Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of eighteen first-class county clubs within the domestic cricket structure of England and Wales. It represents the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland. The club's limited overs team is called the Leicestershire Foxes. Founded in 1879, the club had minor county status until 1894, when it was promoted to first-class status pending its entry into the County Championship in 1895. Since then, Leicestershire have played in every top-level domestic cricket competition in England. The club is based at Grace Road in Leicester, known as The Uptonsteel County Ground for sponsorship reasons, and has also played home games at Aylestone Road in Leicester, at Hinckley, Loughborough, Melton Mowbray, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville and most recently Kibworth inside the traditional county boundaries of Leicestershire, and at Oakham, in Rutland. In limited overs cricket, the kit colours are red shirt with green trousers in the One Day Cup and green shirt and green trousers in the T20 Blast. The shirt sponsors in the 2024 season were UptonSteel. Leicestershire are in the first division of the County Championship and in the north group of the T20 Blast. Recent best performances in one day cricket include winning the T20 Cup three times in eight years between 2004–11, and the One Day Cup in 2023. In first class cricket, Leicestershire won the 2025 second division title in the County Championship. Honours First XI honours County Championship (3) – 1975, 1996, 1998 Runners-up (2) – 1982, 1994 Sunday/National League (2) – 1974, 1977 Runners-up: 1972, 2001 Gillette Cup/NatWest/C&G Trophy/Friends Provident Trophy Runners-up: 1992, 2001 Twenty20 Cup/Friends Life t20 (3) – 2004, 2006, 2011 One-Day Cup (1) – 2023 Benson & Hedges Cup (3) – 1972, 1975, 1985 Runners-up: 1974, 1998 Second XI honours Second XI Championship (2) – 1983, 2014 Runners-up: 1961, 1975 Second XI Trophy (5) – 1993, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2014 Second XI Twenty20 Cup (1) – 2014 Minor Counties Championship (1) – 1931 Under-25 Competition(2) – 1975, 1985 + 1 Bain Hogg Trophy – second XI one-day competition – 1996 History Earliest cricket Cricket may not have reached Leicestershire until well into the 18th century. A notice in the Leicester Journal dated 17 August 1776 is the earliest known mention of cricket in the county. Soon afterwards, a Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket Club was taking part in important matches, mainly against Nottingham Cricket Club and Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC). This club was prominent from 1781 until the beginning of the 19th century. 19th century Little more is heard of Leicestershire cricket until the formation of the present club on 25 March 1879. Essex CCC versus Leicestershire CCC at Leyton on 14, 15 & 16 May 1894 was the first first-class match for both clubs. In 1895, the County Championship was restructured into a 14-team competition with the introduction of Essex, Leicestershire and Warwickshire CCC. Early and mid-20th century Leicestershire's first 70 years were largely spent in lower table mediocrity, with few notable exceptions. In 1953, the motivation of secretary-captain Charles Palmer lifted the side fleetingly to third place, but most of the rest of the 1950s was spent propping up the table, or thereabouts. Start of improvement: The late 1950s and the 1960s Change came in the late 1950s with the recruitment of Willie Watson at the end of his career with England and Yorkshire. Watson's run gathering sparked the home-grown Maurice Hallam into becoming one of England's best opening batsmen. In bowling, Leicestershire had an erratically successful group of seamers in Terry Spencer, Brian Boshier, John Cotton and Jack van Geloven, plus the spin of John Savage. Another change was in the captaincy: Tony Lock, the former England and Surrey spinner who had galvanised Western Australia. The 1970s and the first golden era Ray Illingworth, again from Yorkshire, instilled self-belief to the extent that the county took its first ever trophy in 1972, the Benson & Hedges Cup with Chris Balderstone man of the match. This was start of the first golden era as the first of five trophies in five years and included Leicestershire's first ever County Championship title in 1975. A couple of runners up spots were also thrown in. The game when Leicestershire won their first ever County Championship, on 15 September 1975, marked something of a personal triumph for Chris Balderstone. Batting on 51 not out against Derbyshire at Chesterfield, after close of play he changed into his football kit to play for Doncaster Rovers in an evening match 30 miles away (a 1–1 draw with Brentford). Thus he is the only player to have played League Football and first-class cricket on the same day. He then returned to Chesterfield to complete a century the following morning and take three wickets to wrap up the title. To add to that season's success for Leicestershire was a second Benson & Hedges victory. The 1980s A runners-up spot in the 1982 County Championship brought some respectability, but the decade's only silverware was in the 1985 Benson & Hedges Cup with Balderstone still on board making him the most successful trophy winner in the club's history with six. Success in the late 1990s Leicestershire won the county championship in 1996, and again in 1998, despite their minimal resources compared to other county teams. This Leicestershire side, led by Jack Birkenshaw and James Whitaker, used team spirit and togetherness to get the best out of a group of players who were either discarded from other counties or brought through the Leicestershire ranks. This team did not have many stars, but Aftab Habib, Darren Maddy, Vince Wells, Jimmy Ormond, Alan Mullally and Chris Lewis all had chances for England. West Indian all-rounder Phil Simmons was also named as one of Wisden's Cricketers of the year in 1997 while playing for the club. 2000 and beyond: Twenty20 success and four-day struggles The advent of Twenty20 cricket saw Leicestershire find a new source of success, winning the domestic T20 competition in 2004, 2006 and 2011. However, in the era of two-division County Championship cricket during the 2000s, they were perenially unsuccessful. Leicestershire spent 22 consecutive years in the second division between 2004 and 2025, winning regular "wooden spoons"; and in 2013 and 2014 they finished without a single Championship win, the first team to achieve this unwanted feat in back to back seasons since Northamptonshire just before World War II. In 2023 they won their first trophy for 12 years, beating Hampshire at Trent Bridge to win the One Day Cup. In 2025, Leicestershire won Division Two for the first time, finally gaining promotion back into the top tier of the competition for 2026. Grounds Current Grace Road, Leicester (1877 – present) Oakham School, Oakham (2000 – present) Kibworth CC (2023–present) Previous Bath Grounds, Ashby-de-la-Zouch (1912–1964) Kirkby Road, Barwell (1946–1947) Fox and Goose Ground, Coalville (1913–1914) Town Ground, Coalville (1950) Snibston Colliery Ground, Coalville (1957–1982) Ashby Road, Hinckley (1911–1937) Coventry Road, Hinckley (1951–1964) Leicester Road, Hinckley (1981–1991) Aylestone Road, Leicester (1901–1962) Brush Ground, Loughborough (1953–1965) College Ground, Loughborough (1928–1929) Park Road, Loughborough (1913–1970) Egerton Park, Melton Mowbray (1946–1948) Players Current squad No. denotes the player's squad number, as worn on the back of their shirt. ‡ denotes players with international caps. * denotes a player who has been awarded a county cap. Former captains International players Records Most first-team winners medals for Leicestershire J. C. Balderstone – 6 Batting Highest team total: 756-4d v. Sussex, Hove, 2022 Highest home team total: 638-8d v. Worcestershire, Grace Road, 1996 Lowest team total: 25 v. Kent, Leicester, 1912 Highest total against: 761-6d by Essex, Chelmsford, 1990 Lowest total against: 24 by Glamorgan, Leicester, 1971 Highest individual score: 309* by HD Ackerman v. Glamorgan, Sophia Gardens, 2006. Highest home individual score: 262 by Brad Hodge v. Durham, Grace Road, 2004 Highest partnership: 477* by C. N. Ackermann and P. W. A. Mulder v. Sussex, Hove, 2022 Best partnership for each wicket (county championship) 1st – 390 B. Dudleston and J. F. Steele v. Derbyshire, Leicester, 1979 2nd – 320 Hassan Azad and N. J. Dexter v. Gloucestershire, Leicester, 2019 3rd – 316* W. Watson and A. Wharton v. Somerset, Taunton, 1961 4th – 290* P. Willey and T. J. Boon v. Warwickshire, Leicester, 1984 5th – 477* C. N. Ackermann and P. W. A. Mulder v. Sussex, Hove, 2022 6th – 284 P. V. Simmons and P. A. Nixon v. Durham, Chester-le-Street, 1996 7th – 219* J. D. R. Benson and P. Whitticase v. Hampshire, Bournemouth, 1991 8th – 239 L. P. J. Kimber and O. B. Cox v. Sussex, Hove, 2024 9th – 160 R. T. Crawford and W. W. Odell v. Worcestershire, Leicester, 1902 10th – 228 R. Illingworth and K. Higgs v. Northamptonshire, Leicester, 1977 Bowling Most first-class wickets in a season: 170 by Jack Walsh, 1948 Best bowling figures in an innings: 10–18 by George Geary v. Glamorgan, Ynysangharad Park, Pontypridd, 1929 Best bowling figures in a match: 16–96 by George Geary Fielding Most dismissals in an innings: 7 by Neil Burns v. Somerset, Grace Road, 2001 Most dismissals in a match: 10 by Percy Corrall v. Sussex, Hove, 1936 Sub Academy The Leicestershire Sub Academy is designed for young cricketers who have potential to play at the highest level. It is also called the EPP (Emerging Player Programme). Many players who are involved in this set up move on to the LCCC academy, where they will play matches against academies from other counties. References Further reading H S Altham, A History of Cricket, Volume 1 (to 1914), George Allen & Unwin, 1962 Derek Birley, A Social History of English Cricket, Aurum, 1999 Rowland Bowen, Cricket: A History of its Growth and Development, Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1970 Roy Webber, The Playfair Book of Cricket Records, Playfair Books, 1951 Playfair Cricket Annual – various editions Wisden Cricketers' Almanack – various editions External links Leicestershire County Cricket Club – Official Site Friends of Grace Road - Supporters' Group The Meet – Fan's Site CricInfo Page Archived 23 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine Cricket Archive Page Archived 24 June 2014 at the Wayback Machine BBC Sport Page