"We're Embracing The Challenge" | Franklin On Northants Win And Lancashire Quarter-Final Test

T20 momentum, Cesca’s ‘Sweet’ striking, facing the world’s best bowler, and Finals Day dreams “ we caught up with Women’s Head Coach Stephen Franklin ahead of Leicestershire’s Vitality T20 County Cup quarter-final clash with Lancashire Thunder on Friday.

The Foxes sealed their place in the last eight with a commanding 41-run victory over Northamptonshire on Saturday, a performance which avenged the opening day defeat at Uptonsteel County Ground to the same opponents.

“It was emphatic,” beams Franklin. “We were disappointed not to kick on and get 140/150 after the start we had, but to bowl Northants out for under 80 was a superb effort.

“Anytime you go to play cricket, you want to win and showcase your skills to the best of your ability. But a lot our team know Northants personally, so there's a friendship and rivalry at the same time, which always makes it extra competitive. There was a bit of extra fire in the belly after the first game, and it certainly showed.”

Leicestershire’s rapid start was spearheaded by Francesca Sweet, who scored a second successive fifty, a first in her new role as a T20 opener. It’s an elevation Franklin thinks was inevitable right from the moment she first trained with the Club in the dying embers of pre-season.

“Cesca only came to us two weeks before the start of the season, but we noticed immediately how well she was hitting it. At our first session out on the grass, she was by far the best batter. She was hitting a clean ball but also playing technical cricket shots as well. It was powerful hitting that added a different dimension to our team.

“We've seen that power in our 50-over matches, so we felt there was opportunity in the T20 Powerplays for Cesca to capitalise on only having two fielders out of the ring. She has the licence to go and play how she deems necessary. That’s not slogging, it’s playing proper cricket shots - sweeping, hitting down the ground, cutting, pulling, and using her feet effectively. Hopefully that form continues on Friday.”

The 20-year-old, who was previously on Sussex’s books, best evidenced her fearless mentality when striding to the crease against Tier Two’s heavyweight, Yorkshire, last Thursday. Facing up to her first delivery following the loss of Hayley Brown, Sweet wasted little time in showcasing her attacking intent.

“To hit her first ball for six against Yorkshire, that shows what she’s about. There's not many of our team that would have the confidence or the six-hitting ability to do that. But hopefully seeing Cesca do it allows them the freedom to go out there and express themselves. That’s what we encourage.”

Sweet backed up her superb batting display with figures of 4-1-10-3, including a double-wicket maiden, while fellow all-rounder Holly Whitfield replicated the feat with figures of 4-1-13-4. The back-up to the frontline firing squad, has impressed Franklin.

“I think that's where we're very lucky. We've got a lot of cricketers that can do a bit of everything. When you don't bowl April after she's taken three wickets and was the star of the bowling unit in the previous game, that just shows how good our squad depth is.

“The batters fed back that it was harder to score off balls that were a little bit shorter. So it was a different tactic to what we normally do, where we're looking to go full and hit the stumps, Saturday was a case of digging the ball in a little bit.

“I think both Cesca and Holly enjoyed the fact that they were allowed to go out there and hit the pitch a little bit harder, and we saw a lot of wickets taken to pull shots that were top edged. They were relentless, nailing the same spot repeatedly, and forcing batters to make difficult choices. Those two executed our plans brilliantly.”

It leads the Foxes to a quarter-final berth against Tier One county Lancashire at Kibworth on Friday. Facing a squad littered with England talent, Franklin highlights the challenge of facing ICC world number-one-ranked IT20 and ODI bowler, Sophie Ecclestone.

“Whenever you've got a team that's got England players in there, you know you’re in for a tough day,” says Franklin. “Sophie Ecclestone has brilliant control, builds pressure, and makes batters do something different, which brings wickets. She’s a very intelligent bowler. But we’re looking forward to testing ourselves against the best international spinner in the world and embracing the challenge.

“They've got the luxury of being able to train four or five times a week, which we don’t have, unfortunately. So, as we said with the Yorkshire game, it's a chance for us to go out there and express our skills, and showcase what we want to do, which is compete with them on a regular basis. If we look after what we're doing, hopefully we can put a bit of pressure on Lancashire and earn the win.”

A victory on Friday afternoon would take the team to Taunton for Finals Day on Monday, with the chance to add to Leicestershire’s rich T20 heritage, which has yielded three trophies in the shortest form for the Men’s team since its inception in 2003. It’s a motivator which, according to Franklin, acts as the perfect inspiration for his side.

“We know how illustrious Leicestershire’s T20 history is. We want to write our names into those books. We’ve still got a really big challenge against Lancashire on Friday, but we've spoken as a group about how good it would be to get to Finals Day and play on the big stage in front of a big crowd.

“Hopefully in the next three or four years, that'll be a common thing that we'll get to experience a lot. It's definitely exciting, it’s why you play the game, and that's why we want to make sure we do our job on Friday.”

Leicestershire Foxes versus Lancashire Thunder begins at 1:30pm on Friday at Kibworth Cricket Club, with free entry for spectators.