Cosgrove: "We're back there for business"

Club Captain Mark Cosgrove thinks that Leicestershire CCC should set the bar high as they get stuck into Specsavers County Championship action this weekend.

County kick off the campaign at Glamorgan on Sunday (11am start) and Cosgrove knows the surroundings better than most having previously spent four successful summers in the Welsh capital.

The skipper knows all about the challenge that lays in wait at the SSE SWALEC but feels he has a strong squad at his disposal and is expecting big things from the team this summer.

“It’s always nice to go back to Cardiff and see some familiar faces but we’re back there for business,” he said. “Hopefully we can get the points down there but it will be hard for us because Glamorgan always play good cricket and had a good season last time around.

“Our aim has to be to go up, we’ve named a squad of 13 and it looks really strong. We have one of the strongest squads in the competition, so our goal has to be to get out of Division Two. We’re going to play aggressively and we’ve learnt a lot, so we’re looking to move forward.

“We’ve strengthened our batting in the off-season and our bowling was extremely strong last season with C-Mac (Clint McKay), Rainey (Ben Raine) and Shrecky (Charlie Shreck) all taking more than 50 wickets and pretty much steering clear of injuries.

“We have a strong looking squad, both in terms of batting and bowling, and plenty of competition for places throughout. The guys who’ve come in know how to make runs when it matters, and how to build innings. It’s a good position for us to be in.

“I learnt an awful lot last year. We were at a learning stage last season and we had to think our way through to get to where we are now. It’s really exciting and we can now look to be driving a lot more games this season.

“If I can start the way I finished (in 2015), I’ll be happy with that. Look, it was tough at times, but it was exciting at times as well. I’ve never been in a team as young, we lacked a couple of senior players and experience, but we’ve rectified that.”

The 31-year-old is back from a successful season with South Australia, who played good cricket in the domestic competitions and qualified for both major finals. Cosgrove saw progress in Adelaide throughout the winter and can see similar things happening at the Fischer County Ground.

He said: “It’s been a really good winter all round, the boys here have played good cricket in pre-season and look fit and ready to go. Our first Championship game can’t come quickly enough.

“South Australia did really well, we made two finals, including our first Sheffield Shield final for 20 years so it was a big year back home. Unfortunately we couldn’t get over the line but we made big strides forward.

“Since coming back to Leicestershire, I saw the boys training and play the intra-squad game and we’ve since had the university game at Loughborough, which was another good test. It’s clear that we have made big strides forward here too and we can’t wait to get going.”

Leicestershire CCC has named an unchanged 13-man squad from the first competitive game at Loughborough MCCU and Paul Horton, Neil Dexter and Mark Pettini are in line for first-class debuts for the club. Ned Eckersley is unavailable after sustaining a finger injury during the pre-season tour of Dubai.

Leics (from): Cosgrove (captain), Horton (vice captain), O’Brien (w/k), Robson, Dexter, Pettini, Ali, Naik, White, Raine, McKay, Chappell, Shreck.

* Leicestershire Second XI has named a 12-man squad for their first Championship match of the season under new coach Pierre de Bruyn at Northamptonshire on Monday (April 18).

The team will be captained by Tom Wells and includes Adam Tillcock, Harry Dearden, Liam Hurt and Gurjit Sandhu, who have played for the club during pre-season. Will Wright has come through the system with Leicestershire Young Cricketers last season and had a successful winter in Australia.

Squad: Wells (capt), Dearden, Hill (w/k), Taylor, Wright, R. Sayer, Tillcock, Freckingham, Sykes, Sheikh, Hurt, Sandhu.