O'Brien: "We'll look to improve"

Leicestershire Foxes all-rounder Kevin O’Brien said the team will continue to look to improve in their ongoing busy period of white ball cricket.

The team faced three matches in consecutive days of the weekend, including a run-fest in their first Royal London One-Day Cup outing against Durham Jets at the Fischer County Ground yesterday.

Tomorrow, Kevin O’Brien and the Foxes travel to take on a Warwickshire side that lost their opening 50-over game against Lancashire Lighting at Emirates Old Trafford yesterday, a venue the team visits on Friday night for NatWest T20 Blast.

Leicestershire then go to Northants on Sunday for their third RLODC match and Kevin O’Brien feels the team has plenty of positives to build on despite the narrow 11-run loss to the Jets.

He said: "Rob Taylor bowled brilliantly and took career-best figures and it's important to keep picking up wickets in the middle overs as that can stem the run rate hugely.

“There were more positives with the batting, which also started to click, but our fielding wasn’t as sharp as it has been in the T20 competition. So there are little areas we need to improve to make sure we're consistent across white ball cricket.

“The way the boys have played in the Championship has given confidence to the one-day squad, and ultimately games like Durham where we bat very well and pull things back with the ball will give the squad a lot more confidence.

“We have two 50-over games and a T20 match this week, starting at Warwickshire, so hopefully we can continue to play well and get a few victories.”

Kevin O’Brien himself made a sparkling 89 from 84 balls on his List A debut for the club but he would have traded that innings for a team victory.

"Ultimately to get close when chasing a big total is disappointing and we probably have to blame ourselves slightly,” he said.

“Three of us got in in the middle order - myself, Cozzie (Mark Cosgrove) and Niall (O’Brien) - and if we’re being honest, all three of us threw our wickets away at crucial times. If one of us had have gone on and got a big score of 100-130, we'd have been on the other end of the result.

"The wicket was very good and the outfield was very fast and we saw when their batsmen got in, it was hard to keep the scoring rate in check. It was just crucial periods of the game where Durham probably held their nerve a little bit better than we did.”

Kevin O’Brien is part of the squad for the trip to the West Midlands with Paul Horton and Angus Robson brought into the 14-man travelling party. James Sykes, who was part of the squad to face Durham, is also in contention.

Foxes (from): Pettini (capt), Dexter, Horton, Robson, K O’Brien, Cosgrove, N O’Brien, Hill, Wells, Raine, Taylor, McKay, Naik, Sykes