Lightning v Foxes Preview

Leicestershire Foxes head into the final Vitality Blast fixture of the season against league leaders Lancashire Lightning tomorrow evening (August 30).

The Foxes lost out in their previous two fixtures, against Notts Outlaws and Derbyshire Falcons respectively, meaning that County are now out of a shout of qualifying for a quarter-final place despite a promising T20 campaign.

Both teams go into the fixture off the back of a defeat against the Derbyshire Falcons as Lightning look to cement their spot in first place, and the Foxes look to finish the campaign on a high to take into the remaining three Specsavers County Championship fixtures.

Head Coach Paul Nixon spoke ahead of the fixture. He said: “We are playing against the team who have been dominant in the competition with some high-class overseas pros who have been in good form. It is going to be a great challenge for us and one that we will relish.

“We have played some good cricket and we are still hurting from the previous defeat, and we are looking to learn from that. We will be up for it, and with a few former Lancashire players, we will be looking to go out on a real high.”

The Foxes’ Vitality Blast campaign all but came to an end following back-to-back defeats at the hands of Notts Outlaws and Derbyshire Falcons, yet, Nixon is adamant that his squad are in the right frame of mind to go to Emirates Old Trafford and look to win the fixture.

He said: “Every game is you versus the opposition and you have got to have that internal drive that you go to all of the time.

“It is about you in the battle against the opposition whether that is in the nets, in a fielding drill against your pal or in a competitive Vitality Blast fixture at a test ground – you want to come out on top and that is being a professional sportsman and a winner.”

The fixture is set to be played on a hybrid pitch, the second time the Foxes have played on one during this Vitality Blast campaign with the first instance coming away from home at Emirates Riverside against Durham, and Nixon is looking to take that experience into tomorrow’s fixture.

He said: “It was a little bit stoppy in places and a little bit inconsistent. It got a bit tougher with an older ball, with the new ball it was a bit easier so it will be interesting to see how it goes – especially if there is a bit of dew around, will that make it skid on a little bit more?

“Whatever we do we have got to do it well, but we have just got to go out there with energy, with a good game plan and build from that.”

Nixon has named an unchanged squad heading into the final Vitality Blast fixture of the 2019 season as the Foxes look to finish a positive campaign on a high.

Leicestershire Foxes (from 13): Ackermann (capt), Aadil, Cosgrove, Davis, Dearden, Griffiths, Hill (wk), Klein, Lilley, Mike, Parkinson, Swindells, Wright.