Chris Wright urges Leicestershire to offer support to Mohammad Abbas

The seamer wants to see the Foxes share the responsibility to gather wickets across the team rather than piling the pressure on Pakistani

Leicestershire seamer Chris Wright believes one of the keys to achieving Specsavers County Championship success this season is for the Foxes not to become over-reliant on their bowling-attack leader Mohammad Abbas.

Unexpected rain on the final day of their County Championship match at Lord’s last week frustrated Leicestershire as they closed in on what looked set to be their first victory over Middlesex at HQ since 1980.

But Wright believes the way they bowled in the second innings of the match, reducing the home team to 114 for 8 before eventually dismissing them for 223, was hugely encouraging going forward.

Wright and Tom Taylor picked up three wickets apiece in that innings, with two for Ben Mike and one each for Abbas and Colin Ackermann.

"Mo [Abbas] is obviously world class, and when you have someone like that there is a danger of expecting him to bowl sides out by himself in every innings," Wright said.

"But to win games consistently over a season you need an effective bowling unit, so the pressure is on the batsmen whoever is bowling. That's what we need to develop and I think we showed against Middlesex we're moving in the right direction."

Wright should know. Now 33, the tall, dark-haired seamer was an integral part of Warwickshire's championship-winning side of 2012, when he took 62 First Division wickets.

Injury prevented him playing much cricket over the following two years, and the subsequent emergence of a new generation of seamers saw his opportunities at Edgbaston become sufficiently limited for him to decide to sign a two-year deal at the Fischer County Ground.

Nothing he has seen since the start of the season has left him regretting that decision.

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"The atmosphere has been positive from the start,” he said. “Winning at Sussex [without Abbas] in the first game was obviously a big lift for everybody, and though we weren't at our best against a very good Worcestershire side, to take 20 wickets and have Middlesex on the ropes the way we did is another boost."

But Wright, who has picked up nine wickets in Leicestershire's first three games, does not agree that Lord's was his best bowling since moving to the Fischer County Ground.

"Not really, to be honest,” he said. “You try and be consistent, do the same things day in and day out, hit the top of off [stump], not get too grumpy if things don't go for you. The wicket column can vary, and I've been around long enough now to understand one day you can get a couple of nicks and another keep missing the edge.

"Personally you're always thinking in terms of 50 wickets in a season, but for me it is more about helping to create that good and effective bowling unit which helps Leicestershire move forward. Last year was a good year for the county, and hopefully, this year will be even better and we finish higher in the table."

Leicestershire's next game sees them face East Midlands rivals Derbyshire in the County Championship, starting on Monday at the Fischer County Ground.

The sides have an identical points return after three matches, with a win, loss and defeat in their first three matches.

Head coach Paul Nixon is hoping to have a full squad to choose from, though all-rounders Taylor and Mike will both have fitness tests on Sunday.

If both are fit the starting XI is likely to be unchanged, though seamers Gavin Griffiths, Dieter Klein and Will Davis are all pushing for inclusion, while the form of young batsman Sam Evans, who made an impressive century against a strong Yorkshire side for the Second XI at Kibworth this week, increases the pressure on Ateeq Javid, who is short of runs at the top of the order.

Courtesy of the ECB reporters network

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