Leicestershire Cricket Club’s Cumbrian head coach Paul Nixon admits he has some selection problems after their winning start to the 2019 County Championship Division Two season.

The Foxes beat Sussex by seven wickets, with Mark Cosgrove (53 not out) and Colin Ackermann (24 not out) sealing the victory on Monday.

“I’m absolutely delighted. The way the boys stuck in there, you know it’s a marathon in four-day cricket, and the boys played beautifully,” the 48-year-old, from Langwathby, said.

“To watch the captain Paul Horton and Hassan Azad show true application under pressure [both scoring half-centuries] – the final innings is always a high-pressure time and the manner in which they played is exactly the way they practised and played in the winter. To win big games against teams like Sussex – it’s the first time we have won here in 17 years, I believe – and to do so you need a collective, it can’t just be one or two people scoring the runs.”

At the start of the third day, Sussex appeared to be in control. But great displays from Ackermann and Tom Taylor, who shared nine second-innings wickets, left the Foxes with a chase of 230.

“I’ve got to give credit to Paul,” Nixon told the club website on the impact of words from his captain in a critical period of the game.

“The wicket was losing its pace and the ball was getting older and he said: ‘This is the time in the match that we have to get a hold of it.’ He asked the guys to stand up; we were off the pace and he asked us to lift everything.

"The guys did that straightaway as soon as they went out [on day three], Tommy opened the door for us with a wicket with his fifth ball, and we had momentum.”

Leicestershire will begin their first County Championship home fixture against Worcestershire tomorrow.

Cleator’s Graham Clark, meanwhile, notched a century as Durham’s Second XI won a friendly at Essex.

* Carlisle Cricket Club young prospect Charlie Hutchinson this week will head to India with Excel Cricket Coaching.