McDonald looking for turnaround in form

Leicestershire CCC Head Coach Andrew McDonald said it is imperative that the team bounces back from a difficult spell, starting with Wednesday's LV=CC trip to face Gloucestershire (11am start) at Cheltenham.

County have lost their last four games in both the LV=CC and NatWest T20 Blast and face another tough test against a side who recorded victory inside two days against Northamptonshire on the ground last week.

The Festival atmosphere has traditionally brought the best out of Leicestershire, who are unbeaten in their last eight Championship visits to the charming College Ground.

Indeed, you have to go back to 1933 to find the club’s last first-class defeat on the ground, when Les Berry made a century opening the batting and George Geary and Ewart Astill were the first change bowlers.

McDonald said: "Gloucestershire had a fairly convincing win against Northants at this ground last week and are not a team that can be taken lightly.

"But we need to have a look at our own performances of late and bounce back from that. We have had some poor results in the Championship in the last four rounds and we can't shy away from that.

"We need to improve, and are doing our utmost to improve, but the real acid test is when you get out in the centre.

"We've done a lot of talking and planning for the Championship, and other formats, but now is the time for us to start delivering in the middle, where it counts."

Angus Robson comes into the game as Leicestershire’s top scorer. The opener has racked up 812 first-class runs over 11 matches with an average of 36.90.

Vice-captain Ned Eckersley has scored 669 runs in 11 matches and skipper Mark Cosgrove comes in as the next highest scorer hitting a total of 580 runs over the season, averaging 32.22.

Ben Raine needs just six more wickets to move to 50 in first-class cricket for the season and Charlie Shreck is hot on Raine’s heels, racking up 41 wickets so far. Clint McKay has also been excellent in collecting 33 wickets in eight LV=CC matches.

Gloucestershire have had top-order batsmen Will Tavare (622 at 36.58), Chris Dent (603 at 33.50), Gareth Roderick (600 at 37.50), Hamish Marshall (445 at 40.45) and Michael Klinger (384 at 48.00) in good form while Liam Norwell already has in excess of 50 wickets and Craig Miles (46) is closing in on that mark.

Leicestershire have named a 13-man squad for the game with Cosgrove returning to lead the side after the birth of his son Oliver while off-spinners Jigar Naik and Rob Sayer are also in contention.

Squad: Cosgrove (capt), Hill (w/k), Ali, Boyce, Eckersley, Freckingham, McKay, Naik, Raine, Robson, Sayer, Shreck, Smith.