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BBC News
24-05-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Ahmed & Hill tons put Leics in charge against Lancs
Rothesay County Championship Division Two, Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester (day two)Lancashire 206: Wells 36, Hurst 31; van Beek 3-38, Hull 3-43Leicestershire 457: Ahmed 136, Hill 119, Holland 50; Balderson 3-106, Hartley 2-77Leicestershire 8 pts, Lancashire 3 ptsMatch scorecard A record-breaking stand from Rehan Ahmed and Lewis Hill put Division Two leaders Leicestershire in charge against Lancashire on day two at the Uptonsteel County with his first-class best of 136, and Hill, whose 119 was his first three-figure score for two seasons, put on 256, a championship-best for Leicestershire's third wicket against Lancashire, beating a record dating back to bowlers picked up seven wickets throughout the afternoon and evening sessions, but a half-century from all-rounder Ian Holland helped the Foxes close with an intimidating 251-run also picked up all five batting bonus points, completing a maximum bonus point return from the game before being bowled out for 457. The partnership between Hill and Ahmed, not out overnight on 29 and 26 respectively, was all the more admirable for the bowler-friendly conditions at the start of play after overnight rain and with heavy cloud two right-handers faced a real battle for the first hour, with Lancashire seamers Tom Bailey and George Balderson both beating the bat on several times. But no chances were created, with the nearest either batter coming to dismissal being when Josh Bohannon's throw almost ran out determination to be positive paid off, notably when he walked down to the pitch to Will Williams and lofted the New Zealand-born seamer for the sweetest of straight sixes. Ahmed, while being impressively determined in defence, also began to unveil some characteristically flamboyant shots. Both feet were off the ground when he flayed consecutive short deliveries from Anderson Phillip to the cover boundary before going to his 50 by whipping the same bowler through square kept pace, reaching his 50 with a top-edged cut which sailed high over the slips before two perfectly timed on-drives. By lunch 130 runs had been added and the Lancashire attack was looking understandably looked even more so an hour into the afternoon session, when Hill and Ahmed cut loose. They passed the county's championship record third-wicket partnership against Lancashire of 163, compiled by Walter Bradshaw and Norman Armstrong in 1929, and then the first-class record of 165, compiled more recently by Ben Slater and Colin Ackermann in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020. Ahmed brought up his century - his second against Lancashire in as many matches - with a cut down to third man, his 14th four, after 164 balls. Hill followed, his century coming off 150 deliveries with 14 fours and a six, and both accelerated thereafter before Ahmed sliced at drive at the left-arm spin of Tom Hartley, giving Keaton Jennings a straightforward catch at short third also picked up the wicket of Hill, caught behind cutting at a ball which bounced more than he expected, before captain Peter Handscomb edged an Anderson Phillip out-swinger to Jennings at second slip.A partnership of 76 between Holland and Ben Cox pushed Leicestershire close to 400 before Holland, Logan van Beek and the tail steered the Foxes past Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay
BBC News
09-04-2025
- Health
- BBC News
'My hair was falling out' - Why Hill quit as Leics skipper
Lewis Hill says he stepped down as Leicestershire captain at the end of last season after the stress of the position caused hair 34-year-old led the Foxes to One-Day Cup success in 2023 during his two years as club reached the semi-finals in defence of their title in 2024, while they finished fifth in the second division of the County Championship with one win and 10 draws from their 14 red-ball has previously suffered with alopecia, a general term for hair loss, and admits it was a "tough year"."I had a few health things going on with my hair falling out," he told BBC Radio Leicestershire."I gave it my all as captain and probably a little too much in the end because it affected my lifestyle and health."When you are captain you think about so many things, look after so many people in the team and you are worried about how people are if they get selected or don't get selected. "I just kind of lost the sense of looking after myself a little bit." Typically alopecia affects the head, but the severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body, according to the NHS., externalHill said he resorted to constantly wearing caps to hide patches of hair loss."I've had alopecia three times in my life - when I was at school, then four or five years ago just before I got married I got a little spot randomly."Stress is kind of the main thing, but they don't actually know, which is a weird thing. "When you have something like that I wear a cap every day and people ask 'why are you wearing a cap?'"I probably didn't deal with it, I just tried to crack on with things when I should have sat down and thought about it a bit deeper. "It's stress and there is a bit of the immune system attacking the hair follicles if you have bad eczema as well." Hill said giving up Leicestershire's captaincy has allowed him to refocus on his batting."I picked up my cricket bats in September and I went around to my mum and dad's house and put them in the spare room," he said."I didn't have a single cricket bat in my house until January and in those few months I really reflected on the couple of years I had the captaincy."In his first competitive match since handing the captaincy to Peter Handscomb, Hill top-scored with 96 in the Foxes' first innings in the 10-wicket win against Glamorgan in their opening County Championship match of the new knock was better than anything he managed last season as he amassed 431 red-ball runs, just under half of the 880 he scored in 2023."It took my hair, but luckily I've got it back this year, just like how my batting has come back," Hill said."People ask if I'm sad that I gave the captaincy away, and I say no because it was the best for myself the team."Pete is a great guy and leader so there was somebody there to take the reins straight away."I'm really grateful they gave me the opportunity to do it, it was amazing but it was definitely the right time to give it up and to get back and just think about batting."Leicestershire play their first home match of the county season against Derbyshire, starting on Friday, 11 April.
