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Champions could rue Simmons loss

Only time will tell whether the absence of Phil Simmons scuppers Leicestershire's hopes of retaining the championship title they won with such panache last summer.

Simmons has been replaced by Michael Kasprowicz as the overseas player at Leicester, while James Whitaker is due to return as captain for today's opening match against Essex, the bottom side, at Chelmsford after missing more or less the entire 1998 season with a knee injury.

Leicestershire still have enough talent to be gunning for a third championship in four years, but the loss of Simmons could be crucial. He was a dynamic figure in the county's two recent title seasons in 1996 and last year and even when the Trinidadian endured a miserable time with the bat last summer, averaging just under 25, Leicestershire strung together good results.

David Collier, the county's chief executive, said the county had reluctantly decided to replace Simmons once he had been named in the West Indies preliminary World Cup squad of 19.

However, he admitted: ``He was one of those characters who has as much impact off the field as he does on the field.''

Kasprowicz, a reliable Test seam bowler for Australia, returns to county cricket a much better player than in his season with Essex in 1994, but he is unlikely to contribute as much as the charismatic Simmons.

Other new signings are seamer Scott Boswell, from Northamptonshire, and two leg-spinners in Amer Khan, from Middlesex via Sussex, and Atul Sachteva, 18, a medical student at Leicester University, who excelled in second-team cricket last year.

The county enjoyed a productive 12 days pre-season in Sri Lanka, where Chris Lewis deputised for Whitaker as captain. The opposition fielded against them proved especially strong, and Leicestershire are anxious to reciprocate when Sri Lanka play their final World Cup warm-up game against them at Grace Road on May 11.

The Grace Road ground, meanwhile, has been improved with the scoreboard upgraded to electronic at a cost of £105,000, a new media centre at the car park end and an extension to the indoor school.

With the canny Jack Birkenshaw continuing as coach and manager, all the titles on offer are within Leicestershire's reach.