Match Preview – Leicestershire v Gloucestershire
16 June 2019
Gloucestershire travel to Grace Road to take on Leicestershire in their sixth Specsavers County Championship Division Two match of the season.
Despite seeing much of their game against Sussex being lost to the rain that swept the country, the squad will be brimming with confidence heading to Leicester after the final day display from Gareth Roderick and Ryan Higgins. Roderick made a season’s best 158 while Ryan Higgins finished the day 119 not out, a career best for last year’s player of the year.
Head Coach Richard Dawson said, “It’s brilliant that we have individuals reaching these landmarks but the fact that we have a lot of lads contributing to partnerships is fantastic. Hopefully we’ve got a few players coming into form now rather than just one or two.”
On the bowling side, David Payne continued his terrific form against Sussex and will be looking to do say again this week while Graeme van Buuren will hope to add to his three-wicket tally from the last outing.
Dawson felt that while the bowlers performed well, they were unlucky not to get more wickets, particularly Chadd Sayers, “He was unlucky and a bit frustrated because he could have easily picked up a few more wickets but he did bowl quite well. His first match game in County cricket was a bit of an eye-opener but he’ll be better for it and hopefully this week he improves on the last which I’m sure he’ll do”.
Gloucestershire's 13-man squad for tomorrow's game is:
Dent, Hammond, Bracey, Roderick, Howell, J Taylor, Higgins, van Buuren, M Taylor, Shaw, Payne, Drissell, Sayers
Leicestershire haven’t won a game in the County Championship since their opening fixture against Sussex and they have been far from convincing at home. At The Fischer County Ground this season they were beaten comfortably by Worcestershire and only managed to score 288 in two innings in their loss to Derbyshire. Last week’s home game against Middlesex was almost a complete washout but Middlesex had already applied pressure on the foxes who were 36/3 at the time of abandonment.
Leicestershire's 13-man squad: Horton, Abbas, Ackermann, Azad, Cosgrove, Davis, Dearden, Dexter, Evans, Hill, Klein, Parkinson, Wright.
One of the five clubs still unbeaten in this year’s County Championship, Gloucestershire currently sit in fifth place in Division Two, 21 points behind third placed Sussex with a game in hand. A win at Leicestershire would put Gloucestershire firmly in the mix at the top of the Division Two table.
Play begins at The Fischer County Ground, Grace Road tomorrow at 11am.
