"Extremely Proud" | Thomas Heaps Praise On Leicestershire Bowling Attack

Alfonso Thomas expressed his pride at the performances of Leicestershire's youthful attack, as the Foxes bowlers took the side to the brink of victory before rain washed out the final day in Derbyshire.

“I have to doff my cap to the lads. We’ve asked a lot of them in the last four days, and they’ve delivered and more," the Leicestershire boss said after hands were shaken at The County Ground midway through day four.

Missing several frontline bowlers for the trip across the East Midlands, Leicestershire's attack saw Tom Scriven and Ben Mike promoted to open with the new ball - while Scott Currie, Liam Trevaskis, and the debuting Ben Green, were making their fifth, second, and first red-ball appearances for the Club respectively.

It's the collective effort which impressed Thomas the most. "We bowled well as a pack, which is exactly what we want. We don’t want to depend on one bowler. There’s still more to come, but if we can replicate that performance as a bowling unit, we’ll be in some strong positions."

The attack was led by Tom Scriven, who returned remarkably economical figures of 34-9-77-4, on a pitch which had seen 574 runs scored by his teammates before he got the ball in his hand. "Tom is becoming a real leader with the ball for us," said Thomas. "He bowled with tight control, which was not an easy task on that wicket."

It's praise Thomas also echoes for his new-ball partner, Ben Mike, who almost missed the fixture against the Club's East Midlands counterparts. "Ben did really well too. There was an opportunity for him to take the new ball, which is a new challenge, but he and Scriv both stepped up. Benny had a back spasm on Thursday evening, but he still pushed through and performed superbly."

With six wickets in the match, Leicestershire's Head Coach also heaped praise on Scotland international, Scott Currie. "That’s definitely the best I’ve seen Scott bowl in a Leicestershire shirt. He got wickets at important times, and showed the qualities we've been looking for from him."

Somerset loanee Ben Green added further control, returning match figures of 20-6-53-0, while winter addition Liam Trevaskis provided respite for the seamers with his measured left-arm spin. Two contributions which also impressed Thomas.

"Ben Green did exactly what we wanted him to do, hold the scoreboard, and I don’t think we can neglect how good a job Trev did at the time we needed him. He took a wicket in his first over in both innings, so that was an incredible option for us."

Matt Salisbury, rested with a slight niggle for the Derbyshire fixture, is due to be in contention for this week's game at home to Northamptonshire, while Rehan Ahmed is also expected to be available for selection. Josh Hull is nearing full fitness, and will feature for the Second XI in Scarborough this week, following his impressive return at Kibworth recently.

Such returns add to mounting selection dilemmas for Thomas. "It's going to give us a headache for the next game, but that's exactly where we want to be as a Club. I said in pre-season that everyone will play a part this year, and it's encouraging to know we can rely on different guys."

Alongside a brilliant bowling display, Thomas was far happier with the ruthlessness his side showed with the bat, setting up a foundation to attack the Derbyshire batters at every opportunity.

"To have lost the toss, but score 570 and enforce the follow-on, that was a great achievement for us. You can't ask for more than that," he explains. "Yes, Derbyshire gave us a few chances, but we were good enough to capitalise and it just shows you the value of first innings runs, which is what we spoke about improving after the first two games."

While the frustration remains that the winter didn't play ball for a final day victory charge, the Foxes can take great confidence into their next challenge - the visit of Northamptonshire on Friday.