Rib injury ends Nick Kelly’s Leicestershire season after cup-final century

Nick Kelly's season with Leicestershire has ended because of a rib injury, removing one of the county's leading contributors in its past two matches from the final stage of its relegation battle. BBC Sport reported the setback on Wednesday, and Leicestershire confirmed that the New Zealand batter would not travel to Edgbaston for the County Championship fixture against Warwickshire.

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The 33-year-old was injured during last week's victory over Hampshire, according to the BBC. He nevertheless played in Sunday's One-Day Cup final at Trent Bridge, where he scored 103 in defeat by Middlesex. Leicestershire's latest squad update said the rib problem had worsened and ruled him out of any further involvement this campaign. The BBC put his Championship return at 405 runs from eight appearances.

Kelly's importance was evident in the five-wicket win over Hampshire on 18 September. Leicestershire's match report recorded his 86 and a fifth-wicket partnership of 158 with Ben Cox, who finished unbeaten on 75, as the Foxes successfully pursued a target of 334. That result relegated Hampshire while keeping Leicestershire's own mathematical chance of remaining in Division One alive.

Two days later, Kelly again supplied the bulk of Leicestershire's resistance. The club's report of the cup final detailed his 103 from 107 balls after the side had fallen to 79 for five. Middlesex had made 231, and Leicestershire were dismissed for 200 to lose by 31 runs. Kelly's century was therefore not enough to deliver a trophy before the injury ended his season.

Kelly is not the only player missing from Leicestershire's latest squad. The club confirmed that Rehan Ahmed is away with England, while Warwickshire loanee Hamza Shaikh cannot play against his parent county. Nathan Gilchrist has also returned to Warwickshire after completing a two-match loan that concluded with the Hampshire fixture, leaving further changes necessary alongside Kelly's absence.

Leicestershire identified Sol Budinger and Jonny Tattersall as batting options rather than confirmed selections. Budinger could make his first red-ball appearance since the visit to Essex on 15 May, while Tattersall is being considered as a specialist batter. Those alternatives leave the county with decisions to make after losing the player who top-scored in both the Hampshire run chase and the cup final.