2009 Season Review - August - Part Three

Date: Monday 15 February 2010

August was a busy and eventful month for Leicestershire CCC. Here is the last of a three-part take on the month.

Following that Championship win against Gloucestershire, it was important that Leicestershire took the momentum into the game against Lancashire.

They certainly did that throughout an excellent performance against the Lightning - the first Pro40 victory of the season and a well-deserved one.

It showed what the side is capable of in the one-day arena – just like the previous win against Lightning in Twenty20 at Liverpool.

Benning and New both shone with the bat before the bowlers put the squeeze on the visitors, with Naik again impressing with a career-best 3-21.

Nathan Buck also impressed with the ball, taking two wickets in a pacy spell early on which saw the youngster claim the huge wicket of VVS Laxman.

It was quite a month for Buck, who broke into the team and had Mark Ramprakash as his first Championship wicket. Adding Laxman as your first List A wicket is good going too!

As part of the afternoon’s entertainment, HD Ackerman bode an emotional farewell. The prolific batsman decided to step down from the Championship team to allow Josh Cobb to come into the side, and he was presented with a number of awards during the interval.

Ackerman left behind a great legacy at the club, including making Leicestershire’s highest individual score of 309*. He has also helped the development of the young batsmen, who have been appreciative of his help.

The final game of August saw a draw at Essex which included another fantastic rearguard and another fine moment in the career of young Taylor, who passed 1,000 Championship runs for the season during the game.

He made a fine unbeaten ton in the first innings, which held things together after Essex had piled on the runs in their dig.

Matthew Boyce had started the good work with 70, but despite the good work from the duo, the team had to follow-on thanks to eight wickets from Danish Kaneria.

With the pitch wearing and Kaneria a world-class act, Essex must have been confident of winning to spearhead their hopes of getting out of Division Two.

However, Taylor shared a crucial stand of defiance with captain Dippenaar, who made an unbeaten century in batting through a tricky period on the third evening and throughout the final day.

Taylor also made 62 in that innings, and the 29th run he registered made him the youngest batsman in Leicestershire history to make 1,000 Championship runs.

Both Dippenaar and Taylor played superbly to negate the threat of Kaneria.

It was another milestone in an outstanding season for Taylor – and he wasn’t finished there as the season entered September.

Running totals: Championship: Championship: P13 W2 D9 L2

FPT: P8 W2 L4 A2

T20: P10 W5 L5

Pro40: P5 W1 L3 A1

Player of the month: Nathan Buck