Leicestershire: Lewis must give his all (15 April 1998)

15 April 1998

Leicestershire: Lewis must give his all

By Peter Deeley

THE wanderings of Chris Lewis have come full circle with his return to Leicestershire, the club where he began his first-class career in 1987 as a 19-year-old.

In the intervening years CC, as he is known, has excited, bewildered, baffled and frustrated the cricketing world and it will be down to captain James Whitaker and cricket manager Jack Birkenshaw to extract the ability and the commitment that could take Leicestershire back to the top of the championship table.

Birkenshaw had Lewis under his wing for one season before the move to Trent Bridge and then on to the Oval and feels that he has matured in the process.

"There is so much cricket in the lad," Birkenshaw says. "He has wasted so many years. He's the best all-rounder in the country and he knows he has got to deliver now. He's on a long contract and seems to have a very positive attitude. Hopefully, we can get the best out of him."

Leicestershire must recognise that they are taking a gamble with Lewis. They are hoping that, at the age of 30, he has the foresight to realise that this could be his last stop on a hectic tour of the county scene.

A committed Lewis could help Leicestershire back to the championship heights they reached in 1996, only to slip last summer - a fall which Birkenshaw partly attributes to the loss of a third of playing time to the weather: producing the astonishing statistic of 12 draws and only one defeat.

Phil Simmons, who scored nearly 1,200 runs and took 56 wickets when they won the title, is back and Birkenshaw is hinting that this time he could be bowling some off-spin now that Adrian Pierson has moved to Somerset.

The club badly missed Simmons' ability with the ball last year, though South African Neil Johnson served them well with the bat. Now the playing staff are so strong on paper that Birkenshaw concedes it will be difficult picking the side. "It's a really talented squad and I don't think there's one with more all-round potential in the country."

Lewis, who was in Australia this winter with new county colleague Alan Mullally, is keen to be used more as a bowler. "He complains he didn't get enough chance with the ball at the Oval," Birkenshaw says. "He's talking about getting back into the England line-up."

With Lewis alongside Mullally, David Millns and James Ormond, now 21, entering his second season of first-class cricket, Leicestershire have an abundance of strength in pace and seam.

They could be helped by Grace Road having a new drainage system which may quicken the square.

If the batting lacks a star, it makes up for it in depth. Supporters will look particularly to Darren Maddy, who had such an outstanding winter with England A.

Birkenshaw has decided Maddy will open the batting with Vince Wells and says: "He wants to go in No 1 which indicates that he is now starting to believe in himself. He didn't quite have that before and tended to freeze a bit."

One enduring feature of Grace Road will, however, be missing this year - the indefatigable Gordon Parsons. After 17 years at the club - interspersed with three seasons at Edgbaston - "Bullhead", as everyone calls him, is going off to coach and play for Lincolnshire.

Birkenshaw recalls some hard moments with Parsons, 38, a sometimes irascible character whose bowling mellowed as he did. He says: "Gordon went out still a good cricketer, which is as much as any of us can ask. It is always very sad when someone comes to the end of his career but he has been a great servant for us."

No more Gordon Parsons at Grace Road. . . next thing you know Leicestershire will knocking down the Meet, that doughty old shed of a cafeteria. They are, actually - in time for the World Cup.

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)