Win would cap a good week for Raine

Leicestershire Foxes all-rounder Ben Raine is a proud man ahead of tomorrow night’s important Vitality Blast fixture at Birmingham Bears (7pm start).

Raine was capped by the club ahead of the match against Notts Outlaws on Sunday, a deserved reward for his considerable efforts since making his Foxes debut towards the end of the 2013 season.

The best part about the presentation was that Leicestershire CCC managed to keep it as a nice surprise for the all-rounder, who has scored more than 2,500 runs and taken over 250 wickets across all three formats of the game for the Foxes.

Raine said: “The club kept the news away from me, I was told we had a sponsor’s photograph just before the game, so when I lined up with the lads and heard the news it was a big shock – a very pleasant one!

“Without wanting to big myself up, I feel as though I have earned it, I always give my all for the team. When I first came here, I saw people with gold foxes on the caps like Matthew Hoggard, Matthew Boyce and Jigar Naik. They were the type of characters that I really respected.

“To see Ned [Eckersley] get capped here during my first season was also great, he had a prolific year and has continued to put in good performances since. The gold fox was definitely something I looked at and wanted to receive. It’s an honour to be presented with it.”

Given his consistency and strong presence in the Foxes side, it is easy to forget that Raine missed the entire T20 campaign in 2017 through injury.

The philosophical all-rounder feels that T20 is changing at a rate of knots, and gave an honest assessment of the first three games which has featured a brilliant win at Northants Steelbacks followed by defeats to Durham Jets and Notts Outlaws.

“We’re not overly concerned at losing two games at this stage because we haven’t quite produced our best form yet,” said Raine. “Games come thick and fast, and if you can catch a bit of momentum at any stage, you can fly in this format.

“Teams are going a lot harder with the bat now, and the game evolves so quickly. The things I did a year or two ago are not the things to do now. You have to play the game to get the experience and exposure. I’ve learnt my lessons quite quickly over the last few days.

“It sounds ridiculous but I walked off against Notts thinking I’d done okay there, but in terms of my figures, I had gone for 50. I deserved to go for runs in the games against Northants and Durham, and I held my hands up to that in the dressing room, but Notts was a bit of bad luck.

“You have got to be willing to accept that though; sometimes I’ll miss my yorker and it will be hit to the man at long-off or sometimes I’ll bowl a bad slower ball and it will go to the man. You can bowl badly and have good figures, and bowl well and not. It is just how the format is.”

The Foxes has an excellent record at Edgbaston with seven T20 wins and a tie recorded from the ten games played in Birmingham. Leicestershire CCC has won four of the six T20 group games ever played at Edgbaston as well as being unbeaten on the two Finals Days of 2006 and 2011.

The tie was the semi-final against Lancashire Lightning, a game the Foxes would ultimately win in the super over thanks to Will Jefferson’s heroics.

Head Coach Paul Nixon, who featured in that game and many of those triumphs over the years, says the Foxes are motivated ahead of the trip across the M6. The Foxes has made one change to the 14-man squad with Ned Eckersley returning from injury.

Nixon said: “We probably reserved our worst performance of the season for Warwickshire in the 50-over competition, so that’s good motivation for us to go to Edgbaston and show what we’re all about.

“We’ve learnt a lot from the last two games, have had good focussed practice sessions, and are ready to go again. We’re looking to forward to playing in front of a big crowd under the lights in Birmingham at a ground that holds many happy memories for us.”

Raine added: “Birmingham will be tough but there are no easy games in this north group. The whole point of being a professional cricketer is to face tough cricket matches. If you’re looking for easy games, then professional cricket isn’t the place for you.

“I want to take on the best, it’s something I aspire to. Birmingham have a stacked line-up, but it’s a measuring stick as to where you are personally, and where we are as a team.

“There are lots of positives for us to take into the game. The way [Mohammad] Abbas has bowled, [Mohammad] Nabi has looked sensational, and Ackers [Colin Ackermann] is hitting the ball so well.

“If we can add to that we'll be very strong: we saw what Cam Delport did last year, he's threatening to do that again, and when he does we'll take teams down.”

Foxes (from 14): Ackermann (capt), Abbas, Chappell, Cosgrove, Delport, Dexter, Eckersley, Griffiths, Hill, Nabi, Parkinson, Raine, Sayer, Wells.

* Our next Vitality Blast home game is against Lancashire Lightning on Wednesday, July 18! The best value tickets are available in advance – a family ticket for 2 adults and 3 under 16s is available for £37 in advance of the fixture. Secure your seat at the Fischer County Ground today HERE