Jeff Thomas looks at the numbers driving Leicestershire’s remarkable transformation from Division Two strugglers to promotion front-runners.
In 2022, Leicestershire endured a humiliating County Championship season, failing to record a single victory as they languished 35 points adrift at the foot of Division Two. Mid-table finishes in 2023 and 2024 hinted at progress but going into the new campaign they had still won just four matches in three-years. This term, it has taken the resurgent Foxes just seven weeks and six matches to equal that haul.
When analysing Leicestershire’s early season success, one thing that immediately leaps out is the increased number of first innings runs scored. So far this year, Leicestershire are averaging 374 runs in their first innings, significantly higher than the 316 they managed last year or the 276 in 2023. They have also already posted three first innings totals in excess of 400 – the same amount achieved in the whole of last year.
However, if we delve a little deeper, despite this upturn, bottom side Northants are curiously the only county with a statistically worse top order than Leicestershire this season. In a joint-division low, both sides have only one batter (who’s played more than once) averaging above 41 – for Leicestershire, captain Peter Handscomb (54.00) is the solitary man above that threshold. For context, Derbyshire have five players averaging over 46 and Gloucestershire four north of 54.
With just three, the Foxes have also recorded the joint-lowest number of centuries in the division (Gloucestershire top that metric with eight). So, if Leicestershire’s specialist batters aren’t delivering significant knocks, where are the runs coming from?
The answer is, quite literally, everywhere. Of the 12 players who have played three or more matches, every one of them currently averages above 22 and eight have amassed over 200 runs. So, while big scores at the top of the order have been rare, vital contributions are consistently being made from numbers 1 to 11. As a result, first innings leads have been recorded in all six fixtures – something that happened just three times last year.
This ethos of collective responsibility has also been carried through to the bowling group where Leicestershire have undoubtedly made their biggest gains. Taking 20 wickets had been a huge struggle for the Foxes – last year they managed it just once all season, and only three times in 2023. This time around, they have bowled the opposition out twice in four of the six games played.
Ian Holland has rightly received the plaudits for his stellar start to the season (27 wickets at 15.44 before the start of the current game), but what really sets Leicestershire apart from their rivals is the depth of their attack. No other side in the County Championship (including Division One) can boast four seamers with 15 or more wickets. Alongside Holland, Ben Green (21), Logan Van Beek (19), and Tom Scriven (15) have all reached that mark. When you consider Ben Mike and Josh Hull have 18 wickets between them from their three appearances each, it’s clear Leicestershire’s five-pronged pace strategy is delivering in spades.
Holland’s early breakthroughs and metronomic accuracy (52 maidens – the most in Division Two) have undeniably set the tone first-up but wickets and, perhaps more importantly, overs have been shared relatively equally. As a result, no single bowler is bearing the brunt of a day’s workload, fatigue is reduced, and relentless pressure maintained throughout an entire innings.
In seam-friendly conditions, while other teams have been forced to turn to spin or part-timers, Leicestershire’s third, fourth and fifth pacemen have ensured there has been no let up. In six games, England leggie Rehan Ahmed has only been required to bowl 47.1 overs.
Last week, after their first red-ball win at Lord’s for 45 years, skipper Handscomb reflected, “With the bowling attack, everyone’s chipping in and doing their jobs and if they’re not picking up the wickets, they’re still doing the hard work for the bloke up the other end.”
While plenty of that hard work still lies ahead for the Foxes, it’s perhaps worth noting that in the past two years Worcestershire and Yorkshire were promoted having won five games. With a 30-point cushion at the top of the table and four wins already under their belt, for Leicestershire, the numbers are currently looking very good...
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