the FOXLeicestershire Foxes Friends Life t20 Tournament

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Finals Day at Edgbaston last August was a marvellous experience and we went on to enjoy an exciting trip to Hyderabad in India for the Nokia Champions League. Winning the tournament again will be a tough task given everybody now targets FL t20 as the trophy to win but I know that the team will give it their best shot.

We have said goodbye to a number of key members of the winning squad including Paul Nixon, Andrew McDonald, James Taylor and Harry Gurney but this gives opportunities to other players. Ramnaresh Sarwan, Ned Eckersley and Robbie Joseph are welcome additions to the squad and we are delighted to have Abdul Razzaq back at the club.

Abdul was a key part of the side and his innings at Lancashire Lightning kick-started our campaign last summer. His excellent bowling at either end of the innings and power hitting makes him one of the world’s most coveted players and we are pleased to have him back at Grace Road.

Abdul has won the trophy two years running and when you consider that Claude Henderson has played in all three of our successes then we still have plenty of experience in our ranks.

It is always an exciting time both on and off the field as we prepare for FL t20. Phil Whitticase and Matthew Hoggard have been busy preparing the lads and all of the backroom and office staff have worked hard to give you a fantastic Grace Road experience this year.

Our caterers McGorum’s experienced their first FL t20 campaign last year and have again worked hard with us to ensure we cater for all of your needs. Their food and service is always excellent and they will provide a number of outlets around the ground to ensure that there is something for everyone.

Even though we have fewer games this year, we have again

campaigned hard to ensure that the majority of matches will be played at times that suit you, our loyal members and supporters. There is nothing better than seeing a healthy crowd at Grace Road – the ground was buzzing last year for the quarter-final against Kent and the India game - and I know how much it can help the team.

I am confident that we will play our exciting brand of cricket in the competition and I hope that there will be plenty of warm, dry evenings for everybody to savour the action.

We hope that we are providing fun for all the family at an affordable price in these hard times. Our season tickets offer reduced rates, under-16 tickets are again available at £1, and we have offers going out in the Leicester Mercury - who renewed their media partnership with us.

We are continuing with our family stand this season and that has again been sponsored by HSBC Merchant Services. I would like to thank them for their continued support. The DMU Members Stand, the Butler Stand and the Maurice Burrows Balcony are all for the use of Full Members only.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our new FL t20 shirt sponsors Walkers who have renewed their association with the club this season. Thanks also to Michael John Flooring and Sherwin Kitchens for their continued support of FL t20. Both companies have done great work around Grace Road and their input is much appreciated.Here’s to a great FL t20 campaign!Mike Siddall, Chief Executive

www.pinnacle.uk.com • 08707 707 765 • info@pinnacle.uk.comLeicestershire County Cricket Club & Pinnacle wish to thank the advertisers who appear in this publication for their support and wish them every business success. The contents of this brochure are believed to be correct at the time of printing, nevertheless, we cannot endorse and readers should not rely solely upon the accuracy of any statements or claims contained herein without prior

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MIKE’S MESSAGEHELLO And wELcOME TO GrAcE rOAd FOr THE 2012 FrIEndS LIFE T20 cAMpAIGn AS wE LOOK TO dEFEnd Our crOwn

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cApTAIn’S cLuBIT IS FAnTASTIc TO STArT THE SEASOn AS dEFEndInG cHAMpIOnS. wE dId SO wELL TO wIn THE TrOpHy LAST yEAr And ArE LOOKInG FOrwArd TO dEFEndInG Our TITLEWe have said goodbye to a few familiar faces from last year’s team but we have moved quickly to ensure that those gaps have been filled. We will miss those who have gone but I am confident that we can continue to play our exciting brand of cricket given we still have plenty of experience in the club.

I will lead from the front and am looking to Claude Henderson, Abdul Razzaq, Will Jefferson, Robbie Joseph and Jacques du Toit to utilise all of their experience too. We have lots of young talent here and if they are free to play their natural games then we will be a very dangerous side again.

We produced some fantastic performances and results in 2011 and I was delighted that we went on a terrific run at Grace Road. We were desperate to right the disappointments of FL t20 at Grace Road of 2010 and it was great to be able to put smiles on your faces.

I’d like to thank all of my Captain Club members and all of the club sponsors ahead of this year’s tournament; your help and support is hugely appreciated, as ever. It means a lot to myself, the team and everybody associated with Leicestershire CCC to have you all on board.

The place was rocking as we clinched a thrilling win against Kent in the quarter-final and I was gutted to miss that game with injury.

It was great to be able to come back for Finals Day and I enjoyed the experience of bowling and leading the side in those games. To travel to India for the Nokia Champions League was a great

experience and one that we will all be better for, despite the results.FL t20 cricket is always decided on small margins and we must

strive to keep the belief we developed last season. The dressing room was a marvellous place to be and that is something we wanted to replicate in all forms of cricket this year. We have made a promising start to the 2012 season and I want us to keep that going.

Best wishes and please get behind the lads, Hoggy

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FrOM THE HEAd cOAcHHELLO And wELcOME TO EvEryOnE TO GrAcE rOAd FOr An EXcITInG And BuSy pHASE OF THE SEASOn. wE ArE ALL EAGEr TO rEpLIcATE THE FAnTASTIc ScEnES OF 2011 wHErE wE LIFTEd THE TrOpHy AFTEr A wOndErFuL cAMpAIGn OF FrIEndS LIFE T20 crIcKET

I will never forget Will Jefferson’s face after hitting the super-over six against Lancashire Lightning and it was fantastic to see the lads able to celebrate the culmination of lots of hard work. They worked hard for one another and shared in each other’s success and I was very proud to be in charge of them.

We have said farewell to a few members of that side but we have recruited Ramnaresh Sarwan and his experience will be key for us. We still have the core of last season’s team with some exciting additions and the return of Abdul Razzaq is a huge plus.

Abdul was brilliant for us in 2011 and his knock at Old Trafford helped get our season going last year. Wayne White batted well alongside him and their efforts in getting us over the line started a trend where we always found a way to win.

I am keen for us to replicate that this year. A key part of our strategy last season was discussing roles and identifying areas that will help us to win games and we have again made time to talk and plan everything through.

FL t20 cricket is all about coping with high-pressure situations and dealing with them. It is as much about mental preparation as physical and technical work so we have again put in the ground work to ensure that all bases are covered.

We won games last season because all of the players involved made a contribution at some stage and it will be so important that we carry that over to this season’s competition.

Ramnaresh gives us much-needed experience alongside Claude Henderson, Abdul and Matthew Hoggard and we will look for our younger players to play their own games around that knowledgeable core of players.

There are fewer games this season and that will give us more time for recovery and preparation which is key. As ever, it is important to get off to a good start. We made Grace Road a fortress last year and want to do so again.

There will be plenty of exciting games and what better way to start than a local derby against Nottinghamshire Outlaws.

Please get behind the lads as your support can make all the difference.

9

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pLAyInG rEcOrdPlayed 90 Won 54 Tied 1 losT 31 no ResulT 5HIGHEST TOTALS221-3 v yoRkshiRe aT headingley, 2004 212-5 v deRbyshiRe aT ChesTeRfield, 2010 206-7 v kenT aT gRaCe Road, 2011 205-2 v noTTinghamshiRe aT gRaCe Road, 2009 204-6 v deRbyshiRe aT deRby, 2006LOwEST TOTALS97-9 v duRham aT gRaCe Road, 2004MOST runS1455: Paul nixon1231: hylTon aCkeRman1111: daRRen maddy1053: James TayloR955: bRad hodge826: andReW mCdonald825: James allenby632: JaCques du ToiT621: Will JeffeRson570: JeRemy snaPe,

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headingley 2011MOST wIcKETS67: Claude hendeRson39: JeRemy snaPe38: haRRy guRney32: maTTheW hoggaRd30: david masTeRs28: James allenby24: nadeem malik22: andReW mCdonald21: abdul RazzaqBEST BOwLInG pErFOrMAncES5-13: andReW mCdonald

v noTTinghamshiRe, 20105-21: Jim allenby v lanCashiRe, 20085-23: ian o’bRien v lanCashiRe, 20095-27: Jim allenby v deRbyshiRe, 2008

FOXES In T20: THE FAcTS

ABOVE Hylton Ackerman ABOVE right Darren Maddy

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JOsh COBB celebrates his four-wicket haul in the final and the semi-final win with opening partner Will Jefferson

“THE wHOLE dAy wAS A BIT

OF A rOLLErcOASTEr, BOTHpErSOnALLy And FOr THE TEAM”

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HErE wE GO AGAIn…IT IS FAIr TO SAy THAT FLT20 FInALS dAy 2011 dId nOT quITE STArT AS LEIcESTErSHIrE OpEnEr JOSH cOBB HAd pLAnnEd…By Daniel NiceIt is fair to stay that the 2011 edition of FL t20 Finals Day did not quite start as Leicestershire opener Josh Cobb had planned.

Walking to the middle against Lancashire his mind was on making a big score. Instead, Cobb found himself having to make the lonely walk back to the new dressing rooms at Edgbaston after nicking Glen Chapple’s first ball of the day.

Several hours later however, Cobb was clutching the man-of-the-match champagne after a brilliant haul of 4-22 against Somerset in the final. Cobb also made useful runs and bowled a critical over against Lancashire when the game was in the balance.

With Duckworth-Lewis recalculations ruling Leicestershire’s first four bowlers out of the attack after several showers, Cobb had to step forward along with Wayne White and prevent Lancashire scoring 17 runs from their last two overs.

The off-spinner’s solitary over cost just six runs and he also picked up two wickets before going on to enjoy a few hours he’ll never forget.

“When I walked off after getting out first ball my first thought was I hadn’t played my natural game. I had been positive from ball one in all of the group games but maybe it was just the occasion,” he said.

“But I wasn’t too concerned because I had belief in the other lads. I knew somebody else would produce for

us. We’d found a way to win games throughout the competition.

“The situation when I had to bowl against Lancashire in the semi-final was thrown upon me during one of the rain breaks when we realised our main four bowlers had bowled their allocations. Although it was a pressure situation, I didn’t look at it that way. I thought it was the chance to be a hero because the odds were in Lancashire’s favour.

“The whole day was a bit of a rollercoaster, both personally and for the team. I thought we had won before that last ball but for Will to hit a six like that in the Super Over was a great effort. It was very much a game where it went up, down, up, down.

“I was really pumped up and so was Will. I played every shot with him at the other end and you could see in the celebrations how much it meant to us both and the team.”

The Super Over win guaranteed Cobb and his teammates the opportunity to sample the Nokia Champions League tournament in India at the end of the season. However, there was still a final to be won and although Leicestershire did not make a huge total against Somerset they were not going to be denied the chance to give the retiring Paul Nixon an unforgettable send-off as Cobb’s haul helped seal an 18-runs victory.

“The whole of Finals Day was a great experience,” said Cobb. “It is one that the

lads will never forget. Even after beating Lancashire, we had to play so well against a very strong Somerset side. I have not played in a team that had so much belief and hopefully we’ll carry that into this year’s competition.

“The Champions League was one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. It was a small taste of what international cricket is like but sadly we didn’t make the main stage. It would have been amazing to qualify for the actual Champions League tournament.”

Cobb is excited about the prospect of this year’s tournament and is looking forward to the mouth-watering first game against Nottinghamshire Outlaws, where he’ will play against a couple of familiar faces in ex-Foxes Harry Gurney and James Taylor.

He said: “There is a big focus on Championship cricket for me this season because I want to do well but everybody wants to be involved in t20 cricket. It is an exciting time of the season.

“I played against Harry in Hyderabad because he, Greg Smith and Jigar Naik guested for the local side in a warm-up game. I decided to take him on because he had bowled so well for us and I’m sure my plan will again be to play my natural game.

“James Taylor played lots of t20 games for us so I’m sure the bowlers will be coming up with plans and fields for him. We know both of them well and it will be good to catch up with them off the field too.”

13

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wHATEvEr HAppEnS IT wOn’T BE duLL!A FEw KEy MEMBErS OF LAST yEAr’S T20-wInnInG SquAd ArE MISSInG BuT THE FOXES ArE SurE TO MOunT A SpIrITEd TITLE dEFEncEBy Paul JonesFormer Leicestershire captain Jeremy Snape provided the perfect description for Twenty20 cricket.

‘Volatile’ was how the man who lifted the trophy in 2006 summed up the shortest form of the game.

There was no better example of the glorious unpredictability of 20-over cricket than the Foxes’ triumph in last season’s Friends Life t20.

They went into the competition having picked up a solitary point from eight home games in the 2010 campaign - and even that was due to the abandonment of the clash with Durham.

It was a far cry from the early years of the competition, which Leicestershire had dominated, when they won in 2004 as well as two years later and progressed to each of the first four finals days.

So the priority in 2011 was simply to begin turning matters around and attract the fans back to Grace Road to support a winning side. Nobody could have imagined that the campaign would end with skipper Matthew Hoggard hoisting the trophy aloft at Edgbaston and the Foxes booked on the plane to India for a tilt at the Champions League.

That they succeeded against the odds was down to a series of factors.

The availability for the entire tournament of Australian all-rounder Andrew McDonald had a massive effect on Leicestershire. His 584 runs - the best return of any batsman in the competition - ensured that the Foxes had a foothold in just about every game.

Then there was the signing of Abdul Razzaq, a hugely talented player and a 20-over genius with bat and ball.

If anybody wondered about the effect he might have on

All-rOuND ABility Abdul Razzaq

17

Leicestershire, they did not have to wait long. Just 24 hours off the plane from Pakistan he delivered a sensational win over Lancashire at Old Trafford, pummeling an incredible 62 from just 30 balls in dismal light to snatch a game that had appeared lost.

McDonald and Razzaq played major roles but the real key to the Foxes’ triumph was teamwork. Take a look at the men who played t20 in 2011and there isn’t one who did not make a vital contribution at some stage - even down to substitute fielder Matthew Boyce’s four catches from Josh Cobb’s off-spin in the final against Somerset.

Cobb himself smashed 374 runs at a dazzling strike rate of 156 per 100 balls faced, England Lions’ skipper James Taylor scampered and improvised for 337, Will Jefferson racked up 303 - and wicketkeeper Paul Nixon was never going to go into retirement quietly.

His catch to dismiss Somerset danger man Kieron Pollard under the Edgbaston lights beggared belief even for a man who continually ripped up and re-wrote scripts throughout a magnificent career.

Can Leicestershire re-produce that form this season? Well, there will be no lack of belief within the squad, although there has had to be a good deal of rebuilding going into the competition.

The inspirational Nixon has finally put away the gloves and Taylor has moved up the road to Nottingham - as has left-arm seamer Harry Gurney, whose 23 wickets were instrumental in taking Leicestershire to finals day.

McDonald is not available either, and that leaves a major hole to be filled by the Foxes’ overseas player Ramnaresh Sarwan - though he does have an abundance of quality and experience on his side.

On the plus side Razzaq returns to take his place in the squad – he was quickly signed up once again last autumn - and as long as he is in the side, Leicestershire have at least one proven 20-over match-winner with bat and ball.

Despite the departures their remains plenty of firepower in the batting line up, which will be headed again by Cobb.

Moving the youngster up to the top of the order in one-day cricket, and giving him licence to assault the bowlers in the power plays, proved a major success for the Foxes last term.

Jefferson hits the ball as hard as anyone in the game, while Sarwan and Razzaq bring international quality and know-how. Jacques du Toit and Wayne White both had to bide their time last year with the men above them piling up the runs. But when called upon they were up to the task and are quite capable of taking games away from their opponents in rapid time.

Replacing the wickets of Gurney will be crucial and that means at least one of the Foxes’ crop of seamers stepping up. Spin will revolve again around evergreen left-armer Claude Henderson and

18

Josh Cobb with Jigar Naik unfortunately injured.So although there has been an awful lot of change at Grace

Road the ingredients remain for the Foxes to mount a strong defence of the title. Whether the trophy remains in their hands or not remains to be seen. One thing is for sure, though, life is unlikely to be dull for Leicestershire’s followers.

Paul Jones covers Leicestershire cricket for the Leicester Mercury

lEFt Big loss: Paul Nixon helped the Foxes win three t20 titles ABOVE Overseas aid: Ramnaresh Sarwanright Unsung heroes: Wayne White and Matt Boyce

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SpIn wHEn yOu’rE wInnInG…SLOw BOwLErS HAvE THrIvEd In T20, nOnE MOrE SO THAn FOXES’ cLAudE HEndErSOn, wHO IS rELISHInG THIS yEAr’S TITLE dEFEncEBy Daniel Nice When the marketing people sat around a table to talk about the introduction of t20 cricket back in 2003 it is unlikely that they had the spinners in mind.

Scoring runs was seen as the way to entertain the crowds given boundary ropes were dragged in and good wickets were prepared. Signs with ‘4’ and ‘6’ on each side were handed out to supporters, not ones with ‘W’ on them .

But slow bowlers have thrived in t20 and Leicestershire Foxes’ spinner Claude Henderson has been one of the best operators in the country. The slow left-armer from South Africa will be 40 two days after the Foxes start their title defence on June 12 but he remains a key component of the side.

And he is not surprised that the twirlers have prospered and believes a relaxed approach to the game has helped him to cope with pressurised situations.

He said: “It has not surprised me that spinners have done well in t20. Spin bowlers have always done well in one-day cricket because there is no pace on the ball.

“My attitude is that I have nothing to lose. If a batsman hits you a long way out of the ground the most they can get is six. I am looking to upset the batsmen, I am trying to spoil their day. If a wicket falls, a new batter has to try to get runs straightaway but there is no pace on the ball so that can be difficult.

“As a slow bowler you need to cover all bases. You have got to be prepared to take wickets when the ball turns sharply and also be prepared to limit any damage playing on flat wickets. That might be bowling a yorker or it might be trying to get a player off strike by not bowling a perfect spinning delivery.

“You have got to look at the wicket you’re playing on, the side you’re playing against, the size of the boundaries and you have got to be calm under pressure.

“You have got five fielders on the boundary so if somebody tries to hit you out of the ground then you have a chance of getting a wicket. We all know that taking wickets in one-day cricket slows the run rate.”

Henderson adds that adapting to the modern game has also been key. “If you can go for six or seven an over then you are bowling well,” he said. “Ten years ago if you said to a coach ‘Hey, I’m going for six an over and bowling well,’ they would fire you!

“Cricket has changed and even in 40-over cricket bowlers will go for six or seven runs an over and will have bowled well. The shots now are so varied and people are playing spin differently.

“There are reverse sweeps, slog sweeps, running down the wicket hitting sixes both sides of the wicket. You have got to be strong and know they are going to come at you. You have got to have a plan and be prepared to have a battle.

“I am looking to take the pace off the ball sometimes when a new batsman comes in because he is looking to get off strike and, if he is going to do that, he is going to have to hit the ball.

“Sometimes I like to bowl it faster, though, because I think the batsman might come down the wicket. Sometimes the wicket isn’t going to help me at all so I have to vary my pace a lot.

Henderson admits it will be strange not seeing Paul Nixon play t20 cricket this season but he thinks the Foxes can continue to evolve successfully.

Nixon was an ever-present since the game started in 2003 so he kept wicket to every ball that Henderson has sent down in his Foxes’ t20 career.

20

ClAuDE hENDErsON has taken 89 wickets in t20 including this one against Northamptonshire Steelbacks in 2010 which he celebrates with Jacques du Toit.

That will change this year but Henderson said that players who come into the Leicestershire side are well-equipped to succeed

He said: “I’ve been really fortunate to be at Leicestershire since 2004 as preparation has always been good for t20 here.

“We have had a lot of individuals in the past who have been good short-form players. We have had great players like Paul Nixon, Darren Maddy and Jeremy Snape.

“Players who have come into our team, like Josh Cobb, have picked up from where others have left off. We wake up as a club when the competition starts. We get excited!

“Nico has been very good for us in t20 cricket as he liked to get involved but Ned Eckersley is a good prospect. He is a good striker of the ball and has got good hands. It is a huge challenge for the bowlers to develop a new partnership as we have had Nico all the way through.”

21

OppO

SITIOn

OuTLA

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KEy tO thE DOOr James Taylor is hoping to further his England ambitions at Trent Bridge

t20 wiNNEr Taylor in action against Lancashire Lightning last August when he helped Foxes claim their third t20 title

22

It was a cold, wet, morning at Trent Bridge and James Taylor was feeling the chill. Not surprisingly, really, since he had spent all but nine days of last winter practicing in India, leading the England Lions in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and playing against England in Abu Dhabi.

There was warmth in the smile and a glow in the eyes, however, as he talked enthusiastically about moving from Leicestershire to Nottinghamshire at the end of last season, joining his new colleagues on a pre-season trip to Barbados and taking the next step on the road to becoming an England batsman.

It has been a relatively smooth ride so far for Taylor, the shortest cricketer in the county game at 5ft. 5in., who still looks as though he would he would be more at home on a horse until you see him at the crease with a bat in his hands.

His father, Steve, was a National Hunt jockey, who now travels to racecourses up and down the country as a starter, and, he grew up with horses at Burrough on the Hill, near Melton Mowbray.

“I loved riding,” he said, “and competed in a few jumping events but I never got into racing and had no ambition to be a jockey. I packed it in when I was about 17 because I was too busy playing cricket – and it was a bit dangerous, to be honest.”

He also loved football and rugby. He was involved with Leicester City - as a striker, would you believe? – but they wanted him to train five days a week and that was not possible because he was away at boarding school and he played rugby – more appropriately as a scrum half - for Oakham.

It was at Shrewsbury School that cricket gradually took over his life. Shrewsbury had connections with Worcestershire and he was at their Academy for four years but then Leicestershire offered him a contract and he felt it made sense to go back home because he would have more opportunities at Grace Road.

He was right. He played a few games in 2008 without a lot of success but he scored more than 1,000 runs in each of the next three seasons, broke into the England Lions side and made his

one-day international debut against Ireland last August.By then, bigger more affluent counties wanted him and in

December he made his decision. “It was a wrench to leave Leicestershire,” he said. “They gave me my opportunity and I owe them a lot.

“I wouldn’t have progressed as quickly if it had not been for them and the help they gave me but I felt it was time for a new challenge and a new chapter in my career. And I feel that the best place for that is Trent Bridge.

“I know it’s going to be tougher in the first division but when I’ve stepped up to play for the Lions I’ve generally done better so I’m hoping that’s going to be the case here. I think it will be a great opportunity to show people what I can do against the best bowlers in the country.”

He does not believe his lack of inches will impede his progress, pointing with some justification to batsmen like Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar. “I’ve grown up being this height so the way I play just comes naturally to me.

“Some people say it makes me a better cutter and puller but I feel I’m pretty equal off back foot and front. I enjoy driving just as much as I enjoy cutting and pulling and I think Trent Bridge will have a bit more pace and bounce than Grace Road so I’m hoping that will help my game.”

And his prospects of playing for England before too long? “I’m not really thinking about England at the moment,” he said. “They’ve been going well for a year or two now. I’ve just got to keep doing what I’m doing, scoring runs as consistently as I can in all forms of the game and winning matches for Notts.

“Hopefully I’ll catch the selectors’ eyes that way if the chance comes to break into the England side. If not, no worries. There’s no rush. I’m still only 22.”

Pat Gibson writes on cricket for The Times

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TAyLOr’S In nO HurryJAMES TAyLOr SAId IT wAS A wrEncH TO LEAvE GrAcE rOAd. AS HE prEpArES TO rETurn, THE dIMInuTIvE BATSMAn TALKS ABOuT TrEnT BrIdGE And HIS EnGLAnd AMBITIOnS By Pat gibson

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LEIcESTErSHIrE FOXES 2012

BACK rOw (lEFt tO right)Greg Smith, Josh Cobb, Robbie Joseph, Nadeen Malik, Wayne White, Alex Wyatt, Jigar Naik, James Sykes, Matthew Boyce. FrONt rOw (lEFt tO right)Ned Eckersley, Jacques du Toit, Will Jefferson, Matthew Hoggard (Captain), Claude Henderson, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Nathan Buck, Paul Dixey

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LEIcESTErSHIrE FOXES 2012

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THE prESEncE OF wOrLd TwEnTy20-wInnInG cApTAIn pAuL cOLLInGwOOd SHOuLd MAKE durHAM A FOrcE TO BE rEcKOnEd wITH In THIS SEASOn’S FrIEndS LIFE T20 cOMpETITIOn

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Collingwood led England to their first world title in the West Indies two years ago and will again be available for a full a season of domestic action having committed himself to a new three-year contract with his native county.

The 37-year-old all-rounder retired from Test cricket after he had helped England retain the Ashes in Australia in January 2011 but had hoped to continue in one-day and Twenty20 internationals until England dropped him from both formats last season.

Collingwood still found himself in demand at domestic level and was offered a player/coach role by Derbyshire before he committed himself to an extended contract with Durham.

Having helped the Perth Scorchers reach the final of Australia’s Big Bash League, Collingwood is already guaranteed an

appearance in this year’s Champions League but Durham would take priority if he could take them to the Friends Life

T20 final for the first time.A losing semi-final at the Rose Bowl in 2008 is the closest Durham have got to winning the

competition so far but they reached the quarter-finals last season and look well

equipped to mount another strong

challenge.Dale Benkenstein, who captained Durham to their first County

Championship in 2008, now leads the side in limited overs cricket, taking over from Phil Mustard, the four-day captain.

Mustard, a former England Twenty20 wicketkeeper, was in demand as a Twenty20 specialist during the winter, playing for the Mountaineers in Zimbabwe and the Barisal Burners in the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League.

Former England slow left-armer Ian Blackwell remains a handy spinner and a dangerous middle order batsman. South Africa batsman Herscelle Gibbs has been signed as an overseas player but Mitchell Johnson will not be joining Durham following his inclusion in Australia’s one-day squad.Paul Bolton

OnE TO wATcHPAul COlliNgwOOD England’s World Twenty20-winning captain’s international days may be over but Collingwood remains a canny Twenty20 player. Clever placement with the bat, a crafty seamer and an outstanding fielder.

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We brew Pale Ale,others brewpale imitations.In 1952 a new era began. Recognising its unique

heritage, our Head Brewer decided to create a namefor his best loved ale and Pedigree Pale Ale was born.

Pedigree is still brewed using Burton water drawn fromour own wells and is fermented in the Burton Unionsystem maintained by our skilled cooper, Mark.Please raise your glass and celebrate Pedigree’s60 glorious years.

Marston’s – Proud of our Pedigree.

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LAncASHIrE MAy HAvE EndEd A 77 yEAr wAIT FOr THEIr FIrST cOunTy cHAMpIOnSHIp OuTrIGHT LAST SEASOn BuT THEy ALSO MAdE An unwAnTEd pIEcE OF crIcKETInG HISTOry

They became the first side in the history of England’s domestic Twenty20 competition to lose in a Super Over after their semi-final against Leicestershire at Edgbaston last August finished in a tie.

Hampshire were beaten in similar circumstances in the second semi-final barely four hours after Lancashire had packed their bags and left Edgbaston.

Despite that disappointment Lancashire remain among the most consistent sides in the Friends Life T20 and have only once – in 2006 - failed to qualify for the knockout stages.

But they have reached the final only once, back in 2005 when they were beaten by Somerset by seven wickets at The Oval.

Lancashire had hoped to have left-arm seamer Junaid Khan, whose 12 wickets helped to take them through to last season’s

Finals Day, back for a second stint as overseas player but Pakistan scheduled a tour to Sri Lanka after he had agreed

his county contract.But former Pakistan all-rounder Yasir Arafat will bring his experience of winning the Friends Life

T20 having been signed to play for his fourth county in the competition. Arafat was in the

Sussex side that won this tournament in

2009 having previously played for Kent.He played for Surrey last season and had a busy winter of

Twenty20 cricket with Canterbury in New Zealand’s domestic competition and the Barisal Burners in the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League.

England Lions slow left-armer Stepehen Parry, who struggles to get a game in Lancashire’s Championship side, usually comes into his own in Twenty20 cricket.

Opening batsman Stephen Moore scored more than 500 runs, with four half centuries, in last season’s Friends Life T20 and will again be expected to anchor the batting.Paul Bolton

OnE TO wATcHstEPhEN PArry Lancashire have three left-arm spinners and Parry is third in the pecking order behind the experienced Gary Keedy and aggressive Simon Kerrigan in Championship cricket. But Parry is Lancashire’s frontline spinner in Twenty20 cricket and has taken more than 50 career wickets with his guile and control.

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IT wAS yOrKSHIrE’S cOunTy cHAMpIOnSHIp rELEGATIOn LAST yEAr THAT LEd TO THEIr cHAIrMAn cOLIn GrAvES BrAndInG THE pLAyErS “A dISGrAcE” And cuLMInATEd In A SHAKE-up OF THE cOAcHInG STAFF durInG THE wInTErBut Yorkshire have been under-achievers in the Friends Life T20 for several years. They are one of only three counties never to have qualified for Finals Day and they have only twice progressed to the knockout stages, the last time in 2007.

Yorkshire will hope that the appointment of former Australia seamer Jason Gillespie, who joined them from Zimbabwe franchise MidWest Rhinos, will also bring a change of Twenty20 fortune.

Former England batsman Martyn Moxon remains as director of cricket with Paul Farbrace, the former Sri Lanka assistant coach who quit as Kent’s director of cricket last September, in charge of developing Yorkshire’s considerable pool of talent as Second XI coach.

But the new set-up at Headingley was not to the liking of former England seamer Ajmal Shazad who has joined Lancashire on loan for the rest of the season with a view to a permanent move next season. Shahzad was the first Yorkshire-born Asian to represent the county and go on to play Test cricket but he was released after his relationship with his native county broke down irretrievably.

Leg-spinner Adil Rashid and off-spinner Azeem Rafiq, two more products of Yorkshire’s academy system, form an effective spin combination in Twenty20 cricket and took 23 wickets between them last season

All-rounder Richard Pyrah, a key member of Yorkshire’s Twenty20 squad, hopes to be fit after two months on the sidelines with a broken hand which he sustained fielding against Kent in the County Championship in April.

Wicketkeeper/batsman Jonny Bairstow’s county availability may be limited by international commitments having broken into England’s side in all three formats of the game.

Former Australia batsman Phil Jaques should bolster the batting having rejoined Yorshire as a British-qualified player

following his retirement from international and Australian domestic cricket.

Left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc, who will tour England with Australia A A in August, is Yorkshire’s overseas recruit.Paul Bolton

OnE TO wATcH:riChArD PyrAh is a busy all-rounder who took 21 Twenty20 wickets last season, including Yorkshire’s competition-best figures of five for 16 in the win over Durham at Scarborough. Usually contributes aggressive middle order runs and is an outstanding fielder

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Derbyshire have progressed beyond the group stages only once in their previous nine Friends Life T20 campaigns with their solitary quarter-final appearance ending in a 17 runs defeat by Lancashire at Old Trafford in 2005.

But they came close to qualifying for the last eight two years ago and new head coach Karl Krikken has shaken things up since he was promoted from Academy coach to replace John Morris early last season.

Derbyshire have now placed a heavy emphasis on developing and promoting home-grown talent rather than Kolpak recruits which has given the likes of wicketkeeper Tom Poynton – now first choice behind the stumps following Luke Sutton’s sudden retirement - all-rounder Ross Whiteley and batsman Dan Redfern the chance to flourish.

Krikken has also recruited wisely, signing former England Lions slow left-armer David Wainwright who opted to leave his native Yorkshire in search of more regular first team cricket.

Australia left-handed batsman Usman Khawaja has returned as Derbyshire’s overseas player, replacing New Zealander Martin Guptill, for all cricket for the second half of the season with Rana

Naved, the much-travelled Pakistan seamer, recruited as their Twenty20 specialist.

Rana, who has already played county cricket for Sussex and Yorkshire, was the leading wicket-taker in Australia’s Big Bash Twenty20 tournament earlier in the year where he took 15 wickets for the Hobart Hurricanes.

Rana, now a peripatetic Twenty20 player, also played for the Dhaka Gladiators in the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League and the Sialkot Stallions in Pakistan.Paul Bolton

OnE TO wATcH:DAViD wAiNwright Played for England Lions against Pakistan A in the United Arab Emirates two years ago but the career of the 27-year-old slow left-armer stalled last year when he fell behind leg-spinner Adil Rashid and off-spinner Azeem Rafiq at Yorkshire. Wainwright’s decision to move counties has been a good one for him and for Derbyshire.

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33

FrOM THE pIT TO ASHES wInnErLEIcESTErSHIrE LEGEnd LES TAyLOr TALKS TO pAT GIBSOn ABOuT HIS cArEEr And InSISTS: ‘I HAvE nO rEGrETS’

There is a cricket ball mounted on a wooden plinth at Les Taylor’s home deep in the Leicestershire countryside which is a fitting tribute to the last coalminer to come up from the pit and open the bowling in an Ashes-winning England team.

It was presented to him by the National Coal Board and bears the inscription: ‘The final ball of the Ashes series 1985 – caught and bowled Les Taylor.” And thereby hangs a tale.

The facts are simple. Taylor played in the last two Tests that summer and when he took that return catch to dismiss Murray Bennett he gave England a second successive innings victory and a 3-1 win in the series.

How he came to be there is not so straightforward. He grew up only yards from the cricket ground at Earl Shilton and was playing for the third team by the age of 12 because he had such a strong arm that they picked him for his fielding.

He learned how to bowl there and moved on to Hinckley Town, then one of the strongest clubs in the Midlands, but county cricket was a world away as he completed a five-year apprenticeship as a carpenter and the very next day joined his father, Cyril, a miner for 35 years, down the pit because he could earn £50 a week more.

He worked underground at Bagworth Colliery, the last pit in Leicestershire which closed in 1991, for three years until MJK (Mike) Smith, the former Warwickshire and England captain, who lived nearby and had seen some of his match-winning performances for Hinckley, asked him if he would like to have a trial at Edgbaston.

“I’d love to,” said Les, but first he had to write to the county of his birth to ask for their permission and Leicestershire invited him to have nets with them. “It wasn’t easy because a lot of the guys spoke with a plum in their mouths and I was a rough and ready lad from the pit.”

Taylor soon showed them that he could bowl, though, and after a season in the 1st XI he got his opportunity in 1977, by which time he was 23. He made his first-class debut against Oxford University, played against the Australians (claiming the prized wickets of Rick McCosker and David Hookes) and broke into the Sunday League team that went on to win the John Player title.

“We had a good side – Illy (Ray Illingworth) was captain, Higgy (Ken Higgs) was bowling like a trooper, Birky (Jack Birkenshaw), Tolly (Roger Tolchard) and, of course, the boy Ivan (David Gower) just coming through and slapping the ball to all parts.”

Plain Les, tall and strong and moving the ball both ways at a brisk pace, made his Championship debut the following summer and when he took 75 wickets at only 21 runs apiece in 1981 he was on the brink of the England team that was about to tour India.

“Towards the end of that season, I was in the showers after a good day in the field when Alec Bedser (then chairman of selectors) walked in and said: ‘Keep yourself fit, Les …you’ll be going to India.

“I went home and told my wife, Sue, and the following Sunday we sat listening to the wireless as the team was announced. I wasn’t in it and to this day I’ve never had an explanation. I went to South Africa to play for Natal instead and when I heard that there was a rebel tour coming up I thought: ‘Well, if that’s the way England are going to treat you…’”

Taylor was the leading wicket-taker on that tour and though he was subsequently banned from playing for England for three years they turned out to the best of his career. He carried on taking wickets for Leicestershire and had a lot of success in a Natal side containing such great players as Barry Richards and Mike Procter.

He even contemplated emigrating to South Africa when he was offered a lucrative job as a mine manager but he

34

still had a hankering to play for England and his ambition was fulfilled in 1985 when his four wickets at 44 did not reflect how well he bowled.

He topped the first-class bowling averages in the West Indies that winter but was not picked for a single Test even though England were whitewashed 5-0 and finally wound down his career with a season captaining Leicestershire 1st XI and two more back at Hinckley Town.

And that was that. He turned his back on cricket (“I just thought that part of my life had gone”), got a job as a postman, concentrated on his golf and, when he got his handicap down to five, thought he could complete a Leicestershire double by representing the county at two sports.

Sadly it was not to be. “I thought it would be a nice thing to do but three years ago I was struck down by pneumonia and suffered a collapsed lung. I finished up having my lung stitched to my rib cage and can’t swing properly now though I still play off 12.”

There is no bitterness, no regrets. “I wouldn’t swap any part of it,” Taylor, now 58 and living contentedly in his rural idyll surrounded by family and friends. “I only played two Tests but that’s a lot more than most people do. Once I’d done that, I felt my career was complete.”

35

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Price: £1200 + VATInterested? email sales@leicestershireccc.co.uk or call 0116 2452451

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MIdLAndS GrOup FIXTurES 2012

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GS range from £32,995. Model shown is GS 450h F SPORT priced at £50,995 excluding optional metallic paint at £610. Price correct at time of going to press and includes VAT, delivery, number plates, full tank of fuel, one year’s road fund licence and £55 fi rst registration fee.

GS 450h F SPORT fuel consumption fi gures: urban 40.9 mpg (6.9 L/100km), extra urban 49.6 mpg (5.7 L/100km), combined 45.6 mpg (6.2 L/100km). CO2 emissions 145 g/km.

Contact us today to fi nd out moreLEXUS LEICESTER Blackbird Mills, Abbey Lane, Leicester LE4 0DZ 0116 319 1257 www.lexus.co.uk/leicester

CREATINGAMAZING

Amazing. It’s in the creation of paint that sparkles in all weathers. It’s in 2,000 hours meticulously positioning speakers for concert-hall clarity. It’s in enjoying a V6 full-hybrid engine that delivers an impressive 345 DIN hp and 45.6 mpg. The creators of the GS 450h F Sport accepted no compromise in their quest for amazing. And from June, you can experience it for yourself.

To be one of the first to encounter amazing, contact Lexus Leicester.