David Fulton has taken special delight in the effervescent all-round contributions of Darren Stevens, who had bowled more first-class overs by the end of June than in eight summers at Grace Road.

�..I was instrumental in getting him here,�.� the former captain says, with no trace of false modesty, of a player whose talent had plainly been going to seed. �..Leicestershire had released him but the people I spoke to there �.. Paul Nixon, Neil Burns and others �.. all said he had ability. Being released focuses the mind.

�..He�..s a very talented guy coming of age. He�..d like to have scored a few more runs early on [this season] but he�..s made up for it to an extent with his bowling. He�..s a handful in the right conditions, the way he swings and nibbles. He�..s been working on making off-spin a third string to his bow and at Old Trafford he asked if he could try it out. Martin van Jaarsveld, who was acting captain, gave him a shot �.. and he got Stuart Law, which isn�..t shabby.

Rob Steen, The Wisden Cricketer