Fazakerley, Parkinson and Jones in contention

Will Fazakerley and Callum Parkinson are in contention to play against Sussex tomorrow after being named in Leicestershire’s 13-man squad. 

The game marks the start of a busy week of outground action with the four-day game at Arundel immediately followed by a trip to face Lancashire in Liverpool on Sunday to mark the start of NatWest T20 Blast.

Leicestershire have yet to record a win in the Specsavers County Championship this season, but the team could hardly have come closer against Northamptonshire last time around, failing by just three runs to set a club record by chasing down a target of 394. 

de Bruyn said that once they had got over their frustration, his players should take a lot of encouragement from their performance on a tense final day at Wantage Road. 

"It was a real case of mixed emotions at the end of the Northants match, because alongside the disappointment at not quite getting over the line, there was also intense pride at the efforts of the guys,” said de Bruyn.

"We had the worse of the conditions throughout the match, in terms of having to bat on three of the four evening sessions, which was when the pink ball was really moving, but we showed incredible fight, and we will take a lot of confidence and momentum from that into the Sussex match.

"There's also the motivation that comes from feeling we missed a real opportunity when we lost by five wickets against Sussex at the Fischer County Ground a couple of weeks ago, and we will go to Arundel confident of competing."

The week will have a mixed feel to it, with those not playing for the First XI having specialised white ball sessions to prepare for the NatWest T20 Blast opener.

Once the Sussex game has finished, the Foxes have ten NatWest T20 Blast games in a row, so things will become easier from a preparation perspective following the ninth red ball match of the campaign. 

"It’s not going to be easy but we’re ready for the challenge,” he said. “We're now in a situation where the white ball is becoming the priority, so we have to manage the squad and get the balance right. It's unfortunate but we have to rest some players, especially the bowlers.

"The good thing is that with the exception of Ben Raine,  Zak Chappell (both injured) and Neil Dexter, who needs a couple of weeks off due to his personal issue, we have pretty much a full squad to chose from.”

With Fazakerley and Parkinson coming back into the squad, and Jones retaining his place in the travelling party, Dexter, Sam Evans and Gavin Griffiths come out of the 14-man squad at Northamptonshire. 

On-loan Surrey duo Arun Harinath and Mathew Pillans are also available. It will be the final Specsavers County Championship match of their initial 28-day loan periods but Pillans is available to the Foxes in NatWest T20 Blast. The all-rounder can play in the first five fixtures under the conditions of that loan. 

Sussex are boosted by the return of opener Chris Nash while left-arm seamer George Garton is also added to the squad after taking two wickets and impressing for England Lions against South Africa during last week’s tour game at Worcester.

Leicestershire (from): Cosgrove (capt), Ackermann, Eckersley, Fazakerley, Harinath, Hill, Horton, Jones, Klein, McKay, Parkinson, Pillans, Sayer.

Sussex (from): Nash, Finch, Wells, van Zyl, Wright, Brown (capt), Jordan, Wiese, Archer, Briggs, Garton, Beer, Sakande.