Leicestershire have undergone an overhaul since winning the Twenty20 Cup last year, but still reached finals day for the third successive season.
 | TWENTY20 CUP FINALS DAY Saturday, 30 July 1130 BST First semi-final: Surrey v Lancashire 1430 BST Mascot race 1500 BST Second semi-final: Leicestershire v Somerset 1915 BST Final Live commentary of all three matches on BBC Radio Five Live and this website |
Stars have been replaced but it is the team ethic that director of cricket James Whitaker credits for their continued success.
In motivational mantra, there is no "I" in "Foxes".
Whitaker expects just five of the side that sprayed champagne so exuberantly at Edgbaston last year to play at The Brit Oval this Saturday.
Aussie Brad Hodge, who hit 77 in a nail-biting final against Surrey, has again been among the leading run-scorers in the competition, but this time has scored his runs for Lancashire.
And last year's leading wicket-taker, Mick Cleary, was ruled out with a back injury in the weeks before the season began.
They have been replaced with other star names, but a look through the averages shows runs and wickets distributed quite evenly among a regular core of players.
"The team was dominated by two or three people last year," Whitaker, a no-nonsense former Foxes captain, tells BBC Sport.
"We were highly dependent on Brad and Darren Maddy, who opened the batting.
"This year it has been more spread around the team; different people have stepped up at different stages."
|  The players have really appreciated playing in front of big crowds and we've paid them back by getting to finals day |
The faces have changed as they prepare for a semi-final against Somerset.
But Leicestershire remains a side packed with experience, both in the county game and, under South African captain HD Ackerman, from the four corners of the globe.
"We have learnt a lot about pooling ideas and experience," says Whitaker.
"It's important that people get a chance to have their say because if they feel a part of it they will take responsibility.
"Twenty20 is strange - your plans can go out of the window at any time - so we have to be able to adapt quickly."
Despite talk of cutting the workload for county cricketers, the stresses and strains have increased this year with the number of group games increased from five to eight.
| FOXES TWENTY20 LEADERS Runs:
HD Ackerman 269 at 38.42
best 79no
John Sadler 210 at 35.00
best 73
Darren Maddy 168 at 24.00
best 72no
Wickets:
Charl Willoughby 11 at 15.27
best 3-11, econ 5.82
Jeremy Snape 9 at 15.33
best 3-18, econ 7.26
Darren Maddy 6 at 22.16
best 2-18, econ 8.86
|
Whitaker groans under his breath, saying simply that it is "hard on the nerves" to play so much of the shortest form of the game.
But preparations have hardly been ideal for the semi-finalists - only Lancashire do not have a four-day County Championship match scheduled to finish the night before.
"You have to engage your brain quickly to deal with it," Whitaker admits.
"I was worried going into the quarter-final because we had a tour match against Australia beforehand but we came though that."
Middlesex were beaten by 19 runs in the last stage at Grace Road, a once sleepy county ground that has been transformed by this three-year-old competition.
"The players have really appreciated playing in front of big crowds and we've paid them back by getting to finals day," adds Whitaker.
"We've learnt that, when you play with a smile on your face, it's amazing what you can achieve and what comes out of people."
MMIX
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