George Rhodes and Alex Evans in line for Leicestershire debuts, Paul Nixon confirms

Rhodes has arrived early at the Fischer County Ground on loan until the end of the season, while teenage seam bowler Evans is also under consideration for a first-team debut

Leicestershire supporters could see two debutants when the Foxes return to red-ball action next week.

George Rhodes, signed from Worcestershire on a three-year deal starting in October, has arrived early at the Fischer County Ground on loan until the end of the season.

The 25-year-old, who is the son of former Yorkshire, Worcestershire and England wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes, will be in the squad for the match against Northamptonshire, and head coach Paul Nixon will be keen to give him an early opportunity to make an impression.

Rhodes played just 21 matches over three years after making his first-class debut for Worcestershire in 2016, scoring 745 runs in 39 innings at an average of 21, with a best of 59.

Leicestershire clearly believe the List A century he scored against Yorkshire earlier this season is a more accurate demonstration of his potential.

Teenage seam bowler Alex Evans is also under consideration for a first-team debut, after picking up five for 58 from 19 overs in the Second XI Championship Final against Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl earlier this week.

Bedford-born Evans, who only turned 19 last month, did play two first-class fixtures for Loughborough MCCU, against Leicestershire and Kent in March.

He took three for 49 in 19 overs at Canterbury, with all three victims top-order batsmen.

^{Rhodes has joined on loan for the rest of the season before starting a three-year deal}

"Both players are very much in the reckoning," said Nixon, who is demanding a strong finish to the season from a squad which, after an encouraging start with victory at Sussex, has failed to win any of their previous 10 championship fixtures, dropping to the bottom of Division Two.

Two wins in their final three games, against Northamptonshire, against Glamorgan in Cardiff, and then Lancashire at the Fischer County Ground, would ensure a more respectable finishing position and lift the whole club after another challenging season, on and off the field.

"We need to show the same sort of spirit we showed in saving the game against Durham in our last match," Nixon said.

"All three of our opponents in September will be fighting for promotion, but Durham would have gone second if they'd beaten us, they came at us hard all day, but we didn't give an inch.

"If we show that attitude over our last three games we can come out with a good haul of points and lift ourselves up the table."

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The Durham game saw a superb unbeaten century from Mark Cosgrove, his first three-figure score for Leicestershire for over two years, marking a significant return to form for the Australian.

The Foxes have badly missed his usual weight of runs and a run of high scores would make a huge difference to their chances of picking up wins.

Supporters will also be looking forward to seeing the return to action of Hassan Azad, who needs just another 39 runs to reach 1,000 championship runs for the season, an outstanding return from 20 innings in his first full season.

Azad's last nine first-class scores are 137, 100 not out, 92, 14, 62, 1, 121, 53 and 57, and he is averaging 56.52: only Australian Test star Marnus Labuschagne (1114 in 18 innings for Glamorgan) and South Africa international Dane Vilas (965 in 13 innings for Lancashire) have scored more runs in the second division.

Courtesy of the ECB Reporters Network