Wells: "We'll take confidence to Durham"

Leicestershire all-rounder Tom Wells is one of several players in form as the Foxes prepare for a crucial Royal London One-Day Cup outground double this weekend.

The 24-year-old played a key role in the Warwickshire win, claiming career-bests with bat and ball in smashing 67 not out off 44 balls - including a quartet of fours and the same amount of maximums - and taking 3-44.

The Foxes are now looking to build on their tally of four points form three games against Durham at South Northumberland CC (tomorrow, 11am start) and Nottinghamshire at Welbeck (Sunday, 11am start), and Wells said the team are travelling in great shape.

“We knew it was a another good pitch against Warwickshire and that we needed to start well, but Mark (Pettini) and Cameron (Delport) complement each other really well up at the top of the order and they gave us some momentum,” said Wells.

“Aadil (Ali) has come into the team and taken his chance, and those three set the platform for us to come in and have a dip at the end. I've been trying to hit a few sixes, so it was nice to come in, have a bit of time to have a look, then connect with a couple.

“But the way the game is going these days you never know if you've got a defendable score, people are chasing down scores of 400, but we knew a couple of tight overs could build a bit of pressure, and in the end that told.

“Gav [Gavin Griffiths] has got a old head on young shoulders, he reads the game very well, Zak [Chappell] is learning all the time, and I managed to burgle a couple of wickets  - Aadil's catch running back to dismiss Sam Hain was brilliant.

"We take a lot of confidence up to Durham now, if we can win that game then we're right in the mix in the competition."

Clint McKay continues to make progress from a back injury and has been named in the Foxes squad for the double-header following the win against the reigning champions.

In McKay’s absence, a young attack has been led by Zak Chappell, Gavin Griffiths, Dieter Klein and Tom Wells along with spinners James Sykes and Rob Sayer, and Head Coach Pierre de Bruyn is happy to have a lot of options.

He said: “Clint (McKay) is improving, he has started to bowl, and has an outside chance of being available on Friday, hopefully he will be in the mix. The good thing is that we are starting to get some of our injured players back.

“If selection is tough you have something good going. The young players have put their hands up, and you have to reward them for what they’ve done. They’ve fought for the team and I’m very proud of them.”

The outstanding form of opener Mark Pettini, who hit a personal List A career-best 159 against Warwickshire to bring his three-game aggregate to 254, enabling the rest of the batsmen to follow their attacking instincts, the Foxes have posted successive score of 311, 319 and 363 – a level which is ensuring they are competitive in every game.

“Mark and Cameron [Delport] are giving us a good start, and it’s really giving the rest of the batting line-up a lot of confidence by the way they set the tone,” said de Bruyn.

“It was a great knock from Swampy [Mark Pettini]. We spoke a lot this winter about his role as a white ball player, one of the reasons around captaining the one-day side was to concentrate on his own game and get stuck in with some 'X-factor' performances and he’s nailed it.

“We have won two, and feel we were a little unlucky not to beat Worcestershire, but we will take a lot of momentum and confidence into what will be a huge weekend.”

As well as McKay return's to a 14-man squad for the double-header, Sayer is back in contention after missing the Warwickshire game with a hamstring problem. Ben Raine, Richard Jones, Colin Ackermann and Neil Dexter remain on the sidelines, while James Burke has been recalled from his loan spell by Surrey as he continues his rehabilitation after injury.

Foxes (from): Ali, Chappell, Cosgrove, Delport, Eckersley, Griffiths, Hill, Klein, McKay, Parkinson, Pettini, Sayer, Sykes, Wells.

* Thanks to Ed Melia for the photo of Tom Wells and his teammates.