MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire v Leicestershire
Lancashire have started 2025 with a pair of draws, most recently against Northamptonshire at Emirates Old Trafford across the weekend just gone, while Leicestershire have started with a win and a draw and sit top of Division Two.
Lancashire v Leicestershire
Rothesay County Championship, Division Two
Friday April 18 - Monday April 21, 2025, 11am
Emirates Old Trafford
As the Red Rose were locked in a stalemate against Middlesex at Lord’s during the opening round, the Foxes beat Glamorgan by 10 wickets at Sophia Gardens.
Last week, they were involved in a high-scoring draw against Derbyshire at Grace Road.
They sit top of the table on 39 points, one clear of second-placed Kent. Derbyshire are third on 36 and Lancashire fourth on 23.
It’s an obvious statement to suggest that Lancashire would have loved two wins from two at this stage to really put the wheels in motion on their promotion campaign, but draws are by no means disastrous at this stage.
You only have to look across the Pennines to know that.
Last season, Yorkshire were promoted having not won a game in their first seven. They lost two and drew five before winning five of their last seven to claim second place behind Sussex.
This is Lancashire’s last fixture in the opening three-week block. They have a week off after this.
Opposition
Early pace-setters Leicestershire finished fifth in Division Two last season and were on the fringes of the promotion race until a couple of rounds from the end of the campaign.
Former Somerset seamer Alfonso Thomas is in his second full season as coach with the club, who are captained by Australian overseas batter Peter Handscomb. He has taken over the leadership from wicketkeeper-batter Lewis Hill.
Handscomb is joined on the overseas front by Netherlands seamer Logan van Beek for the start of the season. Pakistan captain Shan Masood will play some Championship cricket for them later in the campaign.
Handscomb, in his third season with the club, was their leading Championship run-scorer last season with 894, while tall pacer Scott Currie led the way with 29 wickets.
Currie has not returned to Grace Road having been on loan from Hampshire. Van Beek enjoyed an excellent debut against Derbyshire last week, contributing wickets and runs down the order.
The Foxes had two talented youngsters we know plenty about in Rehan Ahmed and Josh Hull, both whom have played for England recently. But they are excited about another up and coming seamer in Alex Green, who only made his first-team debut last season.
Green, 18, is a tall fast bowler who toured South Africa with the England Under 19s in the winter. Green is yet to play in the Championship this season.
Opposition player to watch
England all-rounder Rehan Ahmed’s influence on Leicestershire’s encouraging start has not quite been as you may have expected it to be.
The 20-year-old is more widely recognised as a leg-spinner who bats with a swagger in the lower middle order. In their draw with Derbyshire, however, he opened the batting and hit a second-innings 77 off only 59 balls.
Ahmed doesn’t die wondering with the bat, fitting in with England’s modus operandi. He has played 21 times for them across all formats since debuting in late 2022, including five Test Match appearances.
Ahmed’s influence with the ball - as you would perhaps expect early season in England - has not been significant across the opening fortnight of the summer.
Previous meeting
Lancashire and Leicestershire have not met in the Rothesay County Championship since the end of the 2019, a season which saw the Red Rose gain promotion before Covid hit.
The two teams drew both fixtures that summer, the latest of them coming at the Uptonsteel County Ground, Grace Road at the end of September.
That was a rain-affected clash, with no play on day two.
Richard Gleeson took a stunning 6-43 in the first innings as the Foxes were bowled out for 155 before the visitors failed to stamp their authority on the fixture, bowled out for 170 in reply. Steven Croft top-scored with a middle order 44.
Leicestershire then ended the fixture on 191-3, with Gleeson striking three more times.
He finished with match figures of 9-100.
What they said
Hundred hero Josh Bohannon is hoping Lancashire can use their determined final-day batting performance against Northamptonshire on Monday as a springboard to really get their promotion push up and running.
Lancashire were made to follow-on by the Wantage Road side having conceded a first-innings lead of 268 in reply to the visitors’ 496 all out.
The Red Rose started day two on 126-2 from 57 overs and finished on 351-9 from 149, sealing a 10-point haul which leaves them fourth in the embryonic Division Two table on 23 points, 16 behind the table-topping Foxes.
Bohannon was brilliant in the second innings, leading the defiance with 155 off 342 balls. It was a team batting performance which he described as full of “Lancashire grit” following a disappointing first innings.
“We are two games in, and we don’t want to overthink it,” said the vice-captain.
“We did a lot of good stuff on Monday, and we want to use that as positive moving forwards.
“A lot of our stuff has been really good. I thought we were unlucky at Middlesex. We played four really good days of cricket and came out with draw.
“We just need to make sure we’re a bit more switched on as a batting unit in our first innings. And little moments. When we’re on top of teams, like we were against Middlesex with the ball, can we drill that home?
“If we can just be a bit more switched on in those little moments, it will stand us in good stead and the results will take care of itself.”
How’s Stat!
Since the split to two divisions in the County Championship in 2000, Lancashire have only lost two of 16 meetings with the Foxes, winning nine of those.
The last of those victories came at Emirates Old Trafford in mid-2015 - an innings and 157-run success. Ashwell Prince scored a century and Kyle Jarvis claimed eight wickets in the match.
Tom Bailey is the only current Lancashire player who played in that game.
Bailey, meanwhile, needs eight more wickets to reach 400 in his first-class career.