Foxes set for pre-season opener

Leicestershire CCC Head Coach Paul Nixon has paid tribute to the groundstaff ahead of the first scheduled game of the season against Nottinghamshire CCC tomorrow (Thursday).

The Foxes host their East Midlands neighbours in a two-day game at the Fischer County Ground with the match scheduled to start at 11am each day.

Although the weather has been more akin to winter than spring recently, Leicestershire CCC has enjoyed some outdoor practice sessions at the Fischer County Ground following the pre-season training camp to Desert Springs.

There were hopes for a potential game in the early part of this week but more heavy rain across the country over the Bank Holiday weekend put paid to that – even football games across the country were affected on Monday.

However, the forecast is brighter for the next couple of days, and the Leicestershire CCC groundstaff have been working around the clock at the Fischer County Ground to give the best possible chance of play.   

“It’s been a really difficult start to the season for our groundstaff, but they got us out in the middle towards the end of last week and both yesterday and today, which was a fantastic effort given the circumstances,” said Nixon.

“[Head Groundsman] Andy Ward and his team won an award for the quality of their one-day pitches last season and you won’t find a harder working group of people around. Their efforts have been outstanding and it means that we’re on schedule despite the weather.

“We’re now really hopeful of getting some competitive match practice against Nottinghamshire. We’ll keep monitoring the conditions because there has been an awful lot of rain here, including today, so the water table is still very high. But we’re optimistic having been in the middle the last two days.

“It’s not been easy for everyone in terms of preparation but we will get on with it. It’s fair to say that most counties are in the same boat because it’s not just one part of the country that has been affected. There’s been snow and rain in the Midlands, north and east, and huge amounts of rain in the south, so everyone has suffered.”

Leicestershire CCC has named a 14-man squad for the game including Mark Cosgrove and Ned Eckersley, who recently arrived back in the UK after successful periods playing in Australia. Zak Chappell is available after recently representing the North in the 50-over series in Barbados while Academy all-rounder Ben Mike is also in the squad.

Nottinghamshire CCC is bringing a squad of 12, including new signing Chris Nash, England international Jake Ball, and three left arm seamers in Harry Gurney, Mark Footitt and Luke Wood.

Nixon said: "It’s been difficult to pick a squad because everybody has been firing, which is great. We want competition for places and we certainly have that. 

"As well as the training sessions here, which have been really structured and competitive, people have been playing cricket in other parts of the country and the world.

"Sam Evans has played for Loughborough MCCU at Sussex [making 33 not out in the second innings], while Colin Ackermann and Muhammad Abbas will arrive soon too, so everything is looking positive."

Leicestershire CCC (from 14): Carberry (capt), Horton, Dexter, Cosgrove, Eckersley, Hill, Javid, Parkinson, Chappell, Raine, Taylor, Klein, Griffiths, Mike.

Nottinghamshire CCC (from 12): Mullaney (capt), Libby, Nash, Patel, Wessels, Root, Moores, Fletcher, Gurney, Footitt, Ball, Wood.

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