McDonald: "Leicester is buzzing!"

Andrew McDonald is hoping that Leicestershire County Cricket Club can build on the hugely positive sporting vibe around the city this summer.

The club’s Elite Performance Director watches Leicester City whenever he gets the opportunity and thinks the football Foxes are a great example of what can be achieved at any sport club.

Leicester Tigers and Leicester Riders are also going great guns and McDonald wants Leicestershire CCC to follow in their footsteps.

“The city of Leicester is buzzing and it’s great to see the football and rugby teams going so well and Leicester Riders moving to a new stadium,” said McDonald. “We want to keep making progress as a club and build on that momentum.

“When I arrived last year the Foxes were in a relegation fight and the talk was that they couldn’t possibly get out of it, but they did – and now look at them! It shows that things can turn around so quickly with the right pieces in the jigsaw and the right attitude.

“Listening to Claudio Ranieri speak, there’s always a lot of positivity and he really believes in his players. Things can turn around very quickly with a little bit of belief and it’s something for us to look at.

“In fact, it’s something for any team to observe around the globe because it’s gone to an international level now. Everyone is following the Foxes to see if they can win the Premier League. It would be great to see them finish top of the league.”

McDonald is charged with the task of taking Leicestershire forwards from a cricketing perspective in 2016 but he also takes a great interest in off-field developments.

When the former Australia international arrived back at the ground, he was welcomed by a new sign unveiling the Fischer County Ground, Grace Road and saw lots of construction work underway.

Everything at Leicestershire County Cricket Club is based around laying the foundations for a strong future and McDonald plays his part by giving young players an opportunity.

He said: “It was good to see the progress made by Ben Raine and Aadil Ali last year and we also saw Michael Burgess and Zak Chappell making strides forward too. The younger players will learn off our experienced professionals and we feel there’s a good blend here now.

“It’s outstanding to see progress off the field and the Official Ground Naming Rights Partner is a big step forward for the club. It’s good to be known as the Fischer County Ground, Grace Road. There is lots of construction work going on, the floodlights are going in, and we’re moving forward in terms of everything off the field.

“Things are really happening here and we are determined to translate that to on-field success. There were lots of developments last year with what Wasim was doing and all the good work by the commercial team, and we feel that as a club we’re moving forward. That can only bode for a positive future for Leicestershire County Cricket Club.

“Floodlights bring lots of benefits to the club and will add to the matchday experience here at the Fischer County Ground, Grace Road. Everything about T20 cricket should be geared towards being enjoyable for the people who come to watch.

“There were a couple of frustrating games last year with bad light stopping play – especially the Northamptonshire game - and we aren’t going to have that problem going forward. It’s all about the fans that come here, especially the kids, because a key aim of ours is to inspire a whole new generation of cricket lovers.”