Cricket’s County Championship receives precious little coverage and attracts much smaller crowds than the various white-ball competitions. However, for a certain breed of traditional cricket fan, this remains the bread and butter of the domestic schedule. It is also a key competition in terms of preparing players for the challenge of Test cricket, even if more recently it has become common for players to almost bypass it altogether and be fast-tracked into the brave new world of Baz.
While stars such as Jacob Bethell are able to catapult themselves into the reckoning for the Ashes Test series through sheer brilliance and their white-ball performances, others need the slower burn of the County Championship to learn the game and hone their technique. As such, we will always need the competition and those that follow it will know that next season the top tier will welcome back an old friend.
Since 2000, the County Championship has had two divisions, with the idea of promotion and relegation introduced to try and make the cricket more competitive and harden players for the Test arena. Leicestershire were among the nine teams to play in the top tier that year and finished a respectable fourth. 12 months on, they dropped to fifth, where they also finished in 2002.
However, in 2003, they could only manage one win from their 16 games. Nine draws and a division-low tally of 76 batting and bowling points meant they finished bottom of the pile. They were relegated alongside Nottinghamshire and Essex. Neighbours Notts would bounce straight back up the following year. Essex, however, had to wait until 2009 to earn back their place in Division One.
As for Leicestershire, the wait went on, and on, and on. And on some more until, finally, with two games still to play of the 2025 campaign, they booked their spot back at the County Championship’s top table. With 12 games played, they have already won six games, while they have won the most batting points, and no side has captured more bowling points. They are 25 points ahead of second-placed Glamorgan, but a handsome lead over Derbyshire in third means their Division One status is assured.
So let’s take a look at how they have managed to finally return to the top tier of domestic four-day cricket, and also, what they have been doing for the past 22 years!
Team Effort
𝗪𝗘 𝗔𝗥𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗠𝗢𝗧𝗘𝗗! ⬆️🦊
We’ve done it! After 22 years away, Leicestershire will play Division One cricket in 2026. 🥳
THIS TEAM. THIS CLUB. 💚#Foxes🦊 pic.twitter.com/BpL5amVivx
— Leicestershire CCC 🦊 (@leicsccc) September 11, 2025
It has been a real team effort for Leicestershire, who last won the County Championship in 1998. They have conquered all just three times, doing so in 1996 and 1975 also, but at last will once again have the chance to top the pile in 2026. For now, the players, coaching team and staff can reflect on a job well done and a real team effort.
The Grace Road outfit does not have any real established stars, though one has certainly emerged this year. Instead, they rely on careful work behind the scenes, dedication, hard work and team spirit. Upon securing their promotion, acting captain Ian Holland said that it wasn’t “just a six-month thing, it’s been a few years in the making” and was also quick to praise everyone throughout the cub, including Claude Henderson, the director of cricket, the coaching staff, chief executive Sean Jarvis “and the people in the office getting things right”.
On the pitch, Holland himself has certainly played a big part in his side’s success. Leicestershire’s leading bowler in 2025 boasts 35 wickets, with only three players taking more in Division Two. Born in Wisconsin, the 34-year-old is not your typical cricketer, though he grew up in Australia, having moved there at the age of two.
An all-rounder, he spent seven seasons with Hampshire and only moved permanently to Leicestershire in 2025. He has represented the USA in T20s and ODIs and has been a huge part of his County’s success this year. He has scored almost 500 runs at an average of nearly 34, contributing four half-centuries.
Ahmed Shining with Bat and Ball
Rehan Ahmed was one of those players we alluded to earlier who was fast-tracked into the Test team. He was brought in as a leg-spinner, but his ability with the bat was always known. He probably wasn’t quite ready for Test cricket, but he has had an outstanding 2025. Superb in The Hundred, he has also contributed 760 runs to Leicestershire’s cause.
That has made him their second-highest scorer in the County Championship, behind the 823 scored by Lewis Hill. His impressive average of more than 75 has been boosted by an equally impressive five centuries. Only one player has recorded more tons than Ahmed, who may come to be viewed as a batter that can bowl rather than the other way round.
He has also taken 23 wickets, though, with 13 of those coming in a single game against rivals Derbyshire. That he scored 115 in the first innings of that game really illustrated his potential as an all-rounder, and he is very much in the frame for the Ashes later in the year.
As said, though, fundamentally this is a Leicestershire team with no stars. Their bowling attack has performed well as a unit, and as well as Holland and Ahmed, Logan van Beek has also taken 33 wickets, with Ben Green taking 31 and Tom Scriven chipping in with 22.
22 Long Years
As said, Leicestershire have been outside the top flight for over two decades. There have been some really dark days, or even dark years, in that time, with the club rarely mounting any sort of decent challenge for promotion.
They have finished bottom of the second division eight times, meaning that they have essentially been the worst county in the country for more than a third of their time in Division Two. Four times they failed to win even a single game, the last time that happened coming as recently as 2022.
They were fifth last year and fourth in 2023, but before that, they lost nine and drew five of their 14 games to finish a massive 37 points adrift of seventh-placed Sussex. The gap to Durham in sixth was 81 points, and this illustrates just how far Leicestershire have come in a few years.
Going back further reveals just how low they had slumped, with 2022 not even their worst period. From the end of the 2012 campaign, through to June of the 2015 season, they endured a winless run of 37 matches. They finally stopped the rot against Essex, managing to avoid the ignominy of going 1,000 days without victory with only seven days to spare! With such dark days behind them, promotion will surely feel extra sweet, and now Holland and co will hope to seal the title too.