7.25pm – Leicestershire closed on 164-5. Hill with 3-25. Yorkshire’s day. Excellent!
6.39pm – WICKET! Ahmed trapped lbw by Moriarty, 28. Leicestershire are 159-5 in the 44th.
5.58pm – WICKET! George Hill gets Lewis Hill caught at second slip by Lyth, 5. Third wicket for George, and it’s 115-4 in the 34th over.
5.48pm – WICKET! Harris caught at first slip by Brook off Hill for 56. It’s 110-3 in the 32nd over. Peter Handscomb in now.
5.44pm – Harris has reached his fifty off 93 balls with 11x4s. Leicestershire 105-2 in the 31st.
5.40pm – Harris has moved to 47 as Leicestershire reach 100-2 in the 30th over of 46 to be bowled tonight. He has been particularly strong on the drive.
5.24pm – WICKET! Kimber caught low down at third slip by Bean off George Hill, 24. It’s 89-2 in the 26th over. Lewis Hill in now for Leicestershire alongside Harris on 39.
5pm – Hill into the attack now. The Foxes are 74-1 in the 20th. Harris 29, Kimber 19.
4.45pm – Thompson is into the attack in place of Fisher. Leicestershire are 52-1 in the 17th.
4.43pm – Shan Masood and Lewis Hill at the toss earlier.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
4.41pm – Leicestershire reach 51-1 in the 16th over. Harris 23 (he was nearly run out a moment ago) and Kimber 4.
4.32pm – WICKET! Milnes picks up our first wicket of 2024 – and it’s Patel with a beauty. Nipped back through the gate, off-stump out of the ground. Patel goes for 19, and it’s 43-1 in the 14th. Louis Kimber in now to join Harris, who has 19.
4.17pm – And Fisher has switched ends to Kirkstall Lane to replace Coad. Leicestershire 22-0 after 10. Quiet start so far.
4.06pm – Matt Milnes is into the attack in place of Fisher, who has bowled three overs. Leicestershire are 16-0 in the eighth.
3.42pm – Ben Coad starts with a maiden to Patel. Matthew Fisher to Harris now.
3.40pm – The live stream is available via the scorecard tab above.
3.36pm – The players arena their way out to the middle. Rishi Patel and Marcus Harris will open the batting for Leicestershire.
3.10pm – Yorkshire have won the toss and will bowl first.
Yorkshire: Lyth, Bean, Masood c, Brook, Tattersall w, Hill, Milnes, Thompson, Fisher, Coad, Moriarty.
Ben Mike is in the Leicestershire team.
2.42pm – Play will start at 3.40pm here at Headingley. Excellent news. There will be 46 overs bowled.
1.52pm – There will be a further inspection at 2.30pm.
1.48pm – The umpires are back out in the middle again with the sun shining. Fingers crossed for some good news.
1.05pm – More rain has forced the umpires to abort their inspection.
12.58pm – There has just been a two-minute rain shower here at Headingley. Nothing heavy at all.
12.47pm – Dan Moriarty has been keeping himself busy during the ongoing delay.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com.
12.40pm – The sun is out at Headingley now, and it’s a lovely start to the afternoon. Meanwhile, play has been called off for the day at our fellow northern venues, Lancashire and Durham, where they are playing Surrey and Hampshire respectively.
11.50am – There are nine fixtures due to be played across the two divisions today, but only play in two of them. Worcestershire are 67-0 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, while Glamorgan are 54-1 against Middlesex at Lord’s. Derbyshire and Gloucestershire are already off for the day at Derby.
11.48am – Umpires Mark Newell and Jack Shantry have called an early lunch at 12.30pm, and they will inspect again at 1.10pm.
11.36am – It’s a lovely morning at Headingley now. The sun is out as the umpires take another look.
10.48am – The umpires are planning to have another look later on in this morning. There is no imminent prospect of play.
10.30am – The latest inspection is taking place at the moment. The players are out there netting just in front of the East Stand as well.
9.30am – All the covers are off and the umpires have just inspected. There is plenty of presence from both teams out in the middle. Ottis Gibson is just chatting to Foxes assistant coach James Taylor. There will be another inspection at 10.30am.
9.04am – There will be a Members’ Forum taking place in the East Stand Long Room from 10am today. Chair Colin Graves will be in attendance.
Members will be able to hear from our new chair, in-person, for the first time since February’s EGM.
8.47am – The ECB Reporters Network have provided previews of all 18 counties for this summer’s Championship. They will be doing similar for the Blast and the One-Day Cup later in the summer.
Below are the ones done for Leicestershire and Yorkshire.
Leicestershire
Previewed by Jon Culley
Captain: Lewis Hill
Head Coach: Alfonso Thomas
2023 finish: Fourth (Division Two)
2023 highest run-scorer: Rishi Patel (1,075)
2023 highest wicket-taker: Chris Wright (48)
Key winter moves: A busy winter under new head coach Alfonso Thomas and assistant James Taylor saw eight players leave, with Ben Mike (Yorkshire), Liam Trevaskis (Durham), Scott Currie (Hampshire, on loan) and Ben Cox (Worcestershire, loan-to-permanent) coming in. Tying down Australia international Peter Handscomb to a second season is a coup, while fellow Aussie Marcus Harris returns to provide high-quality early-season cover.
The big question: Can Leicestershire build on the elation of winning a first one-day trophy for 38 years and mount a sustained promotion challenge? Away at Yorkshire in their season opener, the Foxes then have back-to-back home fixtures against Derbyshire and Glamorgan. A win in either of those could do wonders for confidence under new red-ball skipper Lewis Hill.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: Young player of the year for 2023 Tom Scriven continuing his progress. Unable to establish himself in three seasons with Hampshire, the 25-year-old all-rounder is thriving at Grace Road, combining 62 wickets with 432 runs across all formats last season and playing a key part in giving the red-ball attack the depth that it has sometimes lacked in recent years.
Player most likely to Baz-ball:See-ball, hit-ball Sol Budinger is a natural Bazballer but Rishi Patel’s strike rate in making his 1,075 runs last year was none too shabby – plus he averaged almost 45.
Final thought: Eight wooden spoons in 14 seasons had some cricket commentators writing off Leicestershire as a basket case. Last season, though, they looked to have the makings of a decent side, an impression confirmed when they ended the summer as Metro Bank One-Day Cup champions. There is plenty of scope for improvement, though, and promotion to Division One would be the perfect follow-up.
Yorkshire
Previewed by Graham Hardcastle
Captain: Shan Masood
Head Coach: Ottis Gibson
2023 finish: Seventh (Division Two)
2023 highest run-scorer: Adam Lyth (1,019)
2023 highest wicket-taker: Ben Coad (36)
Key winter moves: Darren Gough departed as director of cricket last month, placing more responsibility on coach Ottis Gibson. Left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty has signed permanently from Surrey following a brief loan spell last summer. Yorkshire will start the season with captain Shan Masood, who returns for a second campaign, as their only overseas player. But they have been boosted by excellent early-season availability for Joe Root and Harry Brook.
The big question: Yorkshire are the overwhelming favourites to win Division Two. Can they live up to that billing? A tumultuous three years off the field has had ramifications on it – they were deducted 48 points, for example, last season to kibosh a promotion push. But the slate has been wiped clean and confidence is high that their primary goal can be achieved.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: Yorkshire fans will be desperate to see prolonged fitness for key new ball seamers Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher, who have both had their injury issues in recent summers. They shared 64 wickets in 20 appearances last year. Better that in 2024 and the Headingley side will be difficult to stop.
Player most likely to Baz-Ball: George Hill could really push things on in the middle order if a good platform is set by opening duo Fin Bean and Adam Lyth, who excelled last summer. Hill can be particularly dominant against spin.
Final thought: Yorkshire are desperate for promotion to kick-start what feels like a new era at Headingley. A fast start would settle both the dressing room and the fanbase, and a mouthwatering batting line-up should help them do it. In the first block of seven Championship matches through until late May, they will field a top six of Bean, Lyth, Masood, Root, Brook and Hill. That would be the best batting line-up in the country, never mind Division Two. Root and Brook are available for five of those games apiece.
8.30am – Good morning from Headingley, where it is dry and bright overhead at present but very wet under foot. There has seemingly been a significant amount of overnight rain.
The ground staff are currently taking the covers off and blotting around the edge of the square. Honestly, it would be a major shock if we started on time at 11am. Fingers crossed, we see something later on in the day.
Both Yorkshire and Leicestershire head into the new summer with promotion ambitions.
Yorkshire are the favourites for the Division Two title, which the Foxes finished fourth last season and maintained a serious promotion challenge up until the penultimate round of matches.
They have Australian batting duo Peter Handscomb and Marcus Harris at their disposal this weekend.
Yorkshire have named a 13-man squad, as you will see from the graphic below.
Our match preview, with captain Shan Masood, is also linked below.
We will provide you updates as and when we can with regards to prospects of play.
But, happy new season! Enjoy the day and the summer ahead.
