Leicestershire County Cricket Club

[AjcW]

I think Rehan needs to decide whether he wants to bat or bowl to be honest, don't think he's got it in him to be an all rounder. 

Reminds me of when Broad started really focussing on his batting and started bowling terribly. As soon as he dropped that he went on to be one of Englands best ever. 

 

England are stacked with Leg spinners and have just picked someone who hasn't been selected in 8 years ahead of him, wonder if batting might be the best option!

 

On the other hand he probably is 38 year old Rashids long term replacement in T20I as they still keep ignoring Calvin Harrison for some reason!

 

Either way he needs to buckle down.

[RowlattsFox]

Just now, AjcW said:

I think Rehan needs to decide whether he wants to bat or bowl to be honest, don't think he's got it in him to be an all rounder. 

Reminds me of when Broad started really focussing on his batting and started bowling terribly. As soon as he dropped that he went on to be one of Englands best ever. 

 

England are stacked with Leg spinners and have just picked someone who hasn't been selected in 8 years ahead of him, wonder if batting might be the best option!

 

On the other hand he probably is 38 year old Rashids long term replacement in T20I as they still keep ignoring Calvin Harrison for some reason!

 

Either way he needs to buckle down.

General consensus from people inside the game is that he's a better batter than bowler. 

Think he just needs to play rather than carrying drinks - not sure what is plan over the winter if he's not involved with England. Does he have a SA20 or Big Bash gig? 

 

Sure he learnt a lot at the IPL last year but needs to give it a miss next season. 

[AjcW]

13 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

General consensus from people inside the game is that he's a better batter than bowler. 

Think he just needs to play rather than carrying drinks - not sure what is plan over the winter if he's not involved with England. Does he have a SA20 or Big Bash gig? 

 

Sure he learnt a lot at the IPL last year but needs to give it a miss next season. 

Not sure if squads have been announced yet but the Lions are touring West Indies, South Africa and Sri Lanka. 

SA tour in tandem with senior side I imagine for squad cover. 

 

Trott in charge this winter, be a decent batting mentor!

[everton carr]

25 minutes ago, AjcW said:

I think Rehan needs to decide whether he wants to bat or bowl to be honest, don't think he's got it in him to be an all rounder. 

Reminds me of when Broad started really focussing on his batting and started bowling terribly. As soon as he dropped that he went on to be one of Englands best ever. 

 

England are stacked with Leg spinners and have just picked someone who hasn't been selected in 8 years ahead of him, wonder if batting might be the best option!

 

On the other hand he probably is 38 year old Rashids long term replacement in T20I as they still keep ignoring Calvin Harrison for some reason!

 

Either way he needs to buckle down.

Not sure Broad stopped focussing on his batting.It was more he lost confidence after he was hit on the head by the Indian fast bowler  who went on to play for us briefly name escapes me atm.Also don't remember him ever bowling terribly maybe like all bowlers the odd game but not for a sustained period.

[Cakey]

2 hours ago, everton carr said:

Not sure Broad stopped focussing on his batting.It was more he lost confidence after he was hit on the head by the Indian fast bowler  who went on to play for us briefly name escapes me atm.Also don't remember him ever bowling terribly maybe like all bowlers the odd game but not for a sustained period.

Varun Aaron, although didnt do much for us but was rapid. 

[everton carr]

1 hour ago, Cakey said:

Varun Aaron, although didnt do much for us but was rapid. 

Yep that's him was terrible in the matches he played

[CrawlingFox]

6 hours ago, RowlattsFox said:

General consensus from people inside the game is that he's a better batter than bowler. 

Think he just needs to play rather than carrying drinks - not sure what is plan over the winter if he's not involved with England. Does he have a SA20 or Big Bash gig? 

 

Sure he learnt a lot at the IPL last year but needs to give it a miss next season. 

Whilst this is true I always think it's hard to really tell as spinners in England don't get the luxury of a raging turner very often and I'd wager Rehan just doesn't get the overs he'd really need to develop as a leg spinner (one of the hardest and most unforgiving crafts in the game). That's through a combination of missing games due to England/IPL as you say and the number of games we play on seaming decks where Holland may make hay but a spinner isn't going to get much of a look in.

Edited Wednesday at 14:45 by CrawlingFox

[RowlattsFox]

2 minutes ago, CrawlingFox said:

Whilst this is true I always think it's hard to really tell as spinners in England don't get the luxury of a raging turner very often and I'd wager Rehan just doesn't get the overs he'd really need to develop as a leg spinner (one of the hardest and most unforgiving crafts in the game). That's through a combination of missing games due to England/IPL as you say and the number of games we play on seaming decks where Holland may make hay but a spinner isn't going to get much of a look in.

Yeah that's fair. Maybe he will have to accept that he's probably only going to play on away tours in Asia. 

Proving he can bat at 6 to a high standard is probably his best bet, in the role Lawrence has currently with the occasional bit with the ball. But in England, they seem to prefer off spin in test cricket. 

[everton carr]

14 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Yeah that's fair. Maybe he will have to accept that he's probably only going to play on away tours in Asia. 

Proving he can bat at 6 to a high standard is probably his best bet, in the role Lawrence has currently with the occasional bit with the ball. But in England, they seem to prefer off spin in test cricket. 

Crane coming on leaps and bounds with his batting 2 centuries and a 99 last season

[CrawlingFox]

32 minutes ago, RowlattsFox said:

Yeah that's fair. Maybe he will have to accept that he's probably only going to play on away tours in Asia. 

Proving he can bat at 6 to a high standard is probably his best bet, in the role Lawrence has currently with the occasional bit with the ball. But in England, they seem to prefer off spin in test cricket. 

He had a good season at 3 in the promotion season I think if he'd have backed that up with a dominant season there in D1 this season just gone it would have been interesting.

 

As it is I suspect England see him as an interesting player because he's a leggie but he looks a touch "bits and pieces" and I struggle to see him finding a consistent spot in any format.

 

Agree with those who said he needs to knuckle down, start to really churn out the runs in red and white ball. His record in all formats currently is ok but nothing that is really that impressive. Fine whilst he's 22 but by the time he's 25 needs to have a batting average nearer 40 or a bowling average under 30, both might be greedy! Currently 32.6 for batting and 37.7 for bowling, 17.9 and 27.4 in t20.

 

Good for us, but won't be more than bits and pieces or maybe handy for a tour where spin will be dominant for England at best.

[when_you're_smiling]

20 hours ago, CrawlingFox said:

Whilst this is true I always think it's hard to really tell as spinners in England don't get the luxury of a raging turner very often and I'd wager Rehan just doesn't get the overs he'd really need to develop as a leg spinner (one of the hardest and most unforgiving crafts in the game). That's through a combination of missing games due to England/IPL as you say and the number of games we play on seaming decks where Holland may make hay but a spinner isn't going to get much of a look in.

This and English cricket has no patience for leg spinners and letting them develop. It takes years to master it and because of how difficult it is, you will give up boundary balls more often than other bowling styles.
 

Ahmed’s not the new Shane Warne…but he’s still younger now than Warne was on his test debut and he was a freak (for want of a better word). There’s plenty to come from Rehan.

[SemperEadem]

Membership details are out

[MaidstoneFox]

There's a good interview with Ben Cox, in The Cricketer, giving his side of the story. Doesn't feel like he's been treated well.

 

Ben Cox has kept his counsel through recent weeks, since it became clear that he'd be leaving Leicestershire at the end of the season.

He has refrained from posting publicly on his Instagram account, and perhaps it was noteworthy that – unlike in the cases of Ben Mike and Sam Wood, both of whom have also moved on from Grace Road – there was no quote attributed to the wicketkeeper in the club's official statement announcing his exit.

But uncomfortable with the speculation and counter-rumour, he is keen to set the record straight on the nature of his departure, which he insists was never instigated by him. Rather, he says, no proposal was ever presented to him.

"I'm in a position where all these comments were kicking off," he tells The Cricketer. "Some know the truth, but others are saying that I turned down a contract and am chasing money. I've had to bite my lip at times, but I want to tell the supporters the truth, that I haven't been offered a contract.

"When people say that I'm after more money and am chasing a big contract, I can't turn down a situation where a contract hasn't been offered. I was never offered a deal by Leicestershire at any stage.

"I offered myself twice to (director of cricket) Claude Henderson on a pay cut. I said, 'Make me an offer, take payment off me, cut me. Let's see if I'll accept it.' But he dismissed it on the spot."

Over the course of three appraisals – the standard for players in the final year of their contract – he explains how his prospects of a renewal slipped away. Appraisals are accompanied by a ranking letter, as guidance for the likelihood of an extension. Cox, who enjoyed one of the best seasons of his career behind the stumps and with the bat, drifted from a B (likely) to a C (uncertain), before being presented with a D (unlikely), which all but confirmed his release.

A Leicestershire CCC spokesperson told The Cricketer: "Players and club values confidential appraisal for feedback and honest conversation. We believe in a professional approach to confidential meetings that will not breach trust by going into details."

"It has always been non-committal," says Cox. "The writing has been on the wall for a little while. Over time, you gain acceptance of it, and you're not going to be able to change it. The only thing that you're in control of is your performance on the field, and trying to prove them wrong. I feel like I have done, constantly. The week before the Hampshire game, I was basically sacked. But they wanted me to play the last two games to try and keep us up. Then, I got 75 not out to win the game."

For much of the One Day Cup final, two days later, the county's vocal supporters chanted for the club to "sign him up".

He played 12 County Championship games as Leicestershire fought, ultimately in vain, to remain in the top flight, only missing two matches because of a concussion sustained when the follow-through from Haseeb Hameed's pull shot clocked the back of his head.

Only Rishi Patel, who was ever-present but is leaving for Hampshire, scored more Division One runs than Cox, who averaged 42.82 with the bat. His own, self-critical data reckons that he has never kept wicket better than this year. "I finished on 94.83 per cent (in terms of chance completion); I didn't drop a catch in red-ball cricket."

That form has made this one of the circuit's more eye-catching winter releases, amid an assumption that the 34-year-old must have something lined up elsewhere. He was linked early in the season with a move to Warwickshire, but that has so far been no more than gossip. While there have been phone calls to his agent, as well as "players asking me what is going on", he heads into the off-season without a club, and with no guarantees of a move elsewhere.

He has found people's surprise and support "comforting" but the situation no less frustrating, having never been unemployed before. He spent 14 years at Worcestershire, debuting while still at school, before moving to Grace Road, having long been established as one of the circuit's most accomplished glovemen. Unlike in the case of most modern wicketkeepers, any doubts have been about his batting, not his hands.

"I am going to stay fit, even if I don't get a club over the winter," he says. "I'd stay a free agent until March or April, and then if someone's finger goes in April, I'd be available. Hopefully, something falls into place before that time. If not, I'll go into the season. I haven't got that far with it yet, but even if nothing comes up immediately, I'll be ready and available for anything that comes up or an emergency contract.

"I would never be someone to say that I want to play until 40 and then cling on for dear life. The opportunity has to be right, but fitness-wise – if anyone walks into the gym at Leicester, with all the fitness markers – you will see me in the top few of everything. My Whoop (watch) tells me I'm 29."

Whether a decision had already been taken on his future, he believes that his relationship with Alfonso Thomas, the head coach, deteriorated at the outset of the T20 Blast.

Cox made 51 not out, in 32 balls, in an opening defeat by Worcestershire and says that after the game was "given the full hairdryer". Publicly, in a post-match interview with BBC Sport Leicester, Thomas criticised his approach to the innings and admitted that "at one stage I was going to get him to retire". Leicestershire had finished on 170 for 4, chasing 189, having been reduced to 32 for 3 in the sixth over. Nick Kelly, the New Zealand batter, was also unbeaten, on 61 from 42 balls.

He remained a key player in the county's Blast side, though. Only overseas players Kelly and Ashton Turner scored more runs, and Cox didn't miss a game in the competition, nor in the One Day Cup.

When the end of the season came, he was named as the men's supporters' player of the year, and the release confirming his exit included quotes from Henderson, praising "his experience and professionalism… while his performances with both the bat and the gloves have played their part in some special moments for the club".

Among those was his half century against Hampshire, which relegated their opponents and kept alive Leicestershire's hopes of a great escape, once penalised by the regulator for the club's pitch against Glamorgan a month earlier. A reprieve remains possible, of course, pending an appeal.

Cox hit the winning runs and celebrated with a clenched fist, followed by a punch of the air. For, however disappointed he has been by the manner of his departure, his passion for the club he joined in 2023 remains undimmed.

"The points were a hard pill to swallow," he says, "and in the final against Middlesex, it felt like we did everything apart from chase it. We spent the whole year scrapping for our lives to stay up, and then a lot happened in the last month."

[Walshy5]

Alfonso is a GIMP!

[Officer Doofy]

Wow, that reads absolutely terribly for the club. 

 

 

An utter disgrace to be honest. 

 

 

 

[Bert]

2 hours ago, SemperEadem said:

Membership details are out

Under 16’s free. Think that’s brilliant. 

[SemperEadem]

27 minutes ago, Bert said:

Under 16’s free. Think that’s brilliant. 

Yeah fantastic that.

[leicesterisme]

 So he went to them offering to take a pay cut and they still wouldn't even have a conversation with our best player. 

 

Remarkable really, absolute morons. 

[Bert]

I’m glad he’s got his story out properly. 

[TamuffFox]

3 minutes ago, Bert said:

I’m glad he’s got his story out properly. 

I remember you calling this correctly weeks ago...

[SemperEadem]

12 minutes ago, leicesterisme said:

 So he went to them offering to take a pay cut and they still wouldn't even have a conversation with our best player. 

 

Remarkable really, absolute morons. 

Terrible on the face of it.

[MaidstoneFox]

29 minutes ago, Bert said:

I’m glad he’s got his story out properly. 

Hate that he keeps having to justify his performances and was made to feel worthless through this appraisal system.

[HaroldBazBo]

An appraisal system which is obviously a load of rubbish.

[TamuffFox]

Thomas and Henderson out!!

[Beagle]

We need to demand answers from the Club. They have no choice than to explain themselves.