Falcons to be ‘fearless’ in Leicestershire clash

The Falcons were well beaten in last week’s curtain-raiser at Headingly and will again be without key players for the match against local rivals Leicestershire.

But despite the result at Leeds, the game was a significant one for wicketkeeper Tom Poynton who played his first game for the senior side since the end of the 2013 season.

Poynton missed all of last summer with the injuries he suffered in a car accident which claimed the life of his father Keith.

The 25-year-old year-old has been made vice-captain for the T20 campaign and he admitted: “It was great to be credited with that.

“ I think as a wicketkeeper it is quite natural to have an oversight of the field. Communication is key to talk to the bowlers and the captain anyway so it is natural for me to take that role.

“It was great to be back playing in the big time I suppose, the NatWest T20 Blast is a fantastic competition.

“I am enjoying my cricket again and to be back in the first team was great for me and is something that I have pushed for, for a long time.”

Poynton demonstrated his potential as a destructive lower-order batsman with 27 off 18 balls and is aiming to take that approach into the game at Leicester.

“Hopefully I can carry that on going forward with the striking towards the back end of the innings.

“The Yorkshire result was disappointing but it was the first game in the tournament. I think we’ve come in with a refreshing energy and we’re all excited.

“We’re going to go out there and play fearless cricket and hopefully come out with a good result. There should be a good crowd in and hopefully we can start our competition off with a win.

“Leicestershire are a threatening team, they’re often written off but they have a good record in T20 cricket and they have won the competition a couple of times before.

“Mark Cosgrove is a threat and with the new management they have in place, they have got nothing to lose so we know we’ve got to put in a very good performance to beat them.”

Key batsman Wayne Madsen is out for at least another month with a broken right index finger while a hand injury means Australian bowler Nathan Rimmington misses his second T20 game.