Foxes focused on Kent encounter

Elite Performance Director Andrew McDonald and Club Captain Mark Cosgrove said it’s important to look ahead rather than back following the disappointing Specsavers County Championship defeat to Worcestershire.

McDonald and Cosgrove were extremely honest after the game, offering no excuses for how events panned out against the Pears at the Fischer County Ground.

However, to put the performance and result into context, Leicestershire has generally had the better of most Specsavers County Championship days in 2016 - and a much-changed team performed admirably in the tourist fixture against Sri Lanka.

The Foxes also showed their character and skill in bouncing back impressively in white ball cricket last night, landing a 54-run win on a test match ground to get their NatWest T20 Blast campaign off and running at Yorkshire Vikings.

So rather than dwelling on Tuesday’s setback, McDonald and Cosgrove have their sights firmly set on tomorrow’s trip to Kent (11am start). The duo have total confidence that their players will make an instant return to the high standards they previously set in red ball cricket.

“We lost track of the Worcestershire game reasonably quickly and have thought about the way we played. It was not acceptable,” said Cosgrove. “We can’t blame anybody but ourselves. We played the cricket that we don’t want to play – the cricket we haven’t played all year.

“It’s now time to look forward; it isn’t the end of the world as we still got some points out of the game and are still sitting okay in the table. The key thing is to bounce back from it at Kent and I know we will do that.

“We have definitely made strides forward this season, Horts (Paul Horton), Neil Dexter, Angus Robson, Mark Pettini and Nobby (Niall O’Brien) are all making runs and Shrecky (Charlie Shreck) and CMac (Clint McKay) are taking wickets so we are going in the right direction. It was just one of those days.”

McDonald added: “Being 63-6 on the second morning handed some control back to Worcestershire, but we fought hard with the ball and had our chances to have a bigger lead. And then what happened on the third day was inexcusable.

“It was disappointing but it’s a small blip on the radar given there’s 16 County Championship games overall. Our style of cricket over the first few games and on the first day against Worcestershire has been good.

“Yes, we had a couple of bad days in the last game, but other than that you’d be hard-pressed to find a side that has performed better in the competition.

“So it’s not time to panic or delve too far in, it’s time to realign ourselves and get back to what we do best. We were not at our best but that can happen in this game and full credit to Worcestershire, they are a quality and professional unit and put us under real pressure.”

Leicestershire will be in for another big test at Kent as there were echoes of Worcestershire’s win at the FCG in their victory at Derbyshire in the latest round of matches.

Kent conceded 492 in the first innings but responded impressively with Sean Dickson striking an unbeaten double century before James Tredwell and Calum Haggett took four wickets apiece in the second innings.

County had the better of a rain-affected draw against Kent last month but McDonald knows that will count for little at the St Lawrence Ground.

“Canterbury is a beautiful crowd to play at and Kent are a quality opposition,” he said. “Division Two is quite an even contest so we look forward to competing there again.

“We had the better of Kent here for a few days so I’m sure that they will be better planned and better prepared this time around. But I’ve got full confidence in this side and where we’re heading.”

Leicestershire has made two changes to the travelling 14-man squad with Ned Eckersley and James Sykes coming in for Wayne White and Jigar Naik. Rob Taylor was part of the squad against Worcestershire and will also travel with the team that faced the Pears this week.

Our hosts also have some nice selection dilemmas as three key figures who missed the Derbyshire game are now available. Tom Latham and former Fox Darren Stevens return from injury while Sam Billings is back from IPL duty.

Kent's 13-man squad also includes Joe Denly, who retired not out overnight on Monday against Derbyshire after his wife Stacy went into labour. Denly received a call just after 5.30am on Tuesday and their first child, Henry, arrived at 11.30am.

One blow for Kent is the absence of influential seamer Mitch Claydon, who is ruled out of the game because of an ankle injury. Matt Hunn and Hugh Bernard are potential replacements for Claydon.

Leicestershire (from): Horton, Robson, Dexter, Cosgrove (capt), Pettini, Eckersley, O’Brien (w/k), Ali, Wells, Taylor, Raine, McKay, Shreck, Sykes.

Kent (from): Bell-Drummond, Dickson, Latham, Denly, Northeast (capt), Stevens, Ball, Billings (w/k), Coles, Tredwell, Haggett, Hunn, Bernard.