LBTufty

Currie and Cox are back for the crunch game against the racists: "Ben Cox and Scott Currie both return after missing out on the previous two red-ball squads. Peter Handscomb has flown home to Australia, while Alex Green also drops out of the 13. Ben Mike (side) and Matt Salisbury (calf) will step up their respective recoveries with the Second XI this week. Ben Green remains with Somerset ahead of Finals Day, while Josh Hull is on Test duty with England. Leicestershire: Ahmed, Budinger, Cox+, Currie, Holland, Hill*, Kimber, Patel, Rahane, Scriven, Trevaskis, Wood, Wright."

Alex Green won't be featuring in the next couple of games, he's been selected by the England Under 19s

"I'm Martin Jarvis, and So Is My Wife"

As opposed to the fictional island in ITV's 'Take Me Out'?

Nottinghamshite will be offering Evans a couple of years after today's knock!

2024 First-class bowling averages from today's XI (Wright and Wood n/a). We probably need to take 20 wickets to win the match - 7 bowlers with 27 between them all season. IG Holland 2024-2024 3 5 96.0 22 274 5 4/64 54.80 2.85 115.2 - - - - TAR Scriven 2024-2024 8 9 170.0 25 594 9 3/30 66.00 3.49 113.3 - - - - Rehan Ahmed 2024-2024 5 5 91.4 6 431 6 2/64 71.83 4.70 91.6 - - - - LPJ Kimber 2024-2024 10 10 72.5 4 336 4 1/21 84.00 4.61 109.2 - - 9 - L Trevaskis 2024-2024 3 4 64.0 4 292 3 1/15 97.33

He signed a two-year deal at the end of the 2022 season so with Holland now here, Budinger may be on his way. Evans certainly putting himself in the shop window after a brilliant century yesterday.

Funnily enough the same thing was being said by another idiosyncratic, non-textbook leg spinning all-rounder c.12 years ago, who was coming in as low as number 9 for this country. If Rehan's career trajectory get anywhere close to following Steve Smith's (sandpaper aside), we may just take it.

Josh Hull has made the squad for next month's England T20 (x3) and ODI (x5) series against Australia

No Hill in the Seconds team just starting today: ST Evans*, SG Budinger, HJ Swindells†, JLJ Dunk, NV Gorantla, JS Madan, RI Walker, SB Wood, CJC Wright, NJ Bowley, AM Green, A Farooq

If I was Hill, I'd be up in Loughborough tomorrow trying to find some batting form playing for the Seconds in their game against Notts.

So no Walker or Budinger in the final XI. Could be a very tricky first session under the clouds, shame we lost the toss even with two twiddlers in the team.

Team news No Cox or Chris Wright

Couple of things picked up from today's TF podcast. These next two CC games are the last for Handscomb before he returns to Oz in preparation for their domestic season. On the injury front, it sounds like Ben Mike is out for the rest of the campaign and Salisbury is still a doubt. Everyone else should be available.

It's not the same as football, we are expected to pay exactly the same as his parent county right down to appearance and bonus money; it's in the player loan section of the regulations.

Two years after leaving the county, spinner Nathan Bowley is back playing in our 2nd XI clash with Glamorgan. Rishi Patel opened the innings and made a brisk 45 from 54 balls. No sign of Rehan, nor Mike (presumably still injured).

Only the on-loan Scott Currie played more twice out of the five of them, just ridiculous.

Didn't want to play Glamorgan anyway (with apologies to Andy Murray)

Start the engines.

Ben Green

Holland, Scriven and Walker all top out at around 77mph with Wright able to hit 80mph. Big innings for the skipper here, he hasn't gone past 7 runs in 5 of his last 6 innings

Knew that would finally work!

Never seen a team hit/mishit so much in the air and bloody just avoid a Foxes' fielder!

The latest 'The Cricketer's County Conversation' podcast features Cam Ponsonby and Nick Friend in conversation with our own James Taylor. Well worth a listen.

Apparently their players were top drawer after losing last year's ODC final, some joining the Foxes lads on the lash afterwards. Couple that with their loaning of Scott Currie and Ian Holland over the last 12 months and most genuinely have no issues with them. Sussex and Notts on the other hand........