McKay heaps praise on teammates

REACTION | By Sam Chambers. Thanks to Martin Smith and Richard Rae for the quotes used in this article.

Despite taking career-best match figures of 8-84, Leicestershire paceman Clint McKay was quick to share the plaudits with his teammates after their remarkable final-day victory at Essex.

Essex resumed on 22-1 - with a lead of 47 - and victory seemed improbable for either side before McKay and the other members of the County attack tore into the hosts to leave them 133 all out - and Leicestershire chasing 159 from 33 overs.

The Foxes batting line-up then chased down the target with four wickets remaining as Neil Dexter struck the winning runs in the penultimate over to complete a fine day's work for the visitors.

McKay's 4-37, to go along with his 4-47 from the first innings, meant that he bettered his previous best figures in a first-class game, though reacted modestly to the feat.

On his best figures, McKay said: “I keep hearing about that – I’ve got to buy a round for the boys! It’s good. Sometimes you’re lucky. You just want to get a few wickets to help the team to get a victory. That’s what we’re here for.

“It’s always good to get involved in the wickets, but at the end of the day whatever I can do to help the team is what I’m here for.

"It’s not all about personal accolades, it’s about the team coming first. The individual stuff is part of the overall team performance.

“We came to the ground this morning not really knowing what to expect to be honest, especially with the rain around which was unexpected.

"We weren’t even sure if we’d start on time. But we started well and all the bowlers chipped in and bowled beautifully to restrict them and bowl them out for 133.

“It may have been nerve-racking towards the end [of the run-chase], but I felt we were in control. When Mark Cosgrove was at the crease he got the run-rate down to under four an over. There were wickets falling but we still had quite a few in hand."

Elite Performance Director Andrew McDonald was full of praise for the way his Leicestershire players as a whole went about their business yesterday, but gave special credit to McKay and batsman Angus Robson for their fine performances in both innings.

McDonald hailed the “pack mentality" of the County team before also paying tribute to McKay and the herculean efforts that he puts into every appearance.

He said: "Clint McKay was outstanding throughout the whole game. Every contest he delivers 100 per cent to and that's all you can ask of him."

Robson, meanwhile, scored 74 in his first innings and then added 56 off 75 balls with his positive strokeplay to ensure Leicestershire’s chase got off to a good start. The brace of scores means that the opener has scored at least 50 in five of his six first-class innings at Chelmsford and now averages 73.84 at a ground he clearly relishes visiting.

McDonald said: "Any time you have a run chase like that, it's important that you have a good start and I think that we had that with (Angus) Robson and [Paul] Horton.

“(Angus) Robson had a fantastic game, a nice double, and he enjoys playing here and always talks positively when he comes down here about what the ground's delivered for him. It was another nice double for him and the love affair with Chelmsford continues!"

Despite the Foxes' gargantuan efforts with both ball and bat, victory for Leicestershire was still in the balance right to the end as Essex refused to give up.

McDonald, however, said that there was little in the way of nerves on the behalf of him or the players, and instead it was the conditions giving him most cause for concern, if any.

He said: "I think the only thing we were really nervous about was the bad light, there were a few clouds creeping across  but it soon turned into beautiful sunshine, so I don't know really what we were worried about there.

"There wasn't any nerves, the boys remained calm and to do it six down, with four wickets in hand, I think is pretty comfortable.

"If you start to get to eight down, then there's a few wobbles but we only needed 25-odd runs with four wickets in hand, so I think you back a team that bats as long as we do to knock that off most times."

Having seen his side suffer a first defeat in the Championship this season, Essex Head Coach Chris Silverwood praised Leicestershire.

He said: “I would say if I’m perfectly honest we came out second best in all three departments. There is certainly food for thought and I’ve asked the boys to go away and look at their individual performance.

“Having played so well in this format, to come unstuck is very disappointing. The whole mood in the dressing room is reflecting that.”