Burgess ready for Foxes spell

New signing Michael Burgess heaped praise on Loughborough University and former Leicestershire player and coach Russell Cobb after signing his first professional contract at Grace Road.

Burgess has worked closely with Cobb, now the Head Coach of Loughborough’s MCCU side, in combining his sports science degree with playing cricket.

The 21-year-old performed well in Loughborough’s fixtures against first-class counties earlier this season, including making a brilliant hundred as the side scored over 400 against a strong Kent team at Canterbury.

Burgess said: “To play the first-class counties at the start of the season, against the best bowlers in the country when pitches are at their toughest, is a great experience.

“You train all winter at university and it’s a professional set-up at Loughborough, so it sets you up really well to move to a county.

“Russell (Cobb) has been really good to me. He said it was okay to come and train and play here around my commitments at university. He knows this county really well and I have had all of his support, which has been great.

“It was really nice to get 100 at Kent, it was quite a flat wicket but it’s always good to get a hundred. It’s also nice to for the universities to compete against the first-class counties in proper games.”

Burgess is a talented batsman and wicket-keeper who came through the age group system at Surrey but he also knows the importance of education. He believes that the supportive nature of Loughborough University allows players to feel comfortable in dealing with their busy schedules.

“We got 400 against Kent and 300 against Nottinghamshire, so everybody believed that as a team we were good enough to compete,” said Burgess. “You’re not always going to compete all of the time because it’s quite tough to balance a degree and sport.

“But everybody who played those games realised that it was achievable and it was good for me to realise that it’s in my grasp to do things properly.

“I am two years into my sport science degree and although it can be tough to balance sport and academics, it’s really important that I get a degree to make sure that there is a life after cricket.

“Loughborough are really supportive of all of their sports people – cricketers, rowers and rugby players etc – anybody who wants to pursue their dream, they will support you.”

Burgess has twice been frustrated in attempting to make his Leicestershire debut after the weather caused the abandonment of both the NatWest T20 Blast game against Nottinghamshire Outlaws and the Royal London One Day Cup fixture versus Surrey.

The youngster will be hoping it’s third time lucky after being named in a 13-man squad for the trip to face Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road tomorrow. Niall O’Brien and Rob Taylor are back after helping Ireland and Scotland qualify for the ICC World T20 tournament and Jigar Naik also returns to the squad.

Northants have named twelve including former Foxes favourite Josh Cobb, son of Loughborough MCCU Head Coach Russell. Cobb is one of a number of talented all-rounders in a squad that also includes England international David Willey, Rob Keogh, Steven Crook and Rory Kleinveldt.

SQUAD: Cosgrove (capt), Ali, Burgess, Eckersley, McKay, Naik, O’Brien, Raine, Robson, Sayer, Shreck, Taylor, Wells.