County look to keep improving

* A minute's silence will be held across the UK at 11am on Thursday in remembrance of those who lost their lives and all others that were affected by the attack in Manchester on Monday. Both teams will observe a minute's silence on the outfield at the 3aaa County Ground.

Leicestershire Head Coach Pierre de Bruyn and Club Captain Mark Cosgrove want their team to build on solid performances in home draws against Glamorgan and Kent as they travel to Derbyshire in the Specsavers County Championship on Thursday (11.05am start).

As well as being much improved at the Fischer County Ground this season, the Foxes have lost only two of their last 11 matches on the road in the competition and have got stronger in the Specsavers County Championship as it has progressed this term.

There are lots of positive signs and County are now looking for another strong display as they look to record their first red ball win of the season at the 3aaa County Ground.

“It was a decent effort to score over 400 after being put in by a very good side in Kent, so we’ll take confidence from that up to Derby,” said Cosgrove. 

“It’s now about putting in another good performance but we're also looking to go up there and improve by another 5%.

“We’ve played some really good cricket against Derbyshire in the last couple of years, and if we can continue to improve then it should be a good game.”

de Bruyn added: “We need a win, but I feel after the improvement we showed in the Royal London Cup and in the championship matches against Glamorgan and Kent, we do have some momentum.

“We didn’t start well in this format, but we’re beginning to hit our straps and with the weather forecast looking hopeful at Derby, for me it’s a great opportunity to go and get a good result.

“We were very happy with maximum bonus points with bat and ball against Kent, the more so because with the no toss rule we had to bat first in the toughest conditions, we had to graft hard to get that 420.

“Most of the team chipped in with the bat, the only disappointing thing was no-one in the top six went on to get a hundred. We have a good vibe going now, but we need a couple of big hundreds from the batters and a couple of five-fors from the bowlers.”

Leicestershire show two changes to the 13-man squad as fit again duo Ben Raine and Rob Sayer come in for Tom Wells and Callum Parkinson. Neil Dexter and Richard Jones remain on the sidelines while Charlie Shreck is making his comeback in the Second XI at Durham this week.

“It was a tough selection meeting, because we’ve got guys returning to fitness and we obviously want to get the balance right,” said de Bruyn. 

“Rainey (Ben Raine) comes back into the squad for Tom Wells, and Rob comes in for Parky (Callum Parkinson), who made his first-class debut for us against Kent.  

“Tom and Callum did well against Kent, it was good experience for them. Parky in particular will have learned some valuable lessons from bowling at the likes of Darren Stevens, and he showed a lot of character in the way he bounced back in his second spell.

“Tom picked up a couple of good wickets in Daniel Bell-Drummond and Stevens, and also knows what he needs to work on with his bowling, so all credit to both of them. One of our key aims this season is to make sure youngsters play games at first team level, it’s the only way they can really learn.”

Derbyshire are boosted by the return of Ireland international Gary Wilson and also include youngsters Charlie Macdonnell (batsman), Rob Hemmings and Alfie Gleadall (both seamers) in their 14-man squad. Hardus Viljoen and Will Davis remain on the sidelines.

Leicestershire (from): Cosgrove (capt), Ackermann, Chappell, Dearden, Eckersley, Griffiths, Hill, Horton, Klein, McKay, Pettini, Raine, Sayer.

Derbyshire (from): Godleman (capt), Reece, Slater, Thakor, Madsen, Smit, Macdonnell, Mendis, Hughes, Wilson, Taylor, Hemmings, Palladino, Gleadall.