‘I was gutted to fall for 98 on county debut’
Scoring 98 against Sri Lanka on county debut is hardly the worst start to a career. But Leicestershire’s Michael Burgess is now looking to push to the next level as he prepares to give cricket his full attention after university.
He has recently finished a three-year Sports and Exercise Science degree at Loughborough, and now has a summer contract with Leicestershire having previously been on the books at Surrey.
Few youngsters would turn their noses up at getting within two of a century against a touring international side, but Burgess, 21, felt there were more runs to be had against the Sri Lankans last month.
“Making your first-class county debut is always something special, so getting the runs to back that up was very pleasing but I was a bit gutted not to get to three figures.
“I wasn’t even going for the glory shot. Trying to turn it away for a single I got a leading edge which looped back to the bowler.”
After initially missing out on a place in Surrey’s set-up – a county in which he still plays club cricket, scoring 120 for Reigate Priory on Saturday – Burgess feels the initial disappointments have worked out for the best after developing links with Leicestershire coach Andrew McDonald.
He said: “Finishing university, I’ll now be able to spend all my time with Leicestershire which can hopefully push forward my development, and I’ll feel fully part of the squad.
“It’s a big accomplishment just making your first-class county debut so now I just want to keep pushing on, scoring runs in 2nd XI cricket.
“I always wanted to go to university, and Loughborough has tremendous facilities you really can’t get anywhere else.
“Being such a sports-orientated university, I also got support with balancing cricket and studies, while I also did a lot of stuff around the MCCU set-up last year.
“I was lucky in that Jake Lehmann and Andrew Delmont knew Macca from times in Australia. They got in touch with him and that’s where I got some opportunities and I just love playing with the county.
Burgess joins at just the right time. The Foxes are seemingly on the up, sitting assuredly in mid-table in Division Two and overcoming Yorkshire in the NatWest T20.
And despite the wicket-keeper/batsman now facing stiffer competition for his place, Burgess is pleased of the additions to the squad.
“The club have made some excellent signings and we’re seeing the benefit,” he said. “Even when the rain’s intervened, or we’ve been held up pushing for the win, we’ve been in a strong place. You see with all the work on and off the pitch that the club is heading in the right direction.
“Personally, I’m excited to be able to have these new experiences. We have some very experienced batsmen, Paul Horton and Mark Pettini, for example, which should be an excellent benefit for me, and can help us towards a winning habit.”
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