Pettini sees Leicestershire vision

New signing Mark Pettini saw a clear vision for the future for Leicestershire County Cricket Club having met Chief Executive Wasim Khan MBE and Head Coach Andrew McDonald.

The 32-year-old has an impressive record with the willow in domestic cricket like fellow incoming batsmen Neil Dexter and Paul Horton and, like the duo from Middlesex and Lancashire, has also captained his county.

Pettini felt that at this stage of his career it was the right time to take up the offer Leicestershire made him and thinks that the next few years at Grace Road will hold plenty of exciting times.

He said: It was very difficult to leave Essex as I have a lot of happy memories from my time there, but I am extremely pleased to have signed for Leicestershire. The club has placed faith in me and I'm really excited about coming in and joining up with the squad.

 “The vision for Leicestershire is an exciting one that I can’t wait to be a part of. It was a huge part of making my decision to come here. It was quickly clear from speaking to Wasim and Andrew that their main aim is to improve the cricket and make Leicestershire a successful club again.

“The way they want to go about it is exciting. Cricket is the number one priority and from a personal point of view, it’s good that they want me to be a part of it over the next three years.”

Pettini is well-placed to see change occurring at Leicestershire given he has faced the club over the last dew seasons, including the recent LV=CC game at Grace Road.

 “Any change takes a little bit of time but from playing against Leicestershire, and hearing other players talking about facing Leicestershire, you can see that things have pushed on and are going in the right direction,” he said.

“It’s good to get the chance to be part something that I think is going to be really successful. The exciting thing about the squad here is that there’s a nice blend.

“With the new signings it extends the core of experienced players and we also have some talented youngsters. You can really take a team forward by helping the younger guys push on and that’s something that I’m keen to do.”

The batsman has regularly hit the headlines for his achievements at the top of the order in Essex’s one-day success over the years but also has an impressive first-class career record.

Pettini played the last four LV=CC games of the season for Essex, a period in which they gained two wins and two draws, reached three figures on two occasions and averaged more than 100. He is therefore relishing the opportunity to get stuck into all three formats of cricket.

He said: “I haven’t played a lot of red ball cricket over the last three years so that also had a big part to play in signing for Leicestershire. To get the opportunity to play more red ball cricket is something that appeals to me.

“It’s been nice from a personal point of view to have a strong ending to the season in the Championship. Firstly it was a nice way to sign off for Essex but it will also give me form and confidence to take into next season.”

“I think that an exciting brand of white ball cricket is the way forward because being given the chance to express yourself is really important. Hopefully I can transform the success we had at Essex and bring that exciting style of cricket to Leicestershire.

“Essex didn’t quite make it to the end goal of winning trophies in recent seasons but we had a good record and came close, and playing in those big games prepares you for when the next one comes along.

“Friday nights at Chelmsford are quite an experience and playing in front of those crowds certainly helps when it comes preparing individually for the big occasions.”