There was no thrilling finale on the field but Leicestershire could celebrate nonetheless after securing the draw with Gloucestershire that, in the event, ensured their promotion to Division One of the County Championship.
With two fixtures still to play, the result at the Uptonsteel County Ground combined with the draw between Middlesex and Derbyshire at Lord’s guarantees that Leicestershire will finish in the top two in Division Two and end a 22-year-exile from the top division.
Set 316 to win from a minimum of 74 overs when Gloucestershire, who felt their outside chance of a promotion required them to win here, declared four overs before lunch on 175-3 in their second innings, Leicestershire were 93-1 from 30.3 when the afternoon’s third interruption for rain proved heavy enough for the final day’s play to be abandoned at around 4.10pm.
It is a first promotion for Leicestershire since the County Championship adopted its current two-division format in 2000. Led for most of the season by Australian international Peter Handscomb – now back home preparing for his domestic season – Leicestershire have been the dominant side in Division Two all season after winning five of their first seven matches and suffering only one defeat.
They last played in Division One in 2003 and have since become almost perpetual stragglers, finishing bottom of Division Two on eight occasions. In four of those, the last as recently as 2022, they failed to register a single victory, famously going 37 matches over 933 days without a Championship win between September 2012 and June 2015.
Leicestershire, whose next target is to secure the points they need to guarantee they are crowned Division Two champions, went into the final day in the comfortable knowledge that while a victory would seal the deal in terms of confirming promotion, a draw might do it anyway depending on the result at Lord’s, or at worst leave them needing minimal gains from their final two fixtures.
Gloucestershire’s need for a win, therefore, put the onus on them to set up a finish, to which end they added 165 in 21 overs before declaring just before lunch.
Against a Leicestershire attack that was a man down because of Ben Mike’s ongoing hamstring problems, 21-year-old opener Joe Phillips further enhanced his growing reputation with an unbeaten 69 from 73 balls.
Ben Charlesworth cleared the midwicket boundary off Logan van Beek and landed back-to-back sixes off Ian Wright in his 56-ball 61 before a miscue to deep third man ended his charge. Ian Holland limited Ollie Price to just eight but Miles Hammond plundered another 28 from 26 before top-edging into off side, Holland veering away in his follow-through to be under the ball when it came down.
Gloucestershire asked Leicestershire to face four overs before lunch possibly more in hope than expectation. The wicket of Sol Budinger perhaps came as a bonus, the opener making no attempt to rein in his natural attacking instincts but perishing after just 13 deliveries, tempted by a wide ball from Ajeet Singh Dale and picking out the fielder at wide third man.
The visitors’ cause was not helped by showers after lunch, which eventually washed out 43.3 overs of the scheduled 74.
Yet there never seemed enough jeopardy in the fourth-day surface to make 10 wickets a realistic possibility. Rishi Patel finished unbeaten on 42 with acting captain Ian Holland on 27. Gloucestershire’s frustration was cushioned a little by taking 15 points for the draw, but the gap between themselves and second-placed Glamorgan remains at more than 30 points.
Leicestershire’s acting captain Ian Holland said:
“There’s a lot of emotion, excitement, relief in the dressing room. We’re savouring this moment to get promoted, but it’s not a full celebration just yet because now we want to win the trophy as champions.
“But, yeah, to be promoted is a great achievement for this club. It’s a credit to the people in the club that have turned it around over a period of time.
“This today isn’t just a six-month thing, it’s been a few years in the making, so credit to [director of cricket] Claude Henderson, to the coaching staff, to [outgoing chief executive] Sean Jarvis and the people in the office getting things right. The players have been able to go out and play the way we have this year because things are right. It’s a great feeling.”
Report supplied by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
