Leicestershire Story

[Scurvy]

Now a break for the 20/20 season. Team to start with is as follows:

1. Niall O'Brien
2. Matthew Boyce
3. Shiv Thakor
4. Shakib Al Hasan - Bangladesh captain and strong all-rounder
5. David Wiese - Another all-rounder
6. Ned Eckersley
7. Tom Wells
8. Jack Cobb
9. Matthew Hoggard
10. Claude Henderson
11. Nathan Buck

1. Nottinghamshire:

• Notts: 157/7, Alex Hales hits 62 off 38 and Wessels 55 0ff 38, Buck bowls well for 3-0-26-3-8.67
• Leics: Never even close, 120/3. Thak does okay with 46 off 57, SAH 34 off 39, Wiese 22 off 9.

2. Derbyshire:

• Derbs: Careful bowling keeps Derbs. to 117/7, Wiese 4-0-19-2-4.75.
• Leics: Comfortable chase, win with loss of 2 wickets. All for batsmen get over 20, SAL top scores with 38 off 27.

3. Durham:

• Durham: Naik returns from a rest, into the team for Cobb, and gets figures of 3-0-11-2-3.67. Durham scratch to 121/9, top scorer Gordon Murchall hitting 30 off 24. Wells also bowls tidily 4-0-19-3-4.75.
• Leics: A bit worried when 3 wickets are lost with the score at 113, but reach the total in last over. SAH gets 49 off 34, Wiese 32 off 27. Chris Rushworth best bowler 4-0-10-1-2.50.

4. Lancashire:

• Lancs: Solid batting, Horton 35 off 25, Procter 35 from 24, Tom Smith 42 off 39. Buck 4-0-21-2-5.25, Wiese 4-0-16-2-4.00. 154/7.
• Leics: Cobb in for Boyce fails to fire, and team never get going, ending on 98/8. SAL 31 off 38 and Wiese 22 off 23. Tom Smith completes a very good game taking 4-0-16-2-4.00.

5. Yorkshire:

• Yorks: Good innings of 159/6. Ballance 64 off 45, average bowling except for Hog, 4-0-19-1-4.75.
• Leics: Wonderful chase, Boyce (in for Cobb) out early, but NoB 47 off 28, Wiese 43 off 28 and Eck 34 off 26, leaves us needing just 3 from final over. Bresnan bowls it and almost succeeds in winning the game for his team, taking 3 wickets in a row for 0. Henderson, after surviving an lbw appeal hits a 4 off the last ball. Fantastic game.

6. Nottinghamshire:

• Notts: 177/7, another strong innings from Notts, Michael Lumb 41 off 30, Samit Patel 36 off 24.
• Leics: Second exciting chase in succession, but fall short by just 5 runs. 172/3. NoB 73 off 54, Thak 69 off 42.

[Scurvy]

A break from 20/20 for a CC game against away at Essex. Same team selected as the one that played them last CC match. Win toss and bat.

• Day 1: Sarwan makes the key contribution of 124 as we reach 340/8 at close. Ably supported by Robson (45) and Eck (42).
• Day 2: 336 all out early, and looks a decent first innings total. However the Essex opening pair of Tom Westley and Browne bat brilliantly to 224/0 at the end of the day.
• Day 3: Browne is out for 129 halfway through morning, and Westley follows shortly after for 178. Essex progress to 421/7 and declare an hour before close with a lead of 55. NoB gets out in first over and we end on 38/1. Naik impressive with 46.3-4-133-5-2.86.
• Day 4: Comfortable day, declaring at tea for 319/5, Robson 103*, Sarwan 88, Thak 65. Masters 23-4-68-3-2.96. Essex bat out to 80/1, with Westley picking up a further 45*.

Similar to the previous game against Essex.

[Scurvy]

More 20/20 matches.

7. Lancashire

• Leics: Going okay until Zimbabwe international Rainsford gets a hat-trick and stalls innings, all out for 92. Tom Smith continues his good form against me with 4-0-21-4-5.25.
• Lancs: Reach total for no loss.

8. Durham

• Durham: Restricted to 135/7. Mark Stoneman top scores with 49 off 49.
• Leics: A 62 off 40 by NoB sets up chase and with help from Thakor (41 off 42) the total is made for the loss of 5 wickets in 17 overs.

9. Derbyshire:

• Derbs: 137/7, Chandapaul instrumental with 74 off 51.
• Leics: NoB hit 61 off 53, and Cobb 38 off 31, with the openers putting on 84 for the first wicket. A Wiese 23 off just 9 balls sees team home with 2 overs spare.

10. Yorkshire:

• Leics: NoB sustains form with 60 off 48, and team reaches 141/5.
• Yorkshire: Solid chase made in 18 overs, Phil Jaques leading way with 59 off 40.

So a satisfactory 20/20 campaign, with a 5-5 record.




NoB best batsman in competition for team, with an average of 48.87 at 125.75 SR. SAL, Wiese, and Thakor also performed well.




Wiese and Buck best of the bowlers.

[Scurvy]

CC at home to Lancashire next up.

Only change is Wyatt in for Hoggard. We win toss and bat.

• Day 1: 70/2 at lunch. NoB 39, Boyce 28. By lunch 160/3, Sarwan out for 37. Thakor grinds out a 50, then Robson and Smith bat to the close at 290/5.
• Day 2: Smith out early for 45. Robson scores 113 in total of 360 all out at lunch. Lancashire seamers all bowled well: Glen Chapple 32-6-82-3-2.56, Luke Procter 29.1-5-84-4-2.88 and Kyle Hogg 26-3-72-2-2.77. Excellent new ball bowling reduces Lancs. to 103/5 at tea. Only Simon Cadbury (regen?) sticks around for 52.
• Day 3: Frustratingly Lancs. manage to reach 308 all out, Gareth Cross slogging 79 in the tail. Wyatt 26-4-90-4-3.46 on return to team. Sadly our batting is disappointing, reaching 164/6 at close.
• Day 4: Skittled out for 190, ahead by 243. Ashwell Prince hits a quick 99* to secure the win for Lancs. with an innings of 243/3.

Another poor CC game, the batting in second innings really cost us.

[Scurvy]

A couple of CT games to run through,

Yorkshire h.

Cobb in for Wells, Wyatt for Ireland, Robson for Eckers. Win toss and bat.

Leics: 233/6, Boyce 84 off 93, Thak 55 off 62, Robson 22 off 7.
Yorks: Naik spell of 8-0-56-5-7.00 unable to halt Yorks. progress and they make total in 38 overs.

Gloucestershire a.

Williams in for Buck, lose toss, bat.

Leics: Really poor 161/7, NoB 59. Norwell 8-2-10-2-1.25!.
Glouc: Despite Wyatt getting 3 early wickets, Glouc. win comfortably.


Unicorns h.

Buck in for Taylor, lose toss, bowl.

Unic: Decent 212, Tripathi 49, Tim New 46.
Leics: Querl unable to repeat his stunning performance of previous fixture, NoB 109* off 92 and Sarwan 66 off 51 secure win.

[Scurvy]

CC away at Glamorgan.

Wells in for Eckers, win toss and bat.

• Day 1: 238 all out at tea, Robson 55, Thak 54, but other batsmen fail. Glam. 70/0 at end of day.
• Day 2: Naik 30.5-5-113-5-3.70, and Henders 36-8-85-4-2.36 but Glam runaway to 385 all out.
• Day 3: Complete collapse 66/5, 165 all out, Cobb 52 only exception.

A bit unlucky to collapse so suddenly, happens once a season or so.

[Scurvy]

Final 2 CT games to play,

Glamorgan h.

Glam: 203/6
Leics: Continue form with horrible 125 all out. Sarwan 63 off 80, Huw Waters 6-25.

Middlesex a.

Middls: 258/6, Malan again very good against us with 79 off 73, Robson 76 off 97.
Leics: Good effort to 217 all out, Thak 71 off 61.

[Scurvy]

A few abbreviated games now to finish off season -

Worcestershire h.

Worcs: 364/10
Leics: 254/10
Worcs: 341/6
Leics: 196

Loss

Gloucestershire a.

Leics: 464/6
Glouc: 255/10
Glouc: 337/8

Draw

Lancashire h.

Lancs: 508/10
Leics: 377/10 (Sarwan 172)
Leics: 455/8 (Sarwan 204*, Wells 99)

Draw

Hampshire a.

Hamps: 358/10
Leics: 319/10
Hamps: 215/10
Leics: 225/10

Loss

[Scurvy]

CT Summary,



So just 2 wins, the batting was generally okay but the bowling was dire.



Thak top OD batsman by a distance, Robson, Eckers, Henders and Taylor all have good strike rates and averages for middle order role.



Bowling generally poor, Henders has best econ. but no-one really stands out.

[Scurvy]

CC Summary



So last, with just 1 win all season, things can only get better.



Batting very encouraging, 8 batsmen with a season FC average over 38.



Naik the only bowler to impress.

[Scurvy]

Contracts

• Overseas: Sarwan is retained as our main overseas player after a good season averaging FC 60.44, with 7 100s and 2 50s in 39 innings. And a OD av. of 31.04 at SR of 78.14.
• 20/20: Wiese and Al Hasan are also kept on as 20/20 players after acquitting themselves well in the 20/20 competition.
• Reserve: Cameron White is brought in as a reserve. Like Sarwan he is an aggressive top-middle order player and bowls passable LS if needed. Averaged 66.86 this season so is in good form.
• Retirements: Henderson and Hoggard both retire. No existing player impresses enough to take their place, so a spinner and seam bowler need to be acquired.
• Not Renewed: Thornely and Ireland not retained, I already have 3 decent openers (Boyce, NoB and Smith) and Ireland was a very average bowler in an average bowling attack.
• Signed: Gary Dockrell is signed to replace Henderson, with a season FC record of 87 at 23.73 he should be an improvement. Graeme Onions replaced Hoggard. He has 85 FC wickets at 30.08 for the season. The third and last signing is Will Gidman, who is a high quality all rounder.

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

Contracts

• Overseas: Sarwan is retained as our main overseas player after a good season averaging FC 60.44, with 7 100s and 2 50s in 39 innings. And a OD av. of 31.04 at SR of 78.14.
• 20/20: Wiese and Al Hasan are also kept on as 20/20 players after acquitting themselves well in the 20/20 competition.
• Reserve: Cameron White is brought in as a reserve. Like Sarwan he is an aggressive top-middle order player and bowls passable LS if needed. Averaged 66.86 this season so is in good form.
• Retirements: Henderson and Hoggard both retire. No existing player impresses enough to take their place, so a spinner and seam bowler need to be acquired.
• Not Renewed: Thornely and Ireland not retained, I already have 3 decent openers (Boyce, NoB and Smith) and Ireland was a very average bowler in an average bowling attack.
• Signed: Gary Dockrell is signed to replace Henderson, with a season FC record of 87 at 23.73 he should be an improvement. Graeme Onions replaced Hoggard. He has 85 FC wickets at 30.08 for the season. The third and last signing is Will Gidman, who is a high quality all rounder.

I used Dockrell in last years game and he did really well for me.

Contracts section after first season is when you really get to put your own stamp on the team.
In my Yorkshire save at end of 2013 season I released/didn't re-sign about 10-12 players who had either not played or wanted too much money (Sidebottom wanted £65K so I picked up 2 LFMs in Lewis Hatchett and David Payne, both who had taken 60+ wickets .. and still had £10K to bank !!) ..... bought in 8 replacements and now have a much better balance to the squad - perfect

[Scurvy]

First game of the new season is away at Hampshire. Win toss and bat on good pitch.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Thakor
4. Sarwan
5. Eckers
6. Robson
7. Wells (Naik is injured)
8. Gidman
9. Onions
10. Dockrell
11. Wyatt

Day 1: Decent opening stand of 45 sets a foundation for innings, until Chris Wood gets both openers in the same over at the end of the session (Boyce lbw 34, NoB b 11). Thakor and Sarwan play well in a partnership of 112, ended when Thak is out for 53 just before tea. Eckersley starts the session well with a rapid 42. But his dismissal triggers a collapse which sees the team lurch from 260/4 to 297/10. Robson 0, Wells o, Gidman 6, Dockrell 2, Wyatt 1, Onions 1*. Sarwan ends up 120. Chris Wood bowls wonderfully for 23.5-1-58-6-2.43, supported by Balcombe 22-2-79-4-3.59. Hamps. play safe to 30/0 at close.

Day 2: Hamps. don't really get going. James Adams is bowled early by Wyatt for 18. Aussie International Bailey is c. by keeper off Dockrell for 32, and Mckenzie falls shortly after. Carberry gets run out on 4. Dockrell skittles Wheater lbw 17 and Liam Dawson b for 0. Hamps. struggling on 147/6 but Sean Ervine and Chris Wood salvage innings with 91 run partnership. Ervine is out for 44 - Dockrells 5th wicket on debut, and Chris Wood makes 51 until he edges off Wells. Tail survives until the new ball, Onions getting both Balcombe (12) and Tomlinson (13). Briggs left 24*. Dockrell 17-2-41-5-2.41, Onions gets 2 wickets and Wyatt and Wells 1 each. Leics. openers bat to 40/0.

Day 3: Boyce (31) and NoB (65) both fall to first change bowler Briggs.Thakor and Sarwan build on foundation of 119-2 with partnership of 130, their second key input in match. Sarwan is out for 58 and Eckers plays a similar knock to first innings, a rapid 65. Team 359/4 at tea. Robson slogs 27 and we declare with an hour to go on 398/5. Thak scores a sublime 118*. Balcombe 32-1-92-3-2.87. Mckenzie out 13 to Onions, Hamps. 24/1 at close.

Day 4: Onions gets Adams (25) and Bailey (7) early and Dockrell chips in to bowl Wheater (27) leaving Hamps. 83/4. Dangerous stand of 123 between Carberry and Ervine is broken when Carberry edsgees to keeper off Dockrell. Ervine falls 4 balls later for 63 and resolve of batting fails, falling from 210/6 to 235/10. Onions 24-1-73-5-3.04, Dockrell 23-4-82-4-3.57, Gidman 12.1-0-23-1-1.89.

MoM: Dockrell on debut. 9 wickets for 123.

Summary: Win by 121 runs. Very positive performance, especially by the bowlers.

[Scurvy]

Gloucestershire at home. Win toss bat.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Thakor
4. Sarwan
5. Eckersley
6. Robson
7. Gidman
8. Naik
9. Onions
10. Dockrell
11. Wyatt

Gloucestershire have a very strong bowling line-up, seam trio of Fuller, Norwell and Payne boosted by overseas signing of Herath. Saxelby and Murchall don't even make the first XI. Batting less impressive with only Cockbain averaging over 35 in FC.

Day 1: NoB out second over (1 b Payne) but Thak and Boyce play to lunch at 111/1. Boyce out just after for 52 to Herath, who gets Sarwan lbw two balls later. Eckers can only reach a scratchy 8 and at tea team is struggling on 230/5. Thakor reaches 114 before being c. at slip off Herath supported by Robson (lbw Herath 30). Tail is mopped up, Gidman 8, Naik 5, Dockrell 9, Wyatt 2 and Onions 14*. 268/10 Herath 30-4-85-5-2.83, Payne 17.2-4-48-4-2.77, Norwell 1-80. Gloucs. 44/0 at close.

Day 2: 114 opening stand ends when Dockrell b Dent for 57, but 122 is put on for second wicket. Tully is c by Eckers off Wyatt on 104 and Roderick is out to Dockrell for 70. Gloucs. in strong position at tea on 276/3. Marshall and A Gidman hit home advantage scoring 166 for 4th wicket at SR over 80.00%. Both lbw to Dockrell (Marsh 94, Gidman 119). Howell steps in and hits 42 off 54 to see Gloucs. to 501/6 decl. at close. Dockrell creditable 33.1-5-121-5-3.65. Others poor, Wyatt 1-105, Naik 0-135, Lead of 233.

Day 3: 67/2 at lunch (NoB 41, Thak 0, both to Herath). Several batsmen get starts but fail to build. Sarwan 30, Eckers 19, Robson 17. Looking bad at 202/5, manage to get to close on 275/5.

Day 4: Boyce scores a match winning 227, the highest and best innings of his career. Also a match saving effort. Gets support from Gidman (48 c+b Norwell) and Naik (85 b Payne). When Boyce is finally bowled by Herath we declare on 490/8. Gloucs. bat out the draw to 113/0. Herath 49.1-9-150-3-3.05, Norwell 2-150, Payne 2-109, Fuller 1-62.

MoM: Boyce with the defining impact on match, without him it would have been a comfortable Gloucs. win. Herath bowled well in both innings.

Summary: Happy to get draw after first innings deficit of 233.

[Scurvy]

Worcestershire away. Lose toss bowl.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Thakor
4. Sarwan
5. Eckersley
6. Robson
7. Gidman
8. Naik
9. Onions
10. Dockrell
11. Wyatt

Worcestershire have an unremarkable side, Samaraweera stands out by a mile as their star player.

Day 1: Worcs. reach 150/3, Moeen Ali 10, Dockrell gets Sama- for 32 and Kervezee 0 in his first over. After lunch Daryl Mitchell sets himself to score 129, supported by Simon Wood (41 c. NoB b Dockrell) and Pardoe (19 b Dockrell). 280/6 at tea. Gareth Andrew takes off after tea, reaching century while tail hangs around, Lucas 35 and Johnson 26. 400/8 at close.

Day 2: Andrew eventually out for 132. End up with strong 448/10. Dockrell 35.5-0-151-5-4.21, Naik 32-5-108-3-3.37, Onions 1-66, Wyatt 1-72. Boyce is lbw to Lucas on 35, Thak is bowled for 9 and Nob is lbw Andrew on 63. Luckily Sarwan and Eckers settle team. Eckers reaches century just before close and by the time Sarwan is run out for 56 team is safe on 302/4.

Day 3: Attempt to accelerate the SR and succeed, wit Robson scoring 40 off 65, Gidman 46 off 54 and Dockrell 21 off 20. Eckers eventually b. by Andrew 144. End 480/10, Naik 1, Onions 30, Wyatt 11. Jones 3-121, Shantry 0-143, Lucas 3-111, Andrew 3-80. Wyatt runs through the top order, Mitchell 12, Ali 7, Wood 6, and crucially Sama- gets run out. Kervezee and Pardoe survive until close. 170/4.

Day 4: Kervezee is lbw Wyatt 100, and rest of batting collapses to 258/10 at lunch. Onions 1-46, Wyatt 4-63, Dockrell 4-85, Naik 0-64. 226 is needed to win in 2 sessions. All batsmen contribute to very aggressive run chase. NoB 36, Boyce 20, Sarwan 15, Eckers 38 and Thakor leading with 96* off 116. Jones 2-56, Lucas 0-53, Andrew 1-445 and Shantry 1-56. Total made with 20mins left.

MoM: Difficult choice. Thakor's 119* in second innings was key. Andrew scored 175 and took 4w. and Dockrell took 9 wickets. But Eckers scored 182 in match, with an impact in both innings (recovering first innings and scoring quickly in second) and so is my MoM.

Summary: Exciting run chase won the game. Now won more CC games this season than the whole of last season!