Gritty Cosgrove leads way for County

REACTION | By Richard Latham

Leicestershire CCC Captain Mark Cosgrove relished the testing conditions as the team battled hard on the second day at Cheltenham.

Gloucestershire ended the day 57 ahead in their second innings, effectively three wickets down with the loss of injured captain Ian Cockbain.

The skipper earlier ground out a vital 74 and young Aadil Ali made 40 valuable runs as the team got within a whisker of Gloucestershire’s first innings 218.

Cosgrove said: “Batting out there was really tough, as tough as anything I’ve experienced this year. You play and miss a lot, but then it is the same for everyone in those conditions.

“I just tried to stay there as long as I could and that 74 would probably have been worth a lot more on another day and on another ground. In the end, I was disappointed not to go on and get a hundred.

“Batting becomes a bit easier when the ball goes soft and, to be honest, I felt we should have gone on to establish a first-innings lead.”

Gloucestershire Head Coach Richard Dawson was pleased with the way his side stuck to their task as the game continued to ebb and flow.

He said: “From day one, the message to the players has been to be competitive in every session. I cannot fault their efforts in the field. They stuck at it, showed character and discipline and got their rewards.

“It was a good bowling and fielding performance. It was good, old fashioned, hard cricket and we held on in there and kept plugging away. Had you offered me any kind of first-innings lead when we were 114 for six on the first day, I would have taken it.”

“I think the wicket will increasingly suit the likes of Kieran Noema-Barnett and Benny Howell, bowlers who take the pace off the ball.

“Variation in pace is important and that’s why we use the quicks in short bursts. Kieran and Benny will bowl more in the second innings and spin could come into play as well.”