Leicestershire Story

[GrahamB]

Somehow Nottingham have managed to overtake and win promotion by 1 point. They got 5 batting points to my 3, if I'd scored 350 just slightly quicker we'd have been tied for second (I don't know what would happen in that situation). Crushing.

Yeah, that would be crushing.
Better luck next season.

[Dick Van Dykes Disco Dog]

Gutted for you mate !
Go up as champs next year ....

[Scurvy]

So time for the final game of the season, with the CC intriguingly poised.



Glamorgan look safe in 1st, but only 1 point separates us and Notts. after that valuable draw.

Norhamptonshire away, win toss and bowl.

Team:

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

Day 1: We take advantage of some poor weather to bowl Norths. for 236/10. Hall top scores with 83. Onions 4-35, Buck 2-44, Dockrell 2-77 and Naik 2-57. Bat to 25/1 at close.

Day 2: 316/6 by end of day, Boyce unbeaten on 153*, Sarwan 71, Eckerlsey 40.

Day 3: Boyce out for 169, but Naik hits an aggressive 74 to take team to 445/10, a lead of 209 with a day and a half remaining. Azharullah 6-140, Narine 3-120. Norths. out of game by close on 184/5.

Day 4: A bit of resistance in morning session takes Norths. to 285/10. Naik 4-61, Buck 3-53, but openers get the 77 needed comfortably. NoB 48*.

MoM: Boyce, who batted well both innings.

Summary: a fantastic win in crucial game.

So job done...oh wait,

Somehow Nottingham have managed to overtake and win promotion by 1 point. They got 5 batting points to my 3, if I'd scored 350 just slightly quicker we'd have been tied for second (I don't know what would happen in that situation). Crushing.

[Scurvy]

Challenge Trophy Final. Our opponents are Essex, who won group 2 with an 11-1 record and beat Middlesex in an incredibly close game by 1 run in the other semi-final. Win toss bat first.

Teams:


Not too much between the side, they maybe have the edge in batting due to Cook opening, but one less specialist bowler.

Leics: Batsmen conspire to collapse in most important game of season. Thakor 41 (54), Eckersley 39 (35) and Gidman 3- (47) only batsmen to offer any resistance (all others in single figures) as team slump to 157/10 in 37 overs.



Essx: Cook scores 53 and Westley 63* as Essex cruise to 158/2 in 27 overs.

MoM: The collective Essx. bowling was excellent, Mills got best figures with 3-32.

Summary: Well the game was lost by halfway and we didn't really do ourselves justice in final. Nevertheless the team did well to get there in first place.

[Scurvy]

CC Nottinghamshire at home. Win toss, bat.

Team:

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

Exceptionally strong Notts. side. Graeme Smith, Hales, James Taylor Patel, Broad and Swann.

Day 1: 278/8 at close, NoB 53, Sarwan 70. Frustrating as Thakor (30), Eckers (24), Robson (28) and Gidman (17) all got starts but failed to press on.

Day 2: 287/10 early. Broad 5-58 and Fletcher 2-68 are best of bowlers. Notts. end day 313/8, very similar innings. Hales 49, Taylor 64, Wessels 52 and Patel 42.

Day 3: Broad bats well to 81, making 125 for the last 2 wickets leaving Notts. 415/10, 128 runs ahead. Naik 4-159, Dockrell 3-58, Williams 2-57 and Gidman 1-66. Boyce is out for 10, but Thak and NoB bat a session and a half and resign game to draw in doing so. Thak 84* and NoB 156* at close.

Day 4: Thak is out for 137, ending a 367 run partnership - a club record for 2nd wicket, while NoB continues to 268. 475/4 declared. Notts. bat to draw at 136/2.

MoM: NoB, no contest.

Summary: A good draw against the best side in division 2.

[Scurvy]

So having just qualified for the CT Semi-Finals, by .09 RR.



We now play Derbyshire, who like us have a 10-2 record from group stage. Derbs. win toss and bat first.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Thakor
4. Sarwan
5. Eckersley
6. Cobb (for Robson, who is out of form)
7. Wells (for Williams)
8. Gidman
9. Naik
10. Dockrell
11. Buck

Derbs:



Madsen's 111* anchors innings, but Derbs. never really explode, despite solid foundation. End on 218/4. Gidman 8-2-23-2-2.87, Naik 1-39, Dockrell 1-48.

Leics:



Made total with 4 balls to spare, a bit closer than I'd of liked but we got there in the end. Boyce (76) and Eckersley (100) made majority of runs. Despite a minor panic at end, middle-order scrambled enough runs at the end. 219/6. Wrainwright 3-47.

MoM: Gidman, restricted Derbs. at crucial points of innings.

Summary: Were into the final, so not much to complain about.

[GrahamB]

Interesting, where did you finish in County Championship?

Senanayake is quality, as is Woakes, the all-rounders in Leicester's team to begin with (Taylor, Wells, Cobb) are the weakest area of team imo.

I finished last in my first season, but managed two wins.
Only a short way into my second season at present.

[Scurvy]

CC at home to Hampshire.

Team:

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

Day 1: 324/10, Thakor 109, Eckers 66. Solid but uninspiring first innings effort. Griffiths top bowler with 3-58.

Day 2: Wheater comes in at 3 at takes game on with 154, leading side to 300/4 at close. Adams chips in with a 66.

Day 3: Dawson scores 118* and plays well with tail, taking Hamps. to 466/10, Naik 6-129, Dockrell 2-126, Buck 1-68. A lead of 142. We use up 5 wickets to reach level, collapsing to 151/5 at close.

Day 4: Naik gets 62 and NoB 63 as he helps tail gather 319/10. But Hampshire bat aggressively to win game with 178/5. Naik 2-54, Dockrell 2-55, Buck 1-44

MoM: Wheater won game with an explosive 150.

Summary: Outplayed by Hampshire in all departments.



CC away at Worcestershire. Forgot what happened in this one, so briefly...

Worcs: 416/10, Pardoe 98, Kervezee 84. Williams 5-115, Naik 4-124

Leics: 416/10, Thakor 123, Sarwan 95. Shantry 4-118, Ali 3-55.

Worcs: 276/10, Wood 88. Dock 3-39, Williams 3-62

Leics: 286/5, NoB 113, Boyce 112.

Draw.

[Scurvy]

CT game at home to Somerset,

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Thakor
4. Sarwan (Back from Int. duty)
5. Eckersley
6. Robson
7. Cobb
8. Gidman
9. Naik
10. Williams (for Wyatt)
11. Dockrell
12. Buck

Somerset as usual have a strong team. Top 4 of Compton, Trescothick, Kieswetter and Buttler looks imposing.

Somt: Excellent bowling performance restricts Somerset to 118/10. Buttler 42 (61) only significant contribution. Buck 4-0-8-1-2.00, Williams 6-0-24-2-3.43, Gidman 8-1-29-5-3.62, Buck 4-0-8-1-2.00, Naik 6-0-35-2-5.83.

Leics: Low total is knocked off comfortably. 121/5, Boyce 59*.

MoM: Gidman for a superb bowling display.

Summary: Happy to beat such a good team.


CT away against the Netherlands.

Team: same as above.

Neths: De Grooth (46 (37) and Barresi 46 (36) take Neths. to decent toal of 209/8. Buck 2-42, Williams 2-68, Dockrell 1-35, Naik 1-43, Gidman 2-21.

Leics: Smash runs in just 27 overs. NoB 78 (54), Boyce 66 (50), Sarwan 44* (31), exploiting some poor Neths. bowling.

MoM: NoB took game away from Neths.

Summary: Solid win against a team I would expect to beat.

[Scurvy]

I'm also playing with Leicestershire (FC only though), so I'm following your story with interest.

In my game, only O'Brien performed solidly as an opening batsman.
Smith was the best of the others, with both Robson and Thornely being poor.
As with you, I did not renew Thornely's contract.
I was able to sign Ian Cockbain for the second season.

Amongst the other batsmen, Thakor and Sarwan stood out along with a superb player who joined us from the youth side mid-season. This was pleasing as I'd invested the full amount into youth development.
Boyce and Eckersley both averaged around 40 as well, so our batting was fairly useful.
Cobb was a disaster, while I didn't bother giving Wells a go, as his second team performances didn't warrant it.
I didn't renew Well's contract.
In the off-season, I was able to sign Chris Woakes, James Vince and Henry Hull to strengthen the batting options, so I let Sarwan go in favour of signing an overseas player to bolster our bowling attack.
What we really lacked though was a decent all-rouder or a frontline bowler who could bat a bit. Signing Woakes was a godsend in this regard.

Hoggard, Wyatt and Williams all did well for me in the first season. Unlike in your game, Hoggard didn't retire, so these three plus Woakes would be the four main pace bowlers in the second season.
Ireland was poor, so I didn't renew his contract.
Freckingham was solid, but not in the same league as my more successful bowlers, so I let him go as well.
Buck was pretty crap too, so his contract wasn't renewed either.
I picked up James Tomlinson as a further pace option.

Of the spinners, Henderson did well with both bat and ball, but retired at the end of the season, as with you.
However, Naik was a complete disaster for me, averaging over 40 per wicket and going for plenty.
Therefore, I signed Senanayake as my overseas player to give us a quality spinner. The reserve player is Sebastien.

Interesting, where did you finish in County Championship?

Senanayake is quality, as is Woakes, the all-rounders in Leicester's team to begin with (Taylor, Wells, Cobb) are the weakest area of team imo.

[GrahamB]

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'm also playing with Leicestershire (FC only though), so I'm following your story with interest.

In my game, only O'Brien performed solidly as an opening batsman.
Smith was the best of the others, with both Robson and Thornely being poor.
As with you, I did not renew Thornely's contract.
I was able to sign Ian Cockbain for the second season.

Amongst the other batsmen, Thakor and Sarwan stood out along with a superb player who joined us from the youth side mid-season. This was pleasing as I'd invested the full amount into youth development.
Boyce and Eckersley both averaged around 40 as well, so our batting was fairly useful.
Cobb was a disaster, while I didn't bother giving Wells a go, as his second team performances didn't warrant it.
I didn't renew Well's contract.
In the off-season, I was able to sign Chris Woakes, James Vince and Henry Hull to strengthen the batting options, so I let Sarwan go in favour of signing an overseas player to bolster our bowling attack.
What we really lacked though was a decent all-rouder or a frontline bowler who could bat a bit. Signing Woakes was a godsend in this regard.

Hoggard, Wyatt and Williams all did well for me in the first season. Unlike in your game, Hoggard didn't retire, so these three plus Woakes would be the four main pace bowlers in the second season.
Ireland was poor, so I didn't renew his contract.
Freckingham was solid, but not in the same league as my more successful bowlers, so I let him go as well.
Buck was pretty crap too, so his contract wasn't renewed either.
I picked up James Tomlinson as a further pace option.

Of the spinners, Henderson did well with both bat and ball, but retired at the end of the season, as with you.
However, Naik was a complete disaster for me, averaging over 40 per wicket and going for plenty.
Therefore, I signed Senanayake as my overseas player to give us a quality spinner. The reserve player is Sebastien.

[Scurvy]

Away at Glamorgan in CC. Lose toss, bowl.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Smith
4. White
5. Eckers
6. Robson
7. Gidman
8. Naik
9. Wyatt
10. Dockrell
11. Buck

Day 1: Seamers struggle to make headway, and Glam. looking good at 50/0, but Dockrell, backed up by Naik spins through top and middle-order, leasving Glam. 251/10 at close. Walters scores a useful 74, Rees 43. Gidman 1-25, Naik 2-76, Dockrell 5-81, White 1-15. Buck got no wickets but bowled 12 overs at 1.67 economy.

Day 2: Bat out day to 356/9. White 147, Robson 66, Naik 53. Alllenby gets 5-87 but other bowlers suffer.

Day 3: End on 361/10. Glamorgan reach 299/10 with one over remaining in day, which we bat to 0. Much better effort, Friend gets 68, Rees 55. Buck 4-55, Wyatt 1-58, Gidman 1-21, Dockrell 3-84, Naik 1-63.

Day 4: Have day to get 190. Partnership of 104 between Boyce (74*) and Smith (57) settles game, and reach total at 190/4 midway through afternoon.

MoM: White for fabulous innings.

Summary: Solid win.

[Scurvy]

CT away at Yorkshire.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Cobb (in for Thak)
4. Sarwan
5. Eckersley
6. Robson
7. Gidman
8. Naik
9. Wyatt (Onions injured)
10. Dockrell
11. Buck

Very strong Yorkshire side - top 7 of Root, Jaques, Ballancem Bairstow, Gale, Lyth, Bresnan, and Rainsford and Sidebottom are as good a seam pairing as any in CT.

Yorks: Ballance 45 (48) and Bairstow 50 (43) good as Yorks. make 199/9. Buck 8-0-37-4-4.62, Wyatt 8-0-51-1-6.37, Gidman 8-0-42-2-5.25, Dockrell 8-1-37-2-4.62, Naik 8-2-31-0-3.87.

Leics: NoB 77 (106) forms spine of innings. Boyce also does well with 45 (48) and Eckers gets useful 36 (44). Tail manage to scrape out enough runs to see to 202/8 in 18th over. Azeem Rafiq 6-0-43-5-6.14.

MoM: NoB.

Summary: I was a bit intimidated by the Yorks team, but they lost too many wickets during their innings, which kept total manageable.


Home to Unicorns.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Cobb
4. White (Sarwan picked for WI tour of Bangladesh)
5. Eckersley
6. Robson
7. Gidman
8. Naik
9. Wyatt
10. Dockrell
11. Buck

Leics: Disaster. 137/10 in 14 overs. Cobb 31 (47) and Eckers 59 (50). Querl excellent (as usual) 3-30, Beaven 3-37, Lee 3-24, O'Shea 1-25.

Unicorns: Fairly comfortable to 138/6 in 17th over. Tripathi 60 (65) and Querl 24 (39). Wyatt 2-32, Naik 1-30, Dockrell 1-36, Gidman 2-25.

MoM: Querl for contribution with ball and bat.

Summary: First CT loss of season, against arguably the weakest side in competition, can't really plan for that kind of collapse. Hopefully they've got it out of their system.


CT away at Middlesex.

Team: Same as Unicorns game.

Middx: Wow. Robson scores 145* (113) and leads Middx to a massive 268/4.

Leics: Never had a chance, 160/9, but forced to bat over-aggressively due to total. NoB picks up good 40 (37).

MoM: Um..Robson

Summary: Second loss, again a bit of an anomaly.

[Scurvy]

Away at Gloucestershire in CC. Lose toss, bowl.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Boyce
3. Smith (Thakor injured)
4. Sarwan
5. Eckersley
6. Robson
7. Gidman
8. Naik
9. Onions
10. Dockrell
11. Buck

Normal Gloucs. team with strong seam attack allied with Herath, but weak batting.

Day 1: A combination of good bowling and bad batting leaves Gloucs. 97/6 midway through the first day. But A Gidman scores a majestic 144*, with partnerships of 65 with Murchall (30), 113 with Payne (41), 46 with Saxelby (18), and 21 with Herath (7). This takes Gloucs. to a very respectable 342/10. Buck 3-95, Onions 1-73, Gidman 2-47, Naik 4-86. NoB and Boyce reach 50 for no loss by close.

Day 2: A partnership of 114 starts innings well, NoB eventually out for 51. Smith and Boyce put on 109 for the second wicket, Boyce out for 117. All other batsmen contribute, Sarwan 70, Eckersley 91, Robson 69, to a total of 511/6 declared. Leaving 1 hour to bowl at Gloucs. Onions and Buck get 2 wickets each to leave Gloucs. 31-4 at close.

Day 3: Onions and Buck fail to breakthrough in the morning, but Naik comes in as first change and runs through the middle and lower order, taking 5-26. Gloucs. 118/10 and lose by inns/56 runs. Buck 2-26, Onions 2-41, Dockrell 1-23.

MoM: 9 wickets, Naik.

Summary: Pleased that the batsmen managed without Thakor, a dominant win.

[Scurvy]

End of the T20 season now. Starting with a home game vs Lancashire.

Team:

1. NoB
2. Cobb
3. Thakor
4. Wiese
5. SAL
6. Eckers
7. Robson
8. Gidman
9. Taylor
10. Onions (in for Wells)
11. Buck

A very strong Lancs. team, Sehwag, Aswell Prince (27.54 T20 av.) and T Smith (28.46 T20 av.) allies to bowling attack including Anderson, Kerrigan and Coles.

Lancs: A solid 149/6, Prince scores an explosive 30 (17), Sehwag 61 (49) and Durston 38 (32). Wiese top bowler 4-0-18-4-4.50. Onions 1-31, Taylor 1-27.

Leics: Anderson 3-34, Kerrigan 3-33, Coles 4-0-17-1-3.00 simply too good. Thakor grinds 24 (32) and Robson slogs 29* (19) but rest fail to 117/9.

MoM: Sehwag scored well, but Anderson ended any chance of a high score with early wickets.

Summary: Outplayed by a better team.


Away at Durham.

Team:

1. Boyce (in for NoB who has had a poor T20 - 7 innings, 11,14av.)
2. Cobb
3. Thakor
4. Wiese
5. SAL
6. Eckers
7. Robson
8. Naik
9. Taylor
10. Onions
11. Buck

Durham: Thornely again good against us - 58 (47), Andrews 37 (22), Murchall 24 (19), total of 152/4. Buck 4-0-23-0-5.75, Onions 4-0-17-1-4.25, but other bowlers expensive.

Leics: Excellent chase, need 14 from the last over, bowled by Chris Rushworth. 4,4,4,.,w, so 2 needed to win from final bowl, Robson can only scramble a single, match drawn. 152/5. Boyce 67 (47), Cobb 31 (26), Wiese 19* (7), Eckers 13 (6). Rushworth 2-29, Borthwick 2-21.

MoM: Boyce for 67 at a good strike-rate, on return to T20 team.

Summary: Wonderful game.


Derbyshire away.

Team: same as game vs Durham.

Derbs: G Jones 54 (46) and Burgoyne 46 (39) lead way to 143/7. Buck 3-25, Naik 1-27, SAL 3-27.

Leics: Successful chase, make 145/3 in 17th over. Cobb 63 (44) and Boyce 38 (39) set platform and middle order get runs. Whiteley gets hit for 21 in one over by Cobb.

MoM: Cobb, highest scorer.

Summary: Very nice win.


Yorkshire at home.

Team:

1. Boyce
2. Cobb
3. Thakor
4. Wiese
5. SAL
6. Eckersley
7. Robson
8. Naik
9. Onions
10. Dockrell (for Taylor)
11. Buck

Yorks: 146/6, Gale and Ballance partnership vital for second time. Gale 23 (18), Ballance 49 (36). Lyth backs them up with 44* (36). Onions 4-0-27-2-6.75, Naik 4-0-27-1-6.75, Wiese 4-0-22-3-5.50.

Leics: Thakor scores a sublime 70, but rest of team collapses, ending 145/9, just 1 run short.

MoM: Thakor.

Summary: Another great game, could have gone either way.