The top two in Division Two meet at Leicester this week
While Leicestershire have had a couple of solid seasons, Derbyshire have struggled and it is something of a surprise to see these two sides at the top of the table after week one. However, there is a long way to go and we wait to see if they can continue this level of performance. Their wins were also against two of the weaker sides of recent years.
Leicestershire performed well with bat and ball against Glamorgan, led by Ian Holland. Conditions have not been quite what is expected in April, but he was still able to cause batters problems with his medium pace and the Dukes ball. He was well backed up by the Bens, Mike and Green and they will be hoping for a similarly well grassed surface at Grace Road. Unfortunately Chris Wright limped from the field during the second innings and seems unlikely to be available this week. They will however have the services of overseas signing Logan van Beek, who has now completed his season with Wellington, in New Zealand.
Lewis Hill has told BBC Radio Leicester how “I had a few health things going on with my hair falling out,” as a result of the stresses of captaincy and responded to having passed that role on to Peter Handscomb by scoring 96 against Glamorgan. Handscomb was also in the runs, but they look like being without opener Rishi Patel, who dislocated a thumb fielding in the third over of the match.
Winning the toss at Derby last week seemed as important as it was in Cardiff, as Gloucestershire were soon in trouble on a green looking pitch. Luis Reece ended with six wickets and Anuj Dal four. Reece then took a further four wickets in the Gloucestershire second innings, to give him his first, first class 10-wicket match haul. We also saw new recruit, Jack Morley in action although the young left arm spinner, who has moved from Lancashire, went wicketless. The bowling will be reinforced this week by the arrival of Kiwi paceman Blair Tickner, whose season was cut short last year following his wife’s diagnosis with leukaemia. She is fortunately on the road to recovery and Tickner will undoubtedly want to get on the field, having played only four games in this year’s Plunket Shield. He still managed to take 21 wickets at 16.09.
Derbyshire have also recruited Australian Caleb Jewell, to help solidify the top order, although David Lloyd found himself alongside him, in a position where he has previously struggled. It was Wayne Madsen, having been given back the captaincy role, who led the run scoring with an excellent century, while 61 from Zak Chappell, whose batting skills seem to be developing, helped them to their winning total.
These are two evenly matched sides with similar looking batting and bowling line ups. We wait to see what the pitch looks like, but without much raw pace on show, the batters could hold sway.
Key players:
Ian Holland was the main threat with the ball against Glamorgan and he will be hoping for similar conditions at home this week. He was pressed into service at the top of the order following the injury to Patel and it will be interesting to see if he is retained in this role. He was on loan last season from Hampshire, having struggled to secure a first team place with the strength of their bowling attack. He will be keen to continue his wicket-taking, particularly while conditions are helpful.
Brooke Guest has become a key part of the Derbyshire batting line up , alongside his keeping. However, he will be a little disappointed with his return from 2024 of 638 runs at 30.38. Despite being born in Manchester, the 27-year-old played for Australia under-19s before returning to play for Lancashire and then moving to Derbyshire in 2020, initially on loan.
Team News:
For Leicestershire, Van Beek comes in while Patel and Wright will likely be unavailable. Josh Hull, Matt Salisbury and Sam Wood missed the first match through injury and there is no news of their status.
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
Derbyshire’s Harry Moore is out with a back injury and Aneurin Donald sustained a shoulder injury in the field last week.
Derbyshire squad: Wayne Madsen (c), Martin Andersson, Pat Brown, Anuj Dal, Brooke Guest (wk), Harry Came, Zak Chappell, Caleb Jewell, David Lloyd, Jack Morley, Luis Reece, Blair Tickner, Mitch Wagstaff
Weather and Conditions
The weather is set fair for the duration of the match, with the warmest temperatures on days one and two.
There were plenty of runs early season at Grace Road last season, with Sussex and Gloucestershire each posting around 700 in their first innings. It could be hard work for the bowlers, although they were helped in week one by plenty of grass being left on pitches around the country.
Date: 11th April 2025
Time: 11:00
Ground: Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester
