Important contributions from Newman (40 off 41) and North (25 off 22). They end of 117/4.

Exciting match which was lost by the collapse in first innings. Allenby was stunning, taking 8 wickets in the match and top scoring with 252*

[Scurvy]

A change of emphasis with 2 CT matches in a row, the first is against a very good Somerset side.

Team is the same as the last OD game except that Anthony Ireland (ex-Zimbabwe international) comes in for injured Buck. Win toss and bowl in cloudy weather.

• Somerset: Trescothick and Kieswetter play brilliantly with 60 off 88 and 111 off 114 respectively. Bowlers struggle, especially Ireland who gets 2 wickets but goes for 7.43 an over. Somerset post a daunting 223/5.
• Leics: Reply starts well as NoB and Sarwan race to 100 in 13 overs. NoB falls for 62 off 48, and Cobb gets a duck shortly after. When Sarwan falls for 66 off 64, and Thakor gets bogged down, eventually getting out having made 22 off 42, the chase looks unlikely. But Robson with 27 off 35 and Taylor scoring 33* off 22 do just enough, making the total in the 39th over for the loss of 6 wickets.

Good win against a very good side. Bowling is however a worry.

[Scurvy]

Away to Unicorns next, with Sykes (young SLA bowler) replacing Ireland

Lose toss and asked to bowl.

• Unicorns: Do well to get to 203/6. Park anchors with 79* off 100 balls, and Lewis Hill scores an impressive 48 off 46. Naik gets 8-1-23-2-2.87. Sykes on debut is okay with 4-0-24-0-6.00.
• Leics: Gleen Querl produces an incredible performance of 7.5-4-9-4-1.15 to decimate the innings, which eventually ends in the 39th over on 187.

Unhappy to lose to the weakest side in the game, although Querl's bowling deserves to win any game.

[Scurvy]

Back to the CC away to Kent. Team is the same as the side who lost to Glamorgan. Wells has just done enough to keep his place ahead of a fit again Boyce.

Kent win toss and bat.

• Day 1: Wonderful 139 by opener Sam Northeast sets tone for innings, and Kent end the day on 336/5.
• Day 2: Kent push on and reach 529 all out halfway through the day. Alex Blake hits a fluent 113 and Fabian Cowdrey gets 83*. Bowlers really suffer, although Sarwan gets a creditable 4-82. NoB and Smith play well (again) and set the innings well, out on 40 and 42. Leaving the team 147/2 at close.
• Day 3: A frustrating day. Another 4 batsman reach 40 but fail to push on, meaning in total 6 batsmen score between 40 and 70. As a result we are all out for 337, 43 runs of the follow on. The start to the second innings is disastrous, and by the end of the day the game is seemingly over, with the team on 140/5.
• Day 4: A good 59* by Wells takes team to 207, and Kent are forced to bat again to hit the 15 runs needed to win.

Second loss in the CC in a row, which is a worrying slump. Northeast batted well in both innings, but if any of the Leics. top order had capitalized on their starts the game was salvageable.

[Scurvy]

Another 2 CT games, starting with Middlesex at home.

Sarwan is picked for the WI Champions Trophy squad, unsurprisingly due to his current season averages: 62.11 FC, and 69.50 at 72.00 SR OD. Replaced by reservist Joe Burns a young Aussie batsman with FC av. of 40.98 and 35.53 in OD. Burns can't open so Cobb moves up a place in order and Burns comes in at 3. Elsewhere Eckersley returns from injury and replaces the out of form Hoggard.

We win toss and choose to bowl...

• Mdlsx: ...Which seems a mistake when Mdlsx. bash 250/5 off their 40 overs. Dawid Malan scores 94 off 100 and Stirling 91* off 58. Best bowler as usual Naik, who manages 8-2-32-2-4.00. In absence of a recognized seamer, makeshift new ball due of Wells and Taylor were expensive, with 8-0-53-0-6.62 and 8-0-72-3-9.00.
• Leics: A fantastic 123 off 114 by NoB supported by Cobb with 27 off 24 and Thak with 57 off 66 gives us some hope. But we fall 17 runs short on 233/4 in a brave but futile chase.

A combination of good Middlesex batting and incompetent Leicestershire bowling left the batsmen with slightly too much to do.

[Scurvy]

CT game away at Yorkshire. Another seamer, Oliver Freckingham comes into side for Claude Henderson, making his debut outside of the second XI in an attempt to solve bowling problems.

We win toss and bat.

• Leics: Only Burns has a good innings, with a strong 81 off 95, has very little help until Taylor in at 7 scores 31 off 47 and Wells at 8 snaffles 19 off 14. Total of 178/6 looks weak.
• Yorks: Taylor bowls well in early stages (8-1-46-2-5.75). However total is too low to be defended without regular wickets and Ballance (69 off 65) and Rashid (62 off 54) take Yorks. past total for loss of 6 wickets in 29 overs. Freckingham not the answer to our bowling prayers with 4-0-29-0-7.25.

4th loss on the bounce and we are really struggling for form, especially in the bowling.

[Scurvy]

Next Northamptonshire in CC. A few changes to team who played in last CC game against Kent. Boyce is in for out of form Cobb, so Smtih moves to number 7, and Boyce returns to opening slot. Sarwan is still on international duty, so Burns is at 4. Eckersley returns from injury and replaces Williams, and another injury returnee, Buck, replaces Hog. Only 2 seam bowlers (Wells and Buck) but at home this is not an issue as it's a spinning pitch.

Lose toss and are put into bat.

• Day 1: Boyce falls early but NoB and Thak consolidate and negotiate a difficult day heavily effected by rain, ending 205/1.
• Day 2: NoB is out early, after a partnership of 209, scoring 98. Burns comes in and hits a fluent 40, followed by Robson with a rapid 101 off 139 balls. Thak anchors innings and is 169* when we declare an hour before close on 471/4. Wells strikes with new ball to leave Norths. 39/1 at end, and complete a good day for team.
• Day 3: Norths. bat out the day to 391/5, Stephen Peters with 108, Alex Wakely 94.
• Day 4: Norths. out in morning session for 424, Coetzer getting 92. Naik (who else) is top bowler with 34.2-2-124-8-3.61. We play until tea on 163/1 (Boyce 61, NoB 87*) then give them a bat, ending on 41/0.

A batting draw, but an encouraging performance.

[Scurvy]

Back to the CT, Henderson back in for Freckingham, Ireland (playing well for 2nd XI) in for Cobb. Win toss, bat.

• Leics: Slow first 10 overs, at 42/1, but Boyce (56 off 71), Eckersley (48 off 46), and Thak (50* off 51) all play well to 213.
• Glam: Wonderful batting in reply, reaching total for the loss of 3 wickets. Stewart Walters gets 85 off 74, Goodwin 35 off 28. Henders is the only bowler with an economy under 5.

Strong batting performance by Glamorgan.

[Scurvy]

A strong Essex side visit for a CC game. Sarwan is back from international duty and comes straight back into side. Hoggard is in for Wells. Win toss and bat.

• Day 1: NoB and Boyce start well, and while both get out just before tea, we are in strong position at 170/2. Thak is out on 34 just before close and day ends with total at 250/3.
• Day 2: Steady batting day, Sarwan with 65, Robson 73, and Eck with 51 see team to 461 all out with an hour left. David Masters bowls well - (47.4-9-111-4-2.33), as does Tom Craddock (52-8-157-4-3.02). Essex close 38/0.
• Day 3: Good bowling from Hog (22-2-75-3-3.41) and Buck (27-3-86-2-3.18) reduce Essex to 285/6 and Naik (28.2-2-83-4-2.93) clears tail. All out 152 behind at 315 all out, however out at the end of the day, so a draw looks the favourite result.
• Day 4: We hit a rapid 154/6 and declare 300 ahead at lunch, but Essex, led by Cook (85) bat day out without alarm and end 144/3. Draw.

Encouraging bowling performance against a very decent side.