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County Championship Preview | Glos v Leicestershire

10 June 2023

After eight eventful Vitality Blast games, Gloucestershire will have the red ball in hand once again when they face Leicestershire in the LV= Insurance County Championship this Sunday.

Glos currently sit 6th in Division Two after record-breaking rainfall in April and May significantly affected the outcome of their first five matches. Five draws and one loss against table-toppers Durham leaves the Club on 42 points, 34 points off a promotion spot.  

Gloucestershire return to T20 Blast action on Saturday night in partnership with St Pauls Carnival! Kent visit Bristol for this season’s Carnival Clash! Tickets available here.

Team news

Dale Benkenstein names a 13-man squad for the visit of Leicestershire and is able to welcome back a number of first-team players from spells on the sidelines.

 Club Captain Graeme van Buuren, top-order batter Chris Dent, all-rounder Tom Price and pace bowler Ajeet Singh Dale all return to the matchday squad. An in-form Ben Charlesworth and Ollie Price also make the cut having impressed in the first round of Vitality Blast T20 matches.

Fresh from making his first-class debut vs Durham at the end of May, Zaman Akhter also features in the squad as does Academy graduate Joe Phillips for the very first time.

Your 13-player Gloucestershire squad to face Leicestershire:

Last time out

Gloucestershire faced Durham in May when finally the weather held out for a result with Shire unfortunately being on the wrong side of it. Durham took control on day one after winning the toss and electing to bat.

Experienced middle-order batter Graham Clark hit an impressive century, while Zafar Gohar took four wickets in the first innings.

Glos were unable to match the visitors’ first innings score despite fifties from Marcus Harris and Ben Charlesworth, eventually needing 425 to win after Durham had batted again.

Australian international Harris carried his bat on the final day, ably supported by James Bracey and Josh Shaw, but was unable to stop the Shire from falling to a 125-run defeat.

Our opponents

Leicestershire recorded a historic win over Yorkshire in the opening round of County Championship fixtures but have failed to win since.

Their last match was against Worcestershire when the Foxes were all out for under 200 twice in the match, losing to the West Midlands side by three wickets.

England spinner Rehan Ahmed is available for selection after missing out on a place in England’s Ashes squad, as will overseas wicket-keeper Peter Handscomb who was also overlooked by Australia.

Last meeting

Gloucestershire last faced Leicestershire in red ball competition in July 2019 at the Cheltenham Cricket Festival, when Shire ran out the victors by six wickets.

A first-innings 125 by Chris Dent gave Glos a 252-run lead as the Shire scored 504/9d in reply to Leicestershire’s 252.

Two second-innings wickets from Matt Taylor took his match total to five and meant Glos only needed 48 runs to win on day four, which they did comfortably.

How to watch

Gloucestershire face Leicestershire in the County Championship at 11:00 on Sunday 11 June at the Seat Unique Stadium, Bristol.

To support the Shire in person, tickets are available here.

If you can’t be at the stadium to support in person, the match will be free to view in the Glos Cricket Match Centre.

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