All-rounder Alex Hughes gave his thoughts on Derbyshire’s LV= County Championship campaign ahead of the final fixture versus Leicestershire; starting on Tuesday at 10.30am.
Hughes has scored 279 runs in seven four-day games this season at an average of 34.88 and hit his maiden first-class century with an unbeaten 111 in the victory against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road in July.
The Cricket Derbyshire Academy in partnership with the University of Derby graduate is out of the final game with a small fracture to the hand but says the team are looking to take some momentum into next season.
“It is about trying to finish the season on a high for ourselves and also the supporters who have backed us superbly this season,” said Hughes.
“We just have one game left to play now and that is at home to Leicestershire. They beat us by three wickets last month so we owe them one for that. If we can do that then it will give us some momentum to take into next year.
“Division Two has been competitive and with the exception of the top two [Lancashire and Surrey] everyone has been beating each other.
“Leicestershire have struggled for a couple of seasons but have made some signings and won a couple of games so that shows how tough it has been. Having said that, we have not been at our best and after a decent start we lost our momentum.
“We won our last two games last season and finished fourth so we had strong belief at the start of this one that we could improve on that. The problem has been that we have lost sessions badly, seven or eight wickets have gone down or we’ve not bowled well and given the other side the momentum.”
Hughes added that he is pleased with his progression this year and he is looking for the team to play with confidence ahead of next season.
“I’ve been pretty pleased with my own season overall, despite a couple of injuries. I broke my thumb at the start of the season which kept me out and currently I have a fractured hand which is frustrating.
“But I managed to get my maiden first-class century when we played Northants and I’ve been really pleased with my bowling. Touch wood, the injuries are now behind me and I can concentrate on cementing my place in the team.
“I’m sure we will go into next season with plenty of confidence and I think Division Two could be even closer so we need to make sure we get ourselves into a position to challenge.”
Leicestershire arrive at The 3aaa County Ground on Tuesday 22 September for the start of the final LV= County Championship fixture of 2015. Supporters can save £4 by purchasing tickets in advance.
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