Not even the most loyal of Leicestershire supporters could have had any complaints about their defeat in the Cheltenham and Gloucester final at Lord's.

A team that have built a reputation for their outstanding ground fielding, aggressive batting and niggardly bowling, spectacularly under-performed on the day.

And there must be concerns at Grace Road about the prospects of the Foxes being able to win their last National League games to secure the title.

In contrast to Leicestershire, the fielding was superb - they really did show their opponents up in this regard.

The bowling, led by the Andy Caddick's miserly example, always kept Leicestershire under pressure and although their batsmen seemed rather bemused by the extraordinary start to the match, they ran up a commanding total without ever resorting to slogging.

Falling standards

Now to the start. What on earth was going on at the pavilion end?

It is easy to feel sorry for poor old Scott Boswell, who bowled a 14-ball second over and the hearts of everyone on the ground went out to him.

But, come on, what was he doing on the park in the first place?