Kolpak kickbacks

Having been at the forefront of the recruitment of Kolpak players, Leicestershire are likely to suffer more than most as the financial penalties for playing non-England qualified players kick in over the next couple of seasons. Claude Henderson, recruited in 2004, was the first Kolpak signing in county cricket and this season the club has been captained by Hylton Ackerman, another South African signed under the controversial ruling.

"It's going to make everyone take a look at who they sign from now on," says James Whitaker, the director of cricket. "We've got two quality players in Henderson and Ackerman but we don't want to be losing money. Next year I don't think there'll be a huge impact but in 2007, when the penalties increase, we'll probably notice a difference."

Whitaker expects Ackerman to be reappointed as captain for next season after a trying first year in charge. "It's been a tough job for him as his first season," says Whitaker. "It was his first taste of county cricket and he didn't have the firepower with the ball that you would want as a captain. But he's done a creditable job and I expect him to do so again next year."

The satisfaction generated by the club's progress in one-day cricket - reaching the last four of the Twenty20 Cup and just missing out on promotion in the totesport League - was offset by a failure to last the distance in the Championship. On several occasions promising positions were frittered away and only the unlikely last-gasp victory over Lancashire lifted the Foxes out of the bottom two. "We had our chances and sometimes things didn't go our way with the weather but we'll need to be better at finding the X-factors that help you to win games," says Whitaker. JW

Player of the Year Darren Robinson a model of reliability who held the batting together with four Championship centuries.
High A third consecutive appearance at Twenty20 Cup finals day.
Low The Championship campaign was summed up by the two defeats by Yorkshire: on each occasion Yorkshire were set around 400 to win in the fourth innings and twice they made it with six wickets in hand.