Burgess could face his home county

Leicestershire’s new signing Michael Burgess could make his Royal London One Day Cup debut against his home county Surrey at Grace Road tomorrow (10.30am start).

The Epsom-born Burgess grew up in the south but has spent the last two years in Leicestershire as he is studying for a sports science degree at Loughborough University.

The 21-year-old is grateful for the opportunity that Surrey gave him earlier in his career and is now looking to make the most of his time at Grace Road.

“I love playing white ball cricket and it’s probably my favourite format of the game,” he said. “If I get a chance to play against Surrey, it’ll be a nice feeling to play against them but it doesn’t mean anything extra, I’m just happy to be playing for Leicestershire.

“I played age group cricket at Surrey, and they also gave me my first taste of second team cricket, which was good of them. I was brought up in Surrey but I have spent the last two years in Loughborough and Leicester, so this is definitely my second home.”                                   

Burgess took his early season form at Loughborough MCCU into Leicestershire’s Second XI, where he has posted three half-centuries as well as impressing behind the stumps. The youngster is delighted to be at Grace Road and can't wait to get going in the first team.

He said: “It’s a great opportunity to come and sign my first contract here, I’m really happy and it’s a special time for me. I’m hoping I can do the club some good and help the team to progress.

“I got an opportunity in the Second XI earlier this season and it was really good, the lads are really easy to get on with here and have made me feel welcome from the start.”

Club Captain Mark Cosgrove knows that his Foxes side must hit the ground running in the Royal London One Day Cup. Although the NatWest T20 Blast tournament is spread over three months, the Foxes face the first six of their eight RLODC group games in the next twelve days, including three in four days at the start of August.

The first fixture against Surrey is a Community Day sponsored by the Meesha Group and everybody is looking forward to a good day at Grace Road.

Cosgrove said: “I really like 50-over cricket - I think it’s a fantastic form of the game - and I think that we have the setup here to do well and go deep into the competition. The competition is played in a block so we’ll need to get a good start and take that through the next couple of weeks.

“There is a bit of crossover between T20 and 50-over cricket but we also know that they are different games. We have our plans in place for both formats and we’ll back ourselves to play some positive cricket.”

The Foxes bowlers have been in good form this season and the team will benefit from the experience of Clint McKay, who has demonstrated his class this summer.

He said: “The 50-over competition is not so ruthless as the T20 game and we have some fantastic bowlers here.

“Clint McKay was ranked number two in the world at one point in this format and he has showed his skills throughout the year. If he can keep up that form, that will really help us as we look to go the distance.”

The Foxes, who are without international duo Niall O’Brien and Rob Taylor, have named a 12-man squad for the game. Burgess could make his List A debut while Cosgrove, McKay, Aadil Ali, Lewis Hill and Rob Sayer could make their first appearance for the club in this particular competition.

SQUAD: Cosgrove (capt), Ali, Burgess, Eckersley, Freckingham, Hill, McKay, Raine, Robson, Sayer, Shreck, Wells.