Spinners shine on second day

Date: Monday 06 April 2009

Leicestershire's spin duo of Jigar Naik and Carl Crowe shared five wickets as Notts' batsmen played nicely on the second and final day of the pre-season friendly at Grace Road.

Notts made 433-6 by the close, passing County's first day total of 368-5. However, the game was not about any result, just about getting a full day's batting and bowling and that was achieved as the weather remained dry all match.

Alex Hales was the batting star for the visitors, making an outstanding 144 before retiring. The youngster mixed aggression with patience as he compiled his excellent knock.

While it was hard work for the seamers, County's spinners thrived. Naik (3-91) bowled with lovely flight and took the first three wickets to fall, having Paul Franks caught in the slips brilliantly by Jim Allenby and trapping Greg Wood (59) and Samit Patel lbw.

Crowe was introduced into the game in the afternoon session, along with Alex Wyatt and Neil Saker. They all had a decent bowl alongside the named side which included AJ Harris, Harry Gurney, Wayne White, Allenby and Naik.

Like fellow off-spinner Naik, Crowe (2-40) flourished on a wicket suited to his subtle variations. He had Akhil Patel - brother of Samit - caught by Allenby at slip, before clean bowling Liam Andrews.

Saker claimed the wicket of old Surrey team-mate Ali Brown for a hard-hit 97. The aggressive batsman found the boundary on numerous occasions before nicking off to Tom New, who had taken over from Paul Nixon for the evening session of play.

So, all-in-all, it was a good workout for both sides as the season draws ever-closer. County's next game is a 50-over friendly against Worcestershire at Grace Road on Wednesday (11am).