2006 Season Review
A new era began in 2006 as England's technical coach and former Leicestershire batsman Tim Boon took over as head coach and after the shock news of HD Ackerman's decision to wuit as captain he immediately handed the job to Jeremy Snape. New signings came in the shape of English qualified South African all rounder Marc Rosenburg, Pakistan pace bowling star Mohammad Asif and seamer Alamgir Sheriyar in his second spell with County after being released by Kent and Dinesh Mongia returned as the second overseas player. 
The season started in defeat in the C&G Trophy to Lancashire at Old Trafford as the batsmen failed and Dinesh Mongia's 4-25 was the only bright spot. In the first Championship match versus Surrey at Grace Road, Stuart Broad excelled by taking 5-94 in Surrey's first innings and despite knocks of 87 from John Maunders and 97 from Darren Maddy the County slipped to a 99 run defeat.
The County's first Championship win soon followed at Essex as HD Ackerman and Mongia both scored centuries with Mohammad Asif and Claude Henderson both claiming five wickets in an innings to lead the Foxes to an 8 wicket victory. A disappointing defeat in the C&G to Derby was followed by a draw in the championship with Glamorgan at Grace Road as Mongia shone again by scoring 161. Another defeat followed again in the C&G to Worcestershire despite Paul Nixon's gritty 67 and a rain ruined championship draw at Derbyshire continued the County's disappointing start to the season.
A Championship draw with Somerset at Taunton allowed Paul Nixon to hit two 70+ scores in each innings and a miserable defeat to Durham in C&G kept the County winless in the C&G. Despite 50+ scores in each innings from John Maunders and HD Ackerman the Championship match at Oakham School with Northampton ended in a draw but finally at the start June, the Foxes claimed their first C&G win over the hapless Northants, again at Oakham, thanks to Tom New's 68 and Darren Robinson's 85.
In mid June, Leicestershire were dealt a blow when Mohamad Asif was called away for the rest of the season into Pakistan's touring squad. The fast bowler made a steady start to his County career but did not have the massive impact that was expected. Asif was replaced by Tasmania's seamer Adam Griffith. A massive defeat in the Championship at Surrey followed before another C&G win, this time over Yorkshire was dampened by another heavy defeat to Gloucestershire in the Championship.
The Foxes poor C&G campaign ended in style as Darren Maddy smashed a brilliant 167 not out against Scotland in Edinburgh. Maddy hit 15 fours and 7 sixes in his 145 ball knock and then went on to claim match winning bowling figures of 3-28.
The Twenty20 started at the end of June and the question on every ones lips was, can we make it to finals day again? Well, the tournament got off to a good start with victory over Nottinghamhire at Grace Road in which Stuart Broad claimed an economical 2-19. A poor Twenty20 performance followed in front of the SKY TV camera's as the Foxes lost out to Lancashire at Grace Road but they made amends the next day with a massive win at Derbyshire as Adam Griffith and David Masters claimed 3 wickets each. 
The Twenty20 was interrupted at the start of July as a weakened Leicestershire side entertained Pakistan and gave them a good match. Dinesh Mongia scored an unbeaten 129 in the first innings and John Sadler also made 92 as the County gave a debut to new signing Nick Walker. 22 year old paceman Walker had impressed enough in the second team to earn a contract after his release from Derbyshire and didn't disappoint on his debut as he claimed 3-47 in Pakistan's first innings. Despite Tom New's 67 and John Sadler's 51, the County were defeated thanks to some explosive batting from Shoaib Malik who scored 110 not out as Pakistan knocked off the required 207 from just over 40 overs to claim victory.
The County produced some sensational form in the Twenty20 by winning 4 out of 4 matches in the space of 6 days. Firstly Derbyshire were brushed aside at Grace Road where HDAckerman top scored with 53 and the South African was once again top man by making 60 as the Foxes entertained Durham as Nick Walker ripped through the top order to take 3-19. At Headingly, Paul Nixon hit a superb 52 from 39 balls and Ackerman made 45, with Adam Griffith taking 3-20 as Yorkshire were dead and buried. Finally, Leicestershire travelled to the North East as they thrashed Durham by 76 runs. Ackerman produced a simply brilliant 87 from just 57 balls in an innings that did not contain one slog - just beautifully timed cricket shots! Jeremy Snape blasted 41 from 21 balls in County's 183-7 and Durham replied poorly despite Jimmy Maher's 55 as they were bowled out for 104. Adam Griffith shone with 3-17 with Stuart Broad and Snape each claiming 2 wickets.
After their Twenty20 heroics, the County returned to Championship action at Sophia Gardens versus Glamorgan and showed no signs of taking their foot off the gas. Despite the matching resulting in a draw, it was highly memorable for one thing, HD Ackerman's 309 not out. It was the highest ever score by a Leicestershire batsman and the highest score by anyone at Sophia Gardens. Not content with that, HD also scored 62 in the second innings! Another Championship draw at Derby followed shortly after as Snape top scored with 90, Ackerman scored 79 and John Maunders, David Masters and Broad all topped 50. It was a great all round performance from Broad as he claimed 5-89 in Derbyshire's 1st Innings.
The Foxes warmed up for their Twenty20 Cup quarter final with a stunning win at Scarborough over Yorkshire in their opening Pro40 fixture. The County racked up a massive 263-7 from their 40 overs as Paul Nixon made 69 and Paul Harrison, an impressive 61. The hosts replied with a dismal 96 all out and were barracked by their own fans as Darren Maddy picked up 3-24.
Leicestershire once again booked their place at Twenty20 finals day for the fourth year in succession as they cruised to a 9 wicket victory over Kent at Grace Road in front of the live Sky TV cameras. Broad bowled fantastically by taking 3-13 as Kent were restricted to 153-5 as Maddy's 59 ball 79 and Ackerman's 50 saw the County home with 2 overs to spare.
Tom New shone by scoring two half centuries as Leicestershire entertained West Indies A. The match ended in a draw as Maddy returned to the first class side with a fine 92 as Ryan Cummins impressed with the ball by taking 4-46. Four day's later Masters and Henderson produced great batting performances as the County lost to Gloucestershire in the Pro40. Masters smashed 39 from 23 balls and Henderson hit 29 from 16 balls by Jon Lewis saw Gloucs to victory by 2 wickets with an unbeaten 26. The same teams contested in the Championship starting the following day and it was Leicestershire who came out winners in sensational fashion. After John Maunders' brilliant 180 and Paul Nixon's 103, Hamish Marshall and Alex Gidman both made centuries for the home side as Stuart Broad collected 9 match wickets and Claude Henderson 6 as the County were set a tough target of 240 from victory from 45 overs. Nixon's 68 not out and Henderson's 42 not out gave the Foxes victory as the South African produced a superb all round performance as his 42 not out was from just 16 balls and contained an amazing 6 sixes!
