Cosgrove & McDonald pleased with performance

REACTION | Elite Performance Director Andrew McDonald and Club Captain Mark Cosgrove were proud of the way their side fought during the Specsavers County Championship draw at Northants.

The team was without leading wicket-taker Clint McKay on the final day while Neil Dexter was also not at full fitness, but Leicestershire nevertheless took eleven points from a contest played on a very good surface for batting.

With Gloucestershire and Worcestershire both losing and Kent not playing in this round of fixtures, Leicestershire made up some points on teams around them and now sit in second place.

Leaders Essex landed an impressive innings victory at Derbyshire, however, so next week’s meeting at the Fischer County Ground between the division’s frontrunners is a crucial one for the Foxes.

Cosgrove said: “It was a hard-fought draw to be fair. Losing Clint McKay on day three, and Neil Dexter picking up a little niggle too really hurt us trying to move the game forward.

“We hedged our bets a little bit, it was going to be hard to bowl them out again and it was fairly easy to score.

“And being a bowler and a half down we were struggling to really push for a win but the way we played the game was pretty good. We take the draw and we’re in a fantastic position in the table."

McDonald added: “We thought it was a really good toss to win but the pitch improved. We couldn’t really press for a result today as we lost our number one quick (Clint McKay) and Neil Dexter also had a niggle.

“We’ve put in a lot of hard work this year and it’s great to be excited ahead of a big game against Essex. It’s a big reward for the guys and we’re looking forward to the challenge.”

Northants Head Coach David Ripley was also pleased with his side’s display as they built on an excellent win at Glamorgan last time out.

He said: “We hoped it might have been a different set-up on the final day with our declaration but it’s petered out in the end.

“We thought with other results, Leicestershire might have wanted a game here but having lost their strike bowler, that affected things.

“We wanted to break the good performance-rubbish performance cycle and we’ve backed the win at Swansea up here. There were a couple of chances here and didn’t quite take them but that’s four-day cricket.”

* Please come to support the lads for a huge Specsavers County Championship game against Essex, which starts on Tuesday, August 23. Tickets for the Essex game, priced at £10 adults and £1 for under 16s each day, can be purchassed HERE