Eckersley: "We want to be challenging for honours"

Key batsman Ned Eckersley handed Leicestershire a huge boost by signing a new contract at the end of the 2014 season.

The 25-year-old knows that results have not been good enough over the last couple of years but said the spirit and camaraderie in the group remains as strong as ever ahead of the 2015 season.

“It was good to sort out the new contract and I’m now able to concentrate purely on the cricket,” he said. “We have a new Chief Executive in Wasim Khan and a new Head Coach in Andrew McDonald and we know that we have a lot to prove next season as a group of players.

“The majority of players have been at Grace Road from November and the boys have got to know each other pretty well this winter. We have spent a lot of time in the dressing room and going out together socially, so there is not much that we don’t know about each other.

“There are a couple of new faces but when Andrew and Clint (McKay) arrive it will be a good environment for them to come into, knowing that everyone knows each other well and looks out for each other.

“Everyone is determined to use that in a positive way this season. We want to put things right, win some matches and be challenging for honours.”

It was always going to be difficult for Eckersley to better his stunning 2013 season, when he won six trophies at Awards Night after being the club’s leading first-class run-scorer by some distance.

Eckersley described last year as “pretty average” but is being a little harsh on himself. The batsman still scored 818 LV=CC runs including two centuries and got himself in on plenty of other occasions.

That was backed up by some decent NatWest T20 Blast performances and Eckersley also forced his way into the side for the vital Royal London 50-over game at Lancashire. So it was far from a bad season for the 25-year-old – but he has high standards for himself and the team.

He said: “You’ve always got to look to get better. Last year the difference was that I scored a lot of 30s and 40s and the year before I turned into one or two more hundreds which led the runs going over 1,000.

“I scored nearly 820 runs in what was a pretty average season for me, so converting some more of those starts into hundreds, or even eighties, would have helped the team a lot more. It would also have helped me get closer to hitting 1,000 runs again.

“So that is what I am focussing on this season. It’s not so much about changing my technique or mindset, it’s just making sure I make it count once I get to 30, 40 or 50 like I did in the previous season.”

Eckersley was also adapting to batting up the order in T20 during a revamped domestic structure and he enjoyed taking on the challenge. The batter thinks that all players will be better for having a year’s experience as they look to get to grips with a similar schedule in 2015.

He said: “Batting up the order in T20 was a bit of a learning curve for me. It went well at the start and drifted off and then came back, so it was a little inconsistent. Sometimes you learn on the job and hopefully I’ll get another chance to do it and be more consistent in 2015.

“With T20 mixed in with the Championship, it tends to lean towards the competition you’re doing better in. So if you’re doing well in the Championship and not the T20, you might put more focus in practice on the Championship game on the Sunday, or vice versa. In the ideal world you will be competing on all fronts though.

“In the one-day competition now we have a full block and it allows you to concentrate solely on it. The standard of T20 was probably higher when we played it in a block because you are able to practice purely for it.

“But I can understand the commercial side of cricket wanting it to be played on Friday nights so we just have to find the best ways to practice and prepare. In the modern game you have to be able to do that.”

* In the second part of the interview, Ned talks about his winter so far, including a spell at The Cricketer magazine on work experience.