Gloucestershire CCC Match Preview - 29/4/21

The Running Foxes travel down to Bristol to take on second-placed Gloucestershire CCC in round four of the 2021 LV= County Championship campaign.

Leicestershire will be looking to bounce back from the defeat against Somerset CCC last week and build on the positives taken from the game.

The hosts are flying high in Group 2 having not lost game so far this campaign, claiming victories over Surrey and Somerset, and a draw against table-topping Hampshire.

As of 3:00pm on Friday, April 30, 2021, the Club, along with all other 18 First-Class Counties will be taking part in a social media boycott in solidarity of the FA in the fight against online abuse.

From this point onwards, LCCC informs and advises its Members and fans alike that the live stream will still be available to watch on the Club’s official YouTube channel, Foxes TV, and match reports will be posted at the end of each days play on the Club’s official website.

The social media boycott will end at 11:59pm on Monday, May 3, 2021.

Overview

While some of our recent LV= County Championship matches this season have been the first meetings between the Running Foxes and our opposition for a number of years, this week’s opponents, Gloucestershire CCC, are much more familiar to Leicestershire players and supporters.

With both teams being regulars in Division Two in recent years, we faced Gloucestershire twice in red ball cricket in 2019. In June, we drew a high scoring match at the Uptonsteel County Ground, with Hassan Azad scoring twin tons (137 and 100*) as we piled up 487 in our first innings and 211-0 in our second. Our current captain, Colin Ackermann, also weighed in with 56* whilst our form player this season so far, Lewis Hill, made 44 in that clash as well.

Dieter Klein took 4-113 in Gloucestershire’s only innings in the match - a solid effort considering our opponents amassed 571 all out. Ryan Higgins hit 199 before being bowled by Chris Wright, and captain Chris Dent scored 176 - both are likely to be in the Gloucestershire line-up this week.

In the second meeting between the two sides in 2019, Gloucestershire took the win by six wickets. Another ton from Dent (125) helped them score 504, which gave them a 252 run first-innings lead - Chris Wright and Will Davis shared six wickets for us in that innings.

Another ton from Hassan Azad gave the Running Foxes a chance of saving the match, but he lacked support from his team mates as we left Gloucestershire a chase of just 48 in their second innings, which they negotiated for the loss of four wickets. Wright again was the pick of our bowlers, taking 2-26.

The two teams find themselves at opposite ends of the LV= Insurance County Championship Group Two table so far after three matches.  Gloucestershire won their opening two matches before forcing a battling draw against Hampshire last week, while Leicestershire have two defeats and one draw to their name so far this season.  

The Running Foxes

Gloucestershire will view Hassan Azad as a key wicket after his previous success against them in 2019, and our opening batsman is the top run scorer for the Running Foxes in the time period since his debut at the start of the 2019 season. He’s averaging 56.00 this season so far, having accumulated 280 runs in three matches to date.

Outscoring Azad so far in 2021 is Lewis Hill, who has enjoyed a superb start to the season with four fifties in his opening three matches. Hill has scored 322 runs at an average of 64.40 so far and will be looking to convert his excellent run of form into a big, match-winning score.

Chris Wright managed some solid returns in our matches against Gloucestershire and his knowledge and experience of their batting group will be key if we are to achieve success in this match. Since joining us at the start of 2019, Wright has taken 57 wickets and is our leading wicket-taker so far this season with five wickets.

Opposition players to watch

Captain Chris Dent has scored several centuries against Leicestershire in recent years, and has started the season in good form as well with 244 runs to his name at an average of 48.80. He scored over 1,000 runs in the last full season (2019) at an average of 47.26, so he’s clearly a danger man among the opposition batting group.

The same can be said for James Bracey, who spent the winter in the England squad for their Test series’ in the subcontinent. Already this season, the 23-year-old wicket-keeper batsman has a century and three fifties to his name, scoring 343 runs at an average of 68.60. Bracey is a key wicket.

Lower down the order, Ryan Higgins is an all-rounder of clear ability, and may not be far away from the England squad in red-ball cricket. He was one short of a double century against the Running Foxes in 2019, and is a capable operator with both bat and ball. Since joining Gloucestershire ahead of the 2018 season, Higgins has scored 1,754 runs at an average of 35.80 and taken 132 wickets at 20.68, including 17 wickets at just 16.18 this season so far.

Leicestershire CCC Squad

Paul Nixon has named a 13-man squad to travel to the Bristol County Ground, with only one change as captain Colin Ackermann misses out under the concussion protocol. Opening batsman Sam Evans re-joins the ranks after being passed fit to play after successfully passing his concussion tests.

Leicestershire CCC from 13: Hassan Azad, Harry Dearden, Alex Evans, Sam Evans, Gavin Griffiths, Marcus Harris, Lewis Hill, Dieter Klein, Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson (C), Rishi Patel, Harry Swindells (wk), Chris Wright.