The days when the Foxes were the whipping boys of the Championship are behind them and Alfonso Thomas and James Taylor appear to have breathed new life into a squad that is always going to be up against it. They are very hard to beat in four day cricket, recording 10 draws, but do not currently have the bowlers to win games. They were one point away from a quarter final spot in the Blast and reached the semi final stage of the One Day Cup. All-in-all a season that Leicestershire supporters should be fairly content with.
Peter Handscomb has been re-signed for next year on the back of another outstanding season with the bat in which he led the run scoring in the Championship and the One Day Cup. Rishi Patel will be disappointed with his return in the Championship, making 719 runs at 35.95, with just one century and it will be interesting to see if he stays at the club. Currently he has a contract until the end of 2025.
Marcus Harris played the first seven Championship games, while Ajinke Rahane was around for the latter part of the season. While there have been no other standout performances with the bat, the lower order have regularly chipped in. Ian Holland has been on loan from Hampshire and has now made the move permanent, certainly strengthening the squad.
Bowling has been an issue for a number of years and the Foxes were without last year’s leading wicket taker in the Championship, Chris Wright for the first half of the season. In his absence Scott Currie spent the season with Leicestershire, on loan from Hampshire and led the attack in the Championship and the Blast. The expectation is he will be back on the south coast for 2025. Ben Mike took 26 wickets at 35.00 and has been in and out of the team while Wiaan Mulder was hardly seen because of South Africa duties. The one bright light on the bowling front is Josh Hull, although he took more wickets in in his one Test than in the three Championship games he played for the Foxes and he has now been ruled out of the Pakistan tour because of a quad injury picked up against Sri Lanka.
There has not been a significant spin threat in red ball cricket, with Rehan Ahmed and Liam Trevaskis taking just 17 wickets between them at an average of 71.12. As in previous years, Ahmed has been more productive with the bat than the ball.
Rishi Patel top scored in the Blast and the batting was strengthened by the move of Ben Cox from Worcestershire. There were no stand out performers, but a team effort won them games as it did in the One Day Cup.
Results:
Vitality CC: Fifth in Division Two
Vitality Blast: Fifth in North Group
Metro Bank ODC: Losing semi finalist
Leading run-scorers:
Vitality CC: Peter Handscomb 894 at 74.50
Vitality Blast: Rishi Patel 413 at 31.76; Strike rate 144.40
Metro Bank ODC: Peter Handscomb 539 at 67.37; Strike rate 117.94
Leading wicket-takers:
Vitality CC: Scott Currie 29 at 31.17
Vitality Blast: Scott Currie 20 at 18.95; Economy rate 8.26
Metro Bank ODC: Tom Scriven 18 at 26.11; Economy rate 5.59
Player of the season:
This is Peter Handscomb’s second season at Leicestershire and having scored 681 runs at 45.40 in 2023, he has improved on that this season. He was their leading scorer in the One Day Cup and also made runs in the Blast. Added to that his wicket keeping in the Championship and the Foxes are getting their monies worth.
Breakthrough Player
Clearly Josh Hull continues to impress, but he occupied this slot last year. The One Day Cup is where young players are brought on, but they were not really in evidence in the Foxes’ ranks this summer. 17-year-old Alex Green played in three games and took four wickets at 30.75, with an acceptable economy of 5.85. He is another tall pace bowler, standing at 6′ 6″ tall and has just signed his first professional contract, committing his future with the Foxes until the end of the 2027 season. He made his England Under 19 Test debut in July with two wickets against Sri Lanka, while he has claimed 12 wickets at 16.5 in 50-over cricket for the Young Lions.
Could have done better
Back in June 2015 Leicestershire ended a 993 day winless streak in the County Championship when they defeated Essex. Last year they enjoyed three wins, but just one win this summer will be disappointing. There are a number of counties in Division Two that are lacking the bowlers to regularly take 20 wickets at a cheap enough average to set up winning positions and Leicestershire are one of them. They have not been helped by the tendency for players who reach a certain skill level to move on.
Need to work on
It is unusual not to see Leicestershire having more players coming through from their Academy as traditionally this is where they have excelled. No doubt they will have some future first team players appearing next year.
What’s next?
Leicestershire have continued to be competitive in all formats and if they can boost their bowling they are in a position to move forward. The problem for them if they are unable to push on is players losing patience and looking for greener pastures.
Season Rating
With the squad they have the Leicestershire management should be satisfied with what has been achieved this season. You can always wish for more, but that will require further investment in the squad and the money to do this might not be there.
Mark: 6.5/10
