County Championship Preview: Leicestershire v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset travel to Uptonsteel Grace Road to take on Leicestershire in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Tuesday September 8th).
Tickets for this match are still available:
Somerset are currently top of the Division One table with 167 points from 11 matches, whilst Leicestershire are ninth with 113 points from the same number of fixtures.
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 10:30am to 12:30pm
Afternoon session: 1:10pm to 3:10pm
Evening session: 3:30pm to 5:30pm
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date using the dedicated Match Centre on this website which will feature a live stream of the action courtesy of Leicestershire CCC.
In-play updates will also appear on our X feed (formerly Twitter).
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Captain: Ian Holland
Head coach: Alfonso Thomas
2025 finish: 1st (in Division Two, promoted)
2026 leading run-scorer: Rishi Patel (682)
2026 leading wicket-taker: Ben Green (30)
TEAM NEWS
Somerset are without Tom Kohler-Cadmore (thumb), Alfie Ogborne (back), Thomas Rew (ankle) and Fin Hill (hamstring).
The starting XI will be selected from the following squad:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
Ahead of the match, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “The mood in the camp is really positive after a comprehensive team performance against Glamorgan. I think all facets throughout the three days were very good. It was probably our most complete performance this year.
“Leicestershire are a good side. They had an incredible year last year, and they’ve played some incredibly competitive cricket in Division One this year. They’ve got the 50-over final to look forward to, so there’s be a lot of good things happening within their club.
“As always, we’ll be looking to control what we can control. We’ll assess the conditions when we get to Leicester and look at the opportunities that that presents.
“The end of the season is still a long way off and there’s a lot of points available to all teams. The only thing that matters right now is how we prepare today and how we start tomorrow’s game.”
CLASSIC MATCH
We go back to 1983 for the classic County Championship match between the two sides at Grace Road.
It was a match which saw Viv Richards and Ian Botham excel as Somerset won by an innings and 71 runs.
Leicestershire Captain, Roger Tolchard won the toss and elected to bat first.
Chris Balderstone made a half century and there were important contributions from Brian Davison (45) and David Gower (41), but Botham claimed five for 38 as the hosts were dismissed for just 180.
Richards (216) and Botham (152) then put the Leicestershire attack to the sword as the visitors posted a total of 528 in their first innings.
Gower (73) again impressed in the host’s second innings, but Leicestershire were bowled out for 277 thanks to a five-wicket haul from Vic Marks.
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Leicestershire CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset’s next match is in the Rothesay County Championship Division One when we take on Yorkshire at Headingley.
Day one of this four-day match is Tuesday September 15th.
