Eckersley targets three wins

Head Coach Andrew McDonald and opening batsman Ned Eckersley said Leicestershire Foxes are targeting three wins as the NatWest T20 Blast reaches a critical point.

The Foxes currently have ten points from eleven matches and sit just outside the qualification positions after losses to Durham Jets and reigning champions Birmingham Bears last week.

But this weekend sees the Foxes take on two sides who are just above them in Lancashire (10 pts) and Northants (11 pts) - and the final group match is against Nottinghamshire , who are two points behind the Foxes.

So it's all up for grabs in a tight north group and Eckersley is determined to grasp the nettle, starting with tomorrow night's clash at home to the Lightning (5.30pm start).

Eckersley said: “We have to aim to win all three games and definitely make sure of our position in the top four.

"The crowds have been great at Grace Road this season, big and noisy, and the players have thrived on the atmosphere and played really well.

“We’ve got two home games left and we’ve played really well here, and just had one blip against Birmingham. We looked in control of the game but they are a good team who fought back well.

“If we play like that again at home, I’m very confident we can get two victories here, and a win at Northants would really top it off.”

McDonald added: “It’s a tough one to call but history suggests that if you win 50 per cent of the games then you get through and I still think that will be the case. So two out of three may be enough but three out of three will definitely get us in and that’s what we’re looking for.”

The Head Coach said the team was frustrated to suffer back-to-back setbacks last week but insists everybody will take belief into Friday night’s game against Lancashire.

“It was a disappointing loss against Birmingham as we had that game pretty much sewn up and in our control, and we’ll look back to that first game at Lancashire as one we could have won,” said McDonald.

“But we’re playing good cricket in the T20 format and we should take full confidence that we can win our last three games. If we can do that, we’ll have great momentum going into the quarter finals.

“We’re quietly confident that the brand of cricket we’re bringing to the table is the type that can get us through. We’ve had to make changes because of international call-ups but the lads have handled that and been adaptable, which shows that we are moving forwards as a group.”

Lightning stand-in skipper Steve Croft has twice hit the winning runs off the last ball in this fixture over the years and also feels there is all to play for.

He said: “It’s pretty tight in our group. You normally get someone running away with it and usually we haven’t lost this many games but the priority is getting to the quarter-finals and I don’t care how we get there. But of course I would prefer a home tie, especially with our record at Emirates Old Trafford.”

The Foxes have named a 15-man squad with Aadil Ali, Lewis Hill, Neil Pinner and Atif Sheikh named along with the XI who played against the Bears.

Foxes (from): Cosgrove (capt), Agathangelou, Ali, Boyce, Eckersley, Elliott, Freckingham, Hill, McKay, Naik, Pinner, Raine, Sayer, Sheikh, Wells.