By Neil Fissler
Neil Burns admits that Leicestershire were disappointed not to have ended the 2001 season with at least one trophy in the Grace Road cabinet.
Burns was an ever-present in the side which finished runners up in the Sunday League after failing to win any of their last three games to allow Kent to sneak the title.
While he also played every game as they pulled up just short losing the C&G Final by 41 to Somerset at Lord’s.
“Fundamentally we were disappointed not to have won two trophies but on reflection we played some really good cricket throughout the year.
“It was always a pleasure to play in a Lord’s final and the Sunday League was a run of playing some pretty outstanding cricket. It was fun to be part of.
“But by the last game of the season we were really struggling with injuries. Devon Malcolm couldn’t play and Phil DeFreitas wasn’t supposed to play.
“He ended up playing because somebody else got injured in the warm-up but then pulled a hamstring and couldn’t bowl.
“So it was a really difficult match, we were competitive but ultimately came up short. We didn’t bat well enough in the first innings and couldn’t post a substantial total,” he said.
Burns believes that a narrow defeat that Leicestershire suffered against Somerset in the Sunday League less than three weeks before the final had had a knock-on effect.
They allowed Somerset to post 164 for the first wicket and reach 263-7 but a 68 in 30 balls from Shahid Afridi gave them a perfect start to their reply.
But they stumbled in the middle of the innings and a late flurry from Burns himself scoring 59 wasn’t enough as they fell one run short.
He said: “There was a Sunday League game we played at Taunton that we should have won. We let them get more than they should have got.
“And we were cruising it chasing it down. Shahid Afridi went absolutely ballistic but then we lost our way in the middle of the innings.
“We pulled it back towards the end of the innings but ended up being one run short. I think that gave Somerset a little ray of hope when it came to the final as well.
“I think any time a team performs well against you get a level of belief especially against a team like us who had match winners in all directions.
“We had beaten Lancashire who were a very good side in the semi-finals but when you get to a final it’s all about who plays well on the day. But we didn’t play our best cricket on the day and were hit by a late knock from Keith Parsons which swung momentum their way and they got Afridi early.”
BACK ROW (l to r):
Stephen Adshead: A batsman who went into the drinks industry with Percy Fox & Co and is now a national account manager with Treasury Wine Estates.
Darren Stevens: The all-rounder celebrated his 40th birthday in April and is now in his 12th season with Kent.
Scott Boswell: The seamer became a teacher at Beauchamp College in Leicestershire then Nottingham High School and is now head of cricket at Trent College.
Matthew Whiley: Fast bowler. He retired from the game and set bar consultancy company Fluid Movement and owns two London cocktail bars.
Craig Crowe: Batsman and brother of Carl. He is now working as the area sales manager for All About Bricks.
Ashley Wright: Batsman and brother of England’s Luke, coached at University of Sussex and then became Guernsey’s head of cricket.
Tom New: Wicketkeeper/batsman who went into coaching with Notts CCC and runs the Just Cricket coaching academy with his brother Matt.
MIDDLE ROW:
Phil Whitticase: Wicketkeeper/batsman. Has spent 31 years at Grace Road as player and coach. Is now an ECB cricket liaison officer.
Carl Crowe: Spinner who went into coaching and was assistant coach and performance analyst to England women’s cricket team. Now a bio-mechanist.
Trevor Ward: Batsman who was England U19 captain and is now cricket professional at Uppingham School.
Jimmy Ormond: Two-Test England pace bowler who has been a PE teacher and cricket coach at Stockport Grammar School for the last four years.
Billy Stelling: South African-born Dutch one-day international fast bowler. Now living in Cape Town where he runs a mountain bike touring company.
Jon Dakin: All rounder who is now living in Hobart, Tasmania, and has worked in car sales for a Toyota dealership.
Paul Griffiths: Batsman. He is a director of the Birmingham- based Aspire Group.
Iain Sutcliffe: Batsman who went on to teach economics at Wellington College in 2009 and three years later became a housemaster charge of The Murray school.
Neil Burns: Wicketkeeper/batsman lives in Ascot and is now an independent coach and is also the managing director of London County CC.
FRONT ROW:
Aftab Habib: Batsman and another two-Test England player. Became a cricket development officer for the Buckinghamshire cricket board. Now a freelance coach based in Reading.
Devon Malcolm: Former 40-Test England fast bowler who now runs a cricket equipment company, DEM Sports, and is a tour host.
Ben Smith: Batsman. He joined Leicestershire coaching staff in 2012 but left at the end of last season. He is now director of cricket at Himley CC in Birmingham.
Jack Birkenshaw: Coach. Played five England Tests and became a first- class umpire.
Vince Wells: Former England ODI all-rounder who became master in charge of cricket at Sutton Valence School in Kent where he is also an assistant housemaster.
Darren Maddy: One-time England batsman. Now an ambassador for the Birmingham Bears and is also master in charge of cricket at Solihull School.
Dan Marsh: All-rounder son of Australia legend Rod. Has been the head coach of Tasmanian Tigers team for Cricket Tasmania since 2013.
Phil DeFreitas: Former England international all-rounder. Has coached at Oxford UCCE and Nottinghamshire. Also works on the after-dinner speaking circuit.
NOT PICTURED:
Shahid Afridi: The Pakistani all- rounder ‘Boom Boom’, 37, still hopes to play for his country.
This piece originally featured in The Cricket Paper, Friday June 3 2016
