Pettini: "We're ready for big weekend"

Leicestershire Foxes white ball captain Mark Pettini said the team will take a lot of confidence into a busy triple header of one-day action this weekend.

The Foxes open with a NatWest T20 Blast encounter at East Midlands rivals Derbyshire Falcons tomorrow evening before a quick turnaround sees two matches against Durham Jets at the Fischer County Ground.  

Saturday’s fixture is in the NatWest T20 Blast at 5.30pm before the launch of the Royal London One-Day Cup on Sunday morning (11am).

Leicestershire is full of confidence after their comprehensive 54-run NatWest T20 Blast victory over the Yorkshire Vikings last week, a game in which all-rounder Ben Raine produced T20 career bests of 48 with the bat and a remarkable 3-7 from 3.4 overs with the ball.

Before Raine prepares to face his former side though, there is an important floodlit game at the Falcons (7pm start).

Derbyshire has had a tough start with two away games against last year’s finalists but they has produced two good performances, landing a terrific win at holders Lancashire Lightning before being edged out at Northants Steelbacks.

The Jets has also started with promise in NatWest T20 Blast and produced a superb 50-over performance at the FCG last season with Scott Borthwick coming to the fore, so last Friday night’s win at Headingley came at a good time for Pettini and the team.

“It was a really great performance up at Headingley, a complete performance with bat, ball and in the field, and it will be nice to take that into three tough back-to-back games over the weekend,” he said.

“It's not ideal, switching from championship cricket to T20 and then 50 over cricket in a matter of days, but the guys are used to it, they've been doing it for a few years, and we have a day to prepare. If you're playing well, you can transfer that across.”

Pettini, who joined Leicestershire from Essex on a three-year deal in the close season, says he is thoroughly enjoying leading the Foxes in white ball cricket.

“I'm loving it, to be honest, it's a great group which is desperate to do well, and they play their hearts out every time they take the field, which makes it a real pleasure to be in charge.

“It's also quite nice for both me and Coz [four day captain Mark Cosgrove] in that one gets a bit of a break when the other takes over, but we also do a fair bit of work together on how we want the guys to go about their cricket generally, and what sort of culture we want to create here.”

Pettini and Cosgrove were in excellent form during another rain-affected Specsavers County Championship game at Kent this week, and Elite Performance Director Andrew McDonald has been pleased with the Foxes over the last few days.

“It was a good performance at Kent and we now switch to one-day cricket, and while we probably weren't the sharpest we could have been in a close match against the Steelbacks, the way we played at Headingley was more what we’re about, it was exciting,” said McDonald.

“Ben Raine, Niall O’Brien and Lewis Hill all batted very well, and Ben and Neil Dexter bowled excellently, supported by outstanding work by everybody in the field.”

The Foxes has named an unchanged 13-man squad for this weekend’s NatWest T20 Blast action, so Rob Taylor and James Sykes are in contention alongside the XI who played at Headingley.

A Royal London One-Day cup squad will be announced closer to the game following Saturday’s NatWest T20 Blast fixture against Durham Jets.

Foxes (T20): Pettini (capt), Cosgrove, K O’Brien, Akmal, N O’Brien, Dexter, Hill, Wells, Raine, Taylor, McKay, Naik, Sykes