Budinger Hits Debut 50 on Rain Affected Opening Day

By Jon Culley

Leicestershire and Durham had the rare experience of being frustrated by the weather on day one of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at the Uptonsteel County Ground.

Only 22 overs were possible before rain forced the players off the field for an early lunch just after mid-day, with Leicestershire 97 for two, debutant Sol Budinger on 63 not out - despite having to change his bat after Ben Raine knocked a chunk out of it with the first ball of the day.

Once the rain had subsided, the ground staff made every effort to make the playing surface fit for a resumption, but with no wind to speak of to hasten the drying process parts of the outfield remained stubbornly soggy.

Those 22 overs were enough time, though, for the former Nottinghamshire batter Budinger to make a favourable impression on his Leicestershire debut, with 10 fours and a six already in his account.

Budinger, 23, never played a first-class match during his two years as a senior player at Trent Bridge but moved to Grace Road after scoring 645 red-ball runs for Nottinghamshire’s Second XI this season.

Of those, 321 came in two matches against Leicestershire Second XI, including his highest score of 151.

He has a reputation as an aggressive top-order player in white-ball formats and it is clear that he wants to play red-ball cricket with the same mindset. Budinger reached 50 off just 57 balls with nine fours, three of them in a single over off the rookie seamer Oliver Gibson.

Flexing his muscles, he then pulled Paul Coughlin for a huge six over the Milligan Road side of the ground.  Although he had some early luck with balls that were a whisker from finding the edge, he generally hit the ball cleanly.

Budinger is on loan from Nottinghamshire for the last three matches of the season ahead of starting a two-year contract.

Coughlin had removed Budinger’s opening partner, Hassan Azad, with a big inswinger that had him leg before. Their partnership of 74 was the second highest for the first wicket this season for the side currently bottom of Division Two.

England bowler Matty Potts - rusty at first after almost four weeks with no cricket - dismissed Rishi Patel via a catch at second slip in the last over before the rain came.

It is just the second time Leicestershire have lost time to rain in a Championship match since the opening day of the season in April.