Leicestershire 2026 County Championship Full Season Preview
- 3 hours ago
- 4 min read
by Ronan Alexander & The Cricket Draft
With the cricket season fast approaching, now is the time to ensure you and your club are covered! Don’t risk the season with under insurance & outdated valuations; contact ASI, the specialist sports broker and PCA partner, to get your club or your own policy sorted before the first ball is bowled.
County Championship Values for 2026
Banker, Wildcard, Young Gun & England Watch
Banker: Rehan Ahmed (ALR) £7.6m
One of the most talented players on the county circuit, Ahmed will be itching for his opportunity in the top flight and looking to keep competing for England across all three formats. He had an excellent season in 2025, finishing with 760 runs and 23 wickets, offering high match involvement as Leicestershire’s key player. He will be the first name on their team sheet when not on international duty.
Wildcard: Tom Scriven (ALR) £6.1m
A cheaper option in 2025, valued at just £5.9m. He impressed when selected, featuring in eight matches last summer. He offers good match involvement as a seam-bowling all-rounder. Last year, he chipped in with 22 wickets while adding 236 runs. As someone who can go under the radar, his high involvement makes him an interesting player to keep an eye on.
Young Gun: Alex Green (BWL) £4.6m
Another towering seam bowler in Leicestershire’s ranks, Green has had a solid winter representing England Under-19s at the World Cup. He has featured in 10 List A matches and picked up 22 wickets with an impressive average of 21.95. He made his first-class debut in 2024 against Derbyshire but did not feature last year, so he will now be looking to force his way into the side.
England Watch: Josh Hull (BWL) £5.7m
Made his sole Test appearance in 2024 against Sri Lanka, picking up three wickets, and will be eager to get back into the side this summer if he impresses in Division One. He grabbed 19 wickets in nine appearances in 2025 and will be looking to make the step up to the top flight to show what he is capable of.
Potential Starting XI for GW 1
2025 Review
After building towards success over the past few seasons, 2025 was the year everything clicked for Leicestershire in red-ball cricket. They finished as Champions, ending the campaign a mammoth 48 points ahead of their closest rivals, Glamorgan. Leicestershire won seven of their 14 games, drawing six and losing only one in a dominant season.
Scoring heavily early at Grace Road was a common theme, with the average first-innings score reaching 403. Their batting depth was key to this success; all-rounders such as Logan van Beek and Tom Scriven occasionally slotted in as low as number 10. Rehan Ahmed was in fantastic form once again, while Lewis Hill topped the scoring charts with 917 runs. Hill will likely be looking for someone to break the 1,000-run mark this year to bolster their survival chances.
Impressively, 12 players averaged 30 or more with the bat last year, further showcasing that depth. On the bowling front, Ian Holland, Logan van Beek, and Ben Green all picked up more than 30 wickets each. They will be “up against it” in Division One in 2026, but they are certainly not a team to be taken lightly, as they possess excellent performers throughout the squad.
2025 Stat Attack
Ian Holland finished last season with the 11th-most total points, accumulating 2,039.
Lewis Hill scored 917 runs, the fourth-most for a wicketkeeper, although he did not always take the gloves for the Foxes.
Rehan Ahmed recorded the 12th-most runs for an all-rounder and the third-highest points per game in that same category.
Ian Holland also claimed the seventh-most wickets among all-rounders.
Among all-rounders valued at less than £6.0m, Ben Green took the most wickets with 33.
In that same budget category, Tom Scriven took the fourth-most wickets with 22.
For all-rounders priced under £6.0m, Liam Trevaskis had the fourth-highest points per game at 143.
Ben Green ranked fifth in the budget category with 131.85 points per game.
Tom Scriven ranked seventh in the same group with 115.75 points per game.
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Player Ins & Outs
Leicestershire have been busy with recruitment during the winter. Ben Green, who was fantastic on loan from Somerset, has now signed for the Foxes on a permanent basis alongside fellow Somerset teammate and Scottish international Josh Davey. Stephen Eskinazi joins from Middlesex and Jonny Tattersall arrives from Yorkshire; notably, all four players spent time at the club last season.
Going the other way, Chris Wright and Harry Swindells have retired, while seam-bowling duo Roman Walker and Matt Salisbury have been released. Additionally, Louis Kimber has departed for Northants and Dutch seamer Logan van Beek has signed for Yorkshire.
On the overseas front, Peter Handscomb returns to compete in all three formats, while Ashton Turner has signed for the Vitality Blast. Although Keshav Maharaj was initially brought in, he has since been replaced by New Zealander Ajaz Patel. This change occurred because Maharaj’s workload was restricted by Cricket South Africa, but the club acted swiftly to find a replacement in a similar role.
2026 Fixtures
Leicestershire kick off their journey in Division One by hosting Sussex, before traveling to Surrey for Gameweek 2. They have a break during Game Week 3, followed by a challenging run where three of their next four matches are away. This stretch begins at Glamorgan, followed by a home fixture against Notts, and then consecutive away trips to Sussex and Essex.
In June, they return to Grace Road for two home matches against Essex and Yorkshire. The August schedule consists of hosting Glamorgan before traveling to Yorkshire. Their final four fixtures in September begin away to Notts, followed by home games against Somerset and Hampshire, before they round off the season at Warwickshire.
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