Double delight for Leicestershire - a first Championship win and three England call-ups
Wednesday, 11th July 2007
LEICESTERSHIRE today received two excellent pieces of news to lift spirits after the disappointment of the Twenty20 Cup campaign.
Within 45 minutes of them wrapping up their first LV County Championship win of the season, three of their players had been named in the provisional 30-man squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in September.
It meant a double celebration for Paul Nixon, who led the side to victory in his first Championship match in charge and then found out that he was part of that initial England squad for the tournament in South Africa.
As expected, Stuart Broad is in the squad after his recent success in the One Day International series against the West Indies, while Club Captain Jeremy Snape was also named in a 30-man party that contained former Leicestershire players Luke Wright and Darren Maddy.
Prior to that announcement, Leicestershire’s openers Tom New and Arno Jacobs had taken 25 balls and 15 minutes to wrap up the emphatic 10-wicket victory over bottom-of-the-table Glamorgan at Grace Road.
They had required a further 17 runs for victory after just failing in their attempt to seal the win inside three days.
Left handers New and Jacobs had little difficulty in accumulating the required runs despite the gloomy conditions, and it was Jacobs who cut the winning boundary off Alex Wharf at the start of the fifth over of the day.
Senior Coach Tim Boon was delighted with the outcome of Nixon’s first game in charge and indeed the news that followed.
“Nico is a winner and a great role model. I was confident the players would respond to the energy and enthusiasm that he gives to others, and that was certainly the case,” said Boon.
“We had three guys who made hundreds in our first innings and our two frontline bowlers both produced impressive match hauls, so it has been a most satisfying performance for us all round.
“There was a lot of frustration at the way we went out of the Twenty20 Cup due to circumstances beyond our control, but I am very optimistic that we can have an excellent second half of the season.
“Not only does this improve our Championship position, it sets us up well for the start of the NatWest Pro40.”
He added of the England call-ups: “I am especially delighted for Jeremy because the statistics show that he has been one of the most effective performers in this short form of the game.
“We all know Stuart is destined for great things in the game, but what a story it is for Nico. He is 36 years old, but he is still one of the fittest guys in the game and he is in the best form of his life.”
England squad: James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Glen Chapple, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Andrew Flintoff, James Kirtley, Jon Lewis, Mal Loye, Darren Maddy, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Paul Nixon, Monty Panesar, Mark Pettini, Kevin Pietersen, Liam Plunkett, Matthew Prior, Chris Schofield, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Jeremy Snape, Vikram Solanki, Chris Tremlett, Marcus Trescothick, Jonathan Trott, Luke Wright, Michael Yardy.
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