National Counties Fixture Cancelled

Leicestershire County Cricket Club's planned National Counties fixture against Staffordshire CCC on Tuesday, July 20 has been cancelled.

The match, which was set to take place before the beginning of the Running Foxes' Royal London Cup campaign, was originally due to be played in Staffordshire.

The two counties initially switched the match to the Uptonsteel County Ground but have now agreed to call the game off due to ongoing challenges presented by COVID-19.

Leicestershire and Staffordshire have developed a strong relationship over the last two years despite no fixture sadly being able to take place because of the pandemic, and the teams hope to meet in the 2022 season.

Leicestershire CEO, Sean Jarvis said: “We were really looking forward to welcoming Staffordshire to the Uptonsteel County Ground and it is disappointing that the fixture has had to be cancelled again.

"However, our focus is to be able to stage a fixture next season. Both sides have been working closely together and I’d like to thank Staffordshire for their efforts in trying to keep the fixture on. We wish Staffordshire the best of luck in their NCCA Championship campaign.”

Staffordshire CCC Chairman, Phil Oliver said: "It is disappointing that we will not be able to play our showcase game against Leicestershire this summer for the second successive year because of the pandemic. Every effort was made to fulfil the game, including switching venues, but unfortunately it has not been possible to go ahead with the fixture.

I would like to thank everyone at Leicestershire County Cricket Club who has worked tirelessly to try to stage the game. A strong relationship has developed between the two counties and I look forward to building on that in the coming years.

Hopefully next season we will be able to play the showcase game and also a pre-season friendly against Leicestershire CCC to further cement the ties between the two counties. We wish Leicestershire all the best for the rest of the season, while from our point of view we now focus on the start of our NCCA Championship campaign later this month."

Leicestershire’s first Royal London Cup game of the season will be the tournament opener against Derbyshire Falcons at the Uptonsteel County Ground on Thursday, July 22. Tickets for all home fixtures of the Royal London Cup campaign can be bought HERE.