Leicestershire 326 for 8 (Patel 87, Travascus 82*, Handscomb 51) Vs. Sussex

After losing the toss, Leicestershire will be more than satisfied with the position of the match after posting 326 for eight on day one of their Division Two match against Sussex in the Vitality County Championship.

Sussex had the home side 63 for three on a green pitch in the morning session but were unable to press home their advantage.

They used eight different bowlers, although not their England paceman Ollie Robinson, who is being rested for this round. Fine Hudson-Prentice (three for 50) was the pick of them.

Patel, who scored 1,075 Championship runs last summer, could be considered unlucky not to get a call-up to the England Lions for the tour of India earlier this year. The right-hander is a joy to watch, a beautiful shot-maker but with an aggressive mindset, just the sort of quality to develop in a senior England set-up.

On a pitch that wasn’t offering as much to the bowlers as Sussex had anticipated when opting to bowl first, he wasted little time in making his presence felt, hitting seven boundaries in the opening 10 overs against the new Kookaburras. Putting on as he and Marcus Harris put on 59 off 61 balls before Sussex got their first win.

His own half-century, which he completed with a six over long-on off the medium-pacer Tom Haines, came from 59 balls. In another burst of boundaries as he and fellow Leicestershire Australian Peter Handscomb put on 78 for the fourth wicket, he greeted left-arm spinner James Coles with a second six down the ground.

Patel converted half of his fifties into centuries last season and will no doubt feel he should have counted for more. He fell five overs after lunch when, frustrated by a tidy overs sequence, he was tempted by a short ball from Danny Lamb and gave a relatively easy leg-side catch to John Simpson behind the stumps.

Sussex’s three morning successes with the ball came in a cluster. Ari Karvelas, for Robinson, found Harris far enough off the pitch to make a backhand catch. After two overs, Finn Hudson-Prentice marked his entry into the attack by taking wickets on his second and third deliveries, bringing one back and removing Lewis Kimber off-stump and then Lewis Hill on a similar delivery. Bold which was less visible.

Patel’s demise gave birth to Travascus for their first innings. The left-handed all-rounder moved to Grace Road in the winter in search of more game time at Red Ball after opportunities with Durham ran out, so he has something to prove.

In this context he made a good first impression, providing solid support to Handscomb in a stand that added 65 runs for the fifth wicket, and helping Ben Cox rebuild when Australian off-spinner Jack Carson was bowled by , was killed in an attempt to slog in flight. – broom.

Travascus helped the latter to another 49 with Cox, driving majestically, down into his stumps, and 43 with Ben Mike, who was on a crucial edge after taking the second new ball. Caught and bowled. Tom Scriven was well caught at midwicket as Hudson-Prentice took his third wicket in the final four overs of the day.

Cox’s demise provided a wicket for Tom Clarke, the opening batsman, who had not bowled his medium pace since September 2022 due to injury.

Without Rehan Ahmed in the match – the leg-spinning all-rounder is understood to be on a pilgrimage to Mecca – and fast bowler Chris Wright missing again due to personal reasons, Leicestershire will be hoping that left-arm spinner Trevasques will also be able to prove their importance. the ball.