Sussex CCC Match Preview - 12/9/21

The Running Foxes bring their home 2021 LV= County Championship campaign to a close with the visit of Sussex CCC.

County are still in search for their first victory during the divisional phase of the LV= County Championship despite a dominant performance in Derbyshire in the second round fixture.

Leicestershire spent nearly 200 overs in the field as the hosts held out for a hard-fought draw.

Sussex are also still in search for their first victory of the divisional phase following two defeats, leaving them bottom of the division three table.

The Season So Far

Our opponents for the upcoming match, Sussex, came bottom of Group Three in the initial groups, and following two defeats in Division Three, are bottom of the division on 20 points, 7.5 behind the Running Foxes who stand 4th in Division Three after a draw against Derbyshire.

In that draw, Leicestershire impressed with the bat, hitting 528 all out in our first innings, with a century from Lewis Hill and four fifty-plus scores as well, before putting pressure on our opposition and dismissing them eventually for 340 after resistance from Brooke Guest and Anuj Dal. Having enforced the follow-on, we were unable to continue to make inroads into Derbyshire’s second innings after Chris Wright (3-36) gave us a strong start. 

While we were battling on a rather batting-friendly pitch in Derby, Sussex’s match this week was developing in a similar way. Opponents Middlesex amassed a huge 676-5 declared batting first, putting Sussex under considerable scoreboard pressure, and despite Tom Haines’ 156, Sussex’ 319 all out was not enough to avoid the follow-on. Again, despite an excellent contribution from Haines (87), Sussex were unable to see the match out for a draw, being dismissed for 303 and ending up with their second consecutive Division Three defeat - Luke Hollman doing a large chunk of the damage for Middlesex with match figures of 10-155.

Last Time We Met

The last time the two teams in the County Championship met was at Hove in April 2019, and the Running Foxes emerged victorious by seven wickets. 

Batting first, Sussex were dismissed for 173, with Tom Taylor (6-47) wreaking havoc among the Sussex batters. In reply, Leicestershire struggled to 59-5 before some lower order resistance - notably from Lewis Hill (67) - helped us to 252 all out.  Sussex would have fancied their chances following a second innings 308, with 80 from Phil Salt, and Taylor completing a ten-wicket match haul with 4-75, and Colin Ackermann (5-69) also starring with the ball, leaving Leicestershire 230 to chase, which we managed for the loss of three wickets with Paul Horton (61), Hasan Azad (59) and Mark Cosgrove (53 not out) getting us over the line for an excellent victory.

Sussex have had something of a squad turnover since then, with most players featuring for them that day no longer at the Club, but the Running Foxes still have six players from that match competing for a first-team spot for the upcoming match.

The Running Foxes

Top run scorer for Leicestershire in red ball cricket is Lewis Hill, who comes into the match in great form having hit 113 against Derbyshire in our draw in the previous match. With two tons and five fifties for the Running Foxes, Hill has scored 757 runs so far in the County Championship and will be keen to push on towards 1,000 runs in our last two matches of the season.

Harry Swindells also impressed with the bat against Derbyshire, and this has been a real breakthrough season for our wicket-keeper batter, with two tons and two fifties to add to 22 catches and a stumping. He averages exactly 39 at the time of writing, and will be looking to push this over the 40 mark as the season concludes.

Chris Wright looked like our main wicket-taking threat against Derbyshire and he advanced his wicket count to 40 in the County Championship this season. He’s ten away from the 50-wicket mark, with Callum Parkinson three wickets ahead of him currently on 43 wickets - two good performances from the Foxes duo could see both take 50 wickets by the end of the season.

Opposition Players to Watch

Tom Haines, as discussed above, has been in great form for Sussex this season and those runs he scored against Middlesex saw him become the first player to 1,000 County Championship runs this season. He’s scored 1,030 so far, hitting three tons and averaging 49.04. The Sussex captain is obviously a key wicket for us.

Former captain Ben Brown has been a Sussex stalwart for many years, with the 32-year-old a one-club man for the South Coast club - he’s played 155 first-class matches and having scored over 8,000 runs, averages 39.55 in red ball cricket, and he’s another big wicket for the Running Foxes.

Young spinner Jack Carson is currently Sussex’s leading wicket-taker having taken 37 wickets in a hugely impressive breakthrough season. The Northern Irishman averages 32.40 with the ball this season, and has also contributed several half-centuries with the bat, with a highest score of 87. 

Leicestershire CCC Squad

Head Coach Paul Nixon names a 14-man squad for the visit of Sussex.

Captain Colin Ackermann is left out of the squad following the birth of his first child, and Rishi Patel is still recovering from his injury sustained during the Royal London Cup.

Leicestershire CCC from 14: Hassan Azad, Ed Barnes, Will Davis, Sam Evans, Gavin Griffiths, Lewis Hill, Louis Kimber, Ben Mike, Callum Parkinson (C), George Rhodes, Abi Sakande, Scott Steel, Harry Swindells (wk), Chris Wright

Match Sponsor

Thanks to Marks Electrical for sponsoring our LV= County Championship fixture against Sussex CCC.