Last time out, Leicestershire were denied a second win by the weather. With Lancashire 90/3 in their second innings, they still needed another 138 runs to make the Foxes bat again, but only 16 overs were possible on the final day. The Foxes have been churning out the runs and have earned more batting bonus points than any other county.
Their weakness in past seasons has been in the bowling department, but they have found a way to bowl sides out, led by Ian Holland, who currently has 13 wickets at 18.46. That compares with 14 for the whole of last season, although he only played seven matches. Ben Mike has taken 10 at 33.50 and Tom Scriven nine at 24.44 and they will be hoping for a good return from their new overseas signing Logan van Beek, who has picked up seven in his two matches so far. We wait to see if they can maintain this strike rate as the conditions become less helpful to bowlers and the Kookaburra ball is introduced. They lack potent spin options, with Rehan Ahmed earning his place now as an opening bat, following injury to Rishi Patel. Ahmed has had little success in the Championship and has just one wicket to his name so far this summer.
On paper, Gloucestershire look to have the more threatening attack, with the raw pace of Marchant de Lange, Ajeet Singh Dale and Zaman Akhter, but it is Tom Price who leads their wicket taking so far with 10 at 29.90, while Matt Taylor is next with six. It is a welcome return to form and fitness for Tom Price, who managed just nine Championship wickets in 2024. His brother Ollie is now the go to spinner following the departure of Zafar Gohar.
The Gloucestershire batters have been enjoying themselves, following their loss to Derbyshire in the opening fixture. Their two overseas batters, Cameron Bancroft, now captaining the side, has 187 from his two matches, while Cameron Green scored a century in his one game so far. Unfortunately for Gloucestershire, Green is only playing as a batter as he recovers from a back injury.
Two strong batting line ups make a draw the most likely outcome at a ground where bowling sides out can be difficult. However Leicestershire have been finding ways to get the job done.
Key players:
Gloucestershire’s Zaman Akhter can bowl with genuine pace and currently has five wickets at 32.60. The 25-year-old made an immediate impact on his debut last summer for the England Lions’, taking 5/32 in Sri Lanka’s first innings followed by 2/59 as the home side won by 7 wickets. He went on to take part in the Lions’ tour of South Africa last winter and will be keen to produce more match-winning bursts for his club.
Logan van Beek arrived at Leicester on the back of a successful season in New Zealand and has made a solid start with runs and wickets. The 34-year-old has plenty of experience at the top level and knows what to do under pressure. He showed that back in 2023 when he struck 30 off a super over for the Netherlands and then took two for eight to knock the West Indies out of the World Cup qualifiers. The good news for Leicestershire supporters is that he will be here for the rest of the summer.
Team News:
De Lange was unable to complete his 14th over in the first innings of the match against Kent and did not bowl in the second innings.
Gloucestershire squad (from): Cameron Bancroft(c), Zaman Akhter, James Bracey (wk), Ben Charlesworth, Dom Goodman, Cameron Green, Miles Hammond, Ed Middleton, Joe Phillips, Ollie Price, Tom Price, Ajeet Singh Dale, Josh Shaw, Matt Taylor, Graeme van Buuren
Rishi Patel is recovering from a dislocated thumb. Chris Wright has a knee injury. Josh Hull, Matt Salisbury, and Sam Wood were still unavailable for the Derbyshire game last week..
Leicestershire squad (from): Peter Handscomb (c), Rehan Ahmed, Sol Budinger, Ollie Cox (wk), Ben Green, Lewis Hill, Ian Holland, Louis Kimber, Ben Mike, Tom Scriven, Harry Swindells, Liam Trevaskis, Logan van Beek, Roman Walker
Weather and Conditions
The current forecast is for cloudy conditions on day one followed by rain on day two. The remainder of the match should be played under sunny skies.
Bristol has a reputation as a bowlers’ graveyard, but overhead conditions might be helpful on the first two days. It becomes more difficult to take wickets as the match progresses.
Date: 25th April 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: Seat Unique, Bristol
