Thomas Proud of Foxes Fight After Hard-Earned Draw

Leicestershire Head Coach Alfonso Thomas praised the character and fight shown by his side after the Foxes battled their way to a hard-earned draw.

With the visitors facing the prospect of following on, Leicestershire dug deep to keep themselves in the contest, with Josh Hull producing a superb and unexpected contribution with the bat to help steer his side to safety.

Hull's determined innings ultimately proved crucial as the Foxes avoided the follow-on before ensuring they came away with a draw, and Thomas believes the performance demonstrated the qualities within his squad.

“We were close to being asked to follow on but we dragged it round,” Thomas said.

“Hully yesterday was inspirational in the way he played but it wasn’t luck, he works really hard at his batting.

“I don’t think anyone thought it would be Josh Hull saving the game with the bat. It was a shame he fell a few runs short but he did a fantastic job for the team and it was great that we were able to reward his efforts by avoiding the follow-on and coming out with a draw.

“We showed what this team is all about, all about the courage and the fight and it is that kind of approach we need to take into the next couple of weeks.”

The Foxes had earlier enjoyed a promising start with the ball, putting their opponents under pressure before Jack Haynes and Liam Patterson-White helped turn the innings around on their way to a total of 450.

Thomas felt his bowlers had performed well despite the eventual total and was encouraged by another competitive showing from his side.

“We had them under pressure in the first innings but Haynes and Patterson-White batted really well to get them to 450 after I thought we’d bowled really well,” he added.

The draw continues an encouraging run of performances for Leicestershire, who have shown their ability to compete with the leading sides in Division One as the County Championship season enters its decisive final weeks.

After a difficult opening to the campaign, during which injuries significantly stretched the squad, Thomas believes recent performances have provided further evidence of what his players are capable of.

“At the beginning of the season it was tough, with all the injuries we had. You wanted to start really well, but in recent games we’ve seen what we are capable of on the day and we can go toe to toe with the best teams in the country.

“That’s what we have shown here, playing with some great character and fight and we have some sore bodies now, which is a reflection of how hard we fought here.”

With every point increasingly valuable heading into the closing stages of the campaign, Thomas insists the Foxes' focus will remain firmly on maintaining their recent level of performance rather than becoming distracted by the Division One table.

“We can only look at the table at the end of the season but we’ve played some positive cricket over the last few weeks, from the Yorkshire game forward, and if we can keep putting in the performances like that I’m sure the table will look after itself and there will be a positive outcome for us.

“You can only take it day by day, session by session and not look too far ahead.”

For Leicestershire, the result represented another display of the resilience that has increasingly characterised their recent performances — and with the season reaching its defining stage, Thomas' side will look to carry that fight and momentum into the weeks ahead.