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Leicestershire County Cricket Club
One-day Name:	Leicestershire Foxes
Coach:	Tim Boon
Captain:	Paul Nixon
Overseas Player:	Mansoor Amjad
Overseas Player:	Jerome Taylor
Founded:	1879
Home Ground:	Grace Road
First-class debut:	MCC
	- 1895
	- Lord's
Championship Wins:	3
National League Wins:	2
FP Trophy Wins:	0
Twenty20 Cup Wins:	2
Official Website:	LeicestershireCCC

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland. Its limited overs team is called the Leicestershire Foxes.

The club is based at Grace Road, Leicester and have also played home games at Aylestone Road in Leicester, at Hinckley, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray, Ashby-de-la-Zouch and in Coalville inside the traditional county boundaries; and at Uppingham and Oakham over the border in Rutland.

Leicestershire are in the second divisions of both the County Championship and the Pro40 one day league. The Twenty20 Cup has become their signature competition in recent seasons with two trophies in three years.

Contents 1 Honours 1.1 Second XI honours 2 Earliest cricket 3 19th century 4 20th century 4.1 A change in fortunes: The 60s and 70s 4.2 Success in the late 90s 4.3 Recent decline of the club 4.4 The Future of the club 5 Grounds 5.1 Current 5.2 Previous 6 Players and Officials 6.1 Leicestershire Squad 6.2 County Captains 6.3 Notable Players 7 Records 7.1 Batting 7.2 Bowling 7.3 Fielding 8 Leicestershire Facts and Feats 9 References 10 External sources 11 Further reading

• County Championship (3) - 1975, 1996, 1998
• Gillette/NatWest/C&G Trophy (0) -
• Sunday/National League (2) - 1974, 1977
• Twenty20 Cup (2) - 2004, 2006,
• Benson & Hedges Cup (3) - 1972, 1975, 1985

• Second XI Championship (1) - 1983; shared (0) -
• Second XI Trophy (0) -
• Minor Counties Championship (1) - 1931; shared (0) -

Cricket may not have reached the county until well into the 18th century. A notice in the Leicester Journal dated 17 August 1776 is the earliest known mention of cricket in Leicestershire.

But it was only a few years after that before a Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Club was taking part in important matches, mainly against Nottingham Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). This club was prominent from 1781 until the beginning of the 19th century.

For information about Leicestershire county teams before the formation of Leicestershire CCC, see : Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Club

Little more is heard of Leicestershire cricket until the formation of the present club on 25 March 1879.

Essex CCC versus Leicestershire CCC at Leyton on 14, 15 & 16 May 1894 was the initial first-class match played by either club. In 1895, the County Championship was restructured into a 14-team competition with the introduction of Essex, Leicestershire and Warwickshire CCC.

Leicestershire's first 70 years were largely spent in lower table mediocrity, with few notable exceptions. In 1953, the motivation of secretary-captain Charles Palmer lifted the side fleetingly to third place, but most of the rest of the 1950s was spent propping up the table, or thereabouts.

Change came in the late 1950s with the recruitment of the charismatic Willie Watson at the end of a distinguished career with England and Yorkshire. Watson's run gathering sparked the home-grown Maurice Hallam into becoming one of England's best opening batsmen. In bowling, Leicestershire had an erratically successful group of seamers in Terry Spencer, Brian Boshier, John Cotton and Jack van Geloven, plus the spin of John Savage.

However, the change that finally brought success was in the captaincy: first Tony Lock, the former England and Surrey spinner who had galvanised Western Australia, took the team to the unprecedented position of runners-up in the Championship; then his successor, Ray Illingworth, again from Yorkshire, instilled self-belief to the extent that the county took its first title in 1975.

Leicestershire again won the county championship in 1996, and again in 1998 - an amazing achievement considering the resources of the club compared to other county teams. This Leicestershire side, led by Jack Birkenshaw and James Whitaker, used team spirit and togetherness to get the best out of a group of players who were either signed from other counties or brought through the Leicestershire ranks.

This team didn't have many stars, but Aftab Habib, Darren Maddy, Vince Wells, Jimmy Ormond, Alan Mullally and Chris Lewis all had chances for England. West Indian all-rounder Phil Simmons was also named as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the year in 1997 while playing for the club.

Since winning two titles in three years, Leicestershire have slipped away dramatically from the top end of county cricket. In 2003 the side were relegated from both the county championship and the limited over competition and four years later still remain there having not realistically challenged for promotion from either, in any season.

There are a number of reasons to why there has been such a decline in the performance of the club. The departure of so many talented cricketers at the same time has been the main reason. There were a variety of reasons why players left: some went for money; some went to further their international careers; and others retired from the sport. The replacements, especially in the seam bowler department, have struggled to match their predecessors.

The management of the club has also been heavily questioned. The recruitment policy in particular, the club used four Kolpak players in the 2007 season who have for the most part failed to put in anything other than ordinary performances. While the overseas signings have been uninspiring with Mansoor Amjad, Mark Cleary and Adam Griffith all coming in and disappointing in recent years.

At the same time several of the county's more promising players like Luke Wright, Christopher Liddle and Darren Stevens have all moved away from the club having not been given a proper chance.

There has been significant success through the Twenty20 Cup in recent years; however, some see that as little consolation when the team is doing poorly in the main competition. The foxes failed to reach the Twenty20 knock out stages for the first time in 2007.

It appears as if the people who run the club have finally realised that the county is in a downward spiral and have recently made some moves to try and counter this. Head coach Tim Boon and new captain Paul Nixon have both recently signed new deals which will keep them at Grace Road until 2010. They will also be joined on the coaching staff by Jeremy Snape and Claude Henderson who will also continue to play some cricket for the foxes.

Chairman Neil Davidson has also compiled a report entitled 'An Evidence Based Approach to the Identification and Development of England Test Cricketers in the County Championship'.^[1] This has also been the basis for future Leicestershire selection policy where the club plan to promote more young players. Although the report also suggests heavy reliance on a group of senior players with nationality not being an issue, which suggests a big role for Kolpak players.

• Grace Road, Leicester (1877 - Present)
• Oakham School, Oakham (2000 - Present)

• Bath Grounds, Ashby-de-la-Zouch (1912 - 1964)
• Fox and Goose Ground, Coalville (1913 - 1914)
• Town Ground, Coalville (1950)
• Snibston Colliery Ground, Coalville (1957 - 1982)
• Ashby Road, Hinckley (1911 - 1937)
• Coventry Road, Hinckley (1951 - 1964)
• Leicester Road, Hinckley (1981 - 1991)
• Aylestone Road, Leicester (1901 - 1962)
• Brush Ground, Loughborough (1953 - 1965)
• College Ground, Loughborough (1928 - 1929)
• Park Road, Loughborough (1913 - 1970)
• Egerton Park, Melton Mowbray (1946 - 1948)

Players with international caps are listed in bold.

Name	Nat	Batting Style	Bowling Style	Notes
Batsmen
HD Ackerman		RHB	RM	Kolpak player
Matthew Boyce		LHB	RM
Boeta Dippenaar		RHB	OS	Overseas Player
James Taylor		RHB	LS
All-rounders
James Allenby		LHB	RM	Holds English citizenship
Jeremy Snape		RHB	OS	Benefit year in 2008
Wicket-keepers
Tom New		LHB
Paul Nixon (c)		LHB		Captain
Joel Pope		RHB
Bowlers
Sam Cliff		RHB	RFM
Ryan Cummins		RHB	RFM
Harry Gurney		LHB	RFM
Claude Henderson		RHB	SLA	Kolpak player
Garnett Kruger		RHB	RFM	Kolpak player
Nadeem Malik		RHB	RFM]
Jigar Naik		RHB	OS
Daniel Rowe		RHB	RFM
Nicholas Walker		RHB	RFM

See also: Category:Leicestershire cricket captains

See also: Category:Leicestershire cricketers

England Jonathan Agnew Ewart Astill Chris Balderstone Les Berry Dickie Bird Jack Birkenshaw Nigel Briers David Constant Nick Cook Eddie Dawson Phillip DeFreitas George Geary David Gower Aftab Habib Ken Higgs Ray Illingworth

John King Albert Knight Barry Knight Chris Lewis Tony Lock Darren Maddy Devon Malcolm David Millns Alan Mullally Jimmy Ormond Charles Palmer Dick Pougher John Steele Terry Spencer Les Taylor Roger Tolchard

Jack van Geloven Willie Watson Vince Wells James Whitaker Peter Willey Australia Michael Bevan Brad Hodge Garth McKenzie India Anil Kumble Virender Sehwag Javagal Srinath

New Zealand Charles Dempster Pakistan Mohammad Asif Shahid Afridi South Africa Hansie Cronje West Indies Winston Benjamin Andy Roberts Phil Simmons Zimbabwe Brian Davison

Most first-class runs for Leicestershire Qualification - 18000 runs [1] Player Runs Les Berry 30143 Maurice Hallam 23662 John King 22618 Cecil Wood 21872 Ewart Astill 19879 Norman Armstrong 19001 Nigel Briers 18726 Maurice Tompkin 18590 Brian Davison 18537 Albert Knight 18142

Most first-class wickets for Leicestershire Qualification - 800 wickets [2] Player Wickets Ewart Astill 2131 George Geary 1759 Terry Spencer 1320 Jack Walsh 1127 John King 1100 Haydon Smith 1076 Vic Jackson 930 Jack Birkenshaw 908 John Savage 816

• Highest team total: 701-4d vs Worcestershire at New Road, Worcester in 1906.
• Highest home team total: 638-8d vs Worcestershire at Grace Road in 1996.
• Lowest team total: 25 vs Kent at Leicester in 1912
• Highest Total Against: 761-6d by Essex Chelmsford 1990
• Lowest Total Against: 24 by Glamorgan Leicester 1971
• Most runs: 30143 by George Berry
• Highest individual score: 309* by HD Ackerman vs Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens in 2006.
• Highest home individual score: 262 by Brad Hodge vs Durham at Grace Road in 2004.
• Highest Partnership: 436* by Darren Maddy & Brad Hodge vs Loughborough UCCE at Grace Road in 2003.

Best Partnership for each wicket (county championship)

• 1st - 390 B.Dudleston & J.F.Steele v Derbyshire Leicester 1979
• 2nd - 289* J.C.Balderstone & D.I.Gower v Essex Leicester 1981
• 3rd - 316* W.Watson & A.Wharton v Somerset Taunton 1961
• 4th - 290* P.Willey & T.J.Boon v Warwickshire Leicester 1984
• 5th - 322 B.F.Smith & P.V.Simmons v Nottinghamshire Worksop 1998
• 6th - 284 P.V.Simmons & P.A.Nixon v Durham Chester-le-Street 1996
• 7th - 219* J.D.R.Benson & P.Whitticase v Hampshire Bournemouth 1991
• 8th - 172 P.A.Nixon & D.J.Millns v Lancashire Manchester 1996
• 9th - 160 R.T.Crawford & W.W.Odell v Worcestershire Leicester 1902
• 10th - 228 R.Illingworth & K.Higgs v Northamptonshire Leicester 1977

• Most First Class Wickets: 2131 by Ewart Astill
• Most First Class Wickets in a Season: 170 by Jack Walsh in 1948
• Best bowling figures in an innings: 10-18 by George Geary in 1929 against Glamorgan at Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd.
• Best bowling figures in a match: 16-96 by George Geary in the same match.

• Most Dismissals in an innings: 7 by Neil Burns vs Somerset at Grace Road in 2001.
• Most Dismissals in a Match: 10 by Percy Corrall vs Sussex at Hove in 1936.

• When Leicestershire dismissed Northamptonshire CCC for 211 in August 1967 all ten wickets fell to catches - by ten different fielders. The only man not to take a catch, Jack Birkenshaw, took three wickets.
• Sam Coe made 252* in four hours without giving a chance against Northamptonshire at Leicester in 1914, a Leicester record which stood for over 70 years. He was an ancestor of fast bowler Les Taylor and is notable for being the first man ever dismissed by a Bernard Bosanquet googly.

• Leicestershire County Cricket Club - Official Site
• Leicestershire Foxes Supporter's Site
• CricInfo Page
• Cricket Archive Page
• BBC Sport Page

• H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962
• Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999
• Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970
• Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951

• Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions
• Wisden Cricketers Almanack – various editions

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