Foxes set for weekend of derbies

Leicestershire Foxes are looking forward to another busy weekend of white ball action after Tuesday’s fantastic Royal London One-Day Cup win against Lancashire Lightning.

The Foxes want to end their NatWest T20 Blast season on a high at local rivals Notts Outlaws tomorrow night (6.30pm start) before further derbies in the RLODC against the Outlaws and Derbyshire Falcons on Sunday and Monday respectively.

The trip to Trent Bridge comes on the back of three good pieces of news for the club. Seam bowlers Richard Jones and Dieter Klein have signed two year and one year deals respectively, while wicket-keeper batsman Lewis Hill has agreed a two year extension to his current contract.

Jones joins Leicestershire from Warwickshire, following a successful loan spell at the Fischer County Ground. The 29-year-old right-armer has taken 153 wickets at an average of 31.74 and scored 764 runs in 53 first-class matches since beginning his career at Worcestershire.

Left-armer Klein, 27, has 154 first-class wickets in 42 matches at an average of 25.99, as well as taking 34 wickets in List A and T20 cricket combined at an average under 22. He has been playing as a professional for Lowerhouse Cricket Club in the Lancashire leagues and impressed against that county on debut.

Local boy and academy product Hill, 25, has continued to develop steadily since scoring his maiden first-class century opening the batting against a strong Surrey attack at the Oval last season.  

Despite being unable to qualify for the quarter-finals of this season’s NatWest T20 Blast, the Foxes are full of confidence after outstanding wins in the Specsavers County Championship against Gloucestershire and Lancashire respectively.

“The Outlaws is a big game under any circumstances, and it’s unfortunate we’ve had a couple of wash-outs at home against them recently, because we always look forward to playing them, as I’m sure they do us,” said Leicestershire's Elite Performance Director Andrew McDonald.

“We go there as underdogs, as we usually do, and it will be fun to see if we can cause an upset. There are a couple of changes to the squad, with “Fudgie” [Farhaan Behardien] coming back into contention, and I’m sure Clint McKay will be raring to go again after being rested for the RLODC game against Lancashire.”

Niall and Kevin O’Brien, who were today named in the squad for Ireland’s ODI series against Pakistan next month, are also reunited in the NatWest T20 Blast squad. Niall’s last appearance in the format was against Durham Jets on June 4 before he unfortunately suffered a calf injury.

The squad for the Royal London One-Day Cup will be confirmed over the weekend once tomorrow night’s fixture has been completed. Sunday’s match against Notts is an 11am start at the Fischer County Ground while Monday’s trip to Derbyshire is floodlit and gets underway at 2pm.

Leicestershire’s win against Lancashire kept RLODC qualification hopes alive but the Foxes will need to win both matches and hope that other results go in their favour.

Foxes (from): Pettini (capt), Cosgrove, Delport, Behardien, Hill, Horton, N O’Brien (w/k), K O’Brien, Dexter, McKay, Raine, Sayer, Jones, Klein