Wells relishing start of Blast

All-Rounder Tom Wells believes the current group of Leicestershire Foxes have the potential to make a big impact in the 2018 Vitality Blast.

Wells, who is renowned for hitting the ball a long way and exciting the crowd, was without doubt one of the success stories of what was a tough Royal London One-Day Cup campaign.

Having missed the first game against Northants Steelbacks Wells was then an ever-present in the side, topping the batting averages at 49.5 scoring 198 runs in the competition.

With the Vitality Blast around the corner, Wells assessed how far he feels the side could go. He said: “Last year we had a great run in the competition and I believe as a group we all learnt a lot about our own games.

“We won most of our games on the road and I believe if we are a little bit more cricket-wise at home we could go a long way.

“Within the group we have a lot of players who have played lots of T20 around the world; Cameron Delport plays it almost exclusively so he has so much knowledge about what works well in being a successful side.”

Another with great experience is Head Coach Paul Nixon, as a Fox he won the competition three times as well as leading the Jamaica Tallawahs to CPL glory twice.

Wells speaks with enthusiasm when discussing the Head Coach. “Nico [Paul Nixon] has done it all in T20 as a player and now as a coach and his positivity rubs off on the whole group,” he said.

“Having the freedom to go out and express yourself with a clear gameplan with both bat and ball is something that can’t be understated, it’s so beneficial to us as players.”

Nixon has a wealth of knowledge which comes from coaching and Wells believes that the signing of Mohammad Nabi is an exciting one for the Blast.

“I’ve only see him [Nabi] on the TV but I thought he was really impressive for the Melbourne Renegades in last year’s Big Bash. At the FCG spin plays a big part in limited overs cricket and I think him and Parky [Callum Parkinson] could be a massive part of our plans.

“He’s also a highly skilful batsman who can read situations well, whether we need to regroup or at the end of the innings when he has a free licence to be aggressive.

“I’m excited to see what Mohammad Nabi can bring to the group and I think that the FCG fans will be in for a treat watching him.

“It’s really exciting for cricket under the lights to be returning, the one time we’ve played a floodlit game at home this season was a good win against Durham and hopefully we will see similar success in the coming weeks.”

* Tickets for our first Vitality Blast home game against Durham Jets on Friday, July 6 cost just £10 for adults and £5 for under 16s in advance of the fixture. Secure your seat at the Fischer County Ground today HERE