CHRIS LEWIS returned to Leicestershire's side yesterday after his one-match suspension last week, but not as captain. It was Phil Simmons who led the side in an AXA League defeat that extinguished any mathematical chance of a runners-up finish.
Because the Leicestershire management had been less than candid about the circumstances surrounding Lewis's late arrival at training on Tuesday, Jack Birkenshaw's comments about Lewis's apparent demotion as stand-in captain were hard to interpret.
The manager said the England all-rounder needed ``breathing space'' and he added: ``We just want him to go out and enjoy his cricket and not have to worry about 10 other blokes.''
He implied that the captaincy, which had fallen to the vice-captain earlier than expected, owing to James Whitaker's long-term knee injury, was becoming a burden. This suggestion conflicted with previous reassuring noises about Lewis's standing as a potential leader.
Lewis had an outstanding match yesterday, and Aftab Habeeb batted confidently, but they could not claw back the advantage Paul Johnson had given Nottinghamshire with his 74 in 76 balls.
Before the game a minute's silence was observed to honour Alan Wheelhouse, Nottinghamshire's influential chairman, who died of cancer on Friday at the age of 64.
Wheelhouse won a Blue alongside Henry Blofeld at Cambridge, where he played under Ted Dexter's captaincy. His expertise as a lawyer was used to assist in the set-up of the England Cricket Board, and Lord MacLaurin in a tribute described his contribution to the game of cricket as ``immense''.
Nottinghamshire partially avenged Friday's championship defeat at Worksop, where the margin of defeat - an innings and 223 runs was discovered to be their third-heaviest in the championship against any county.
Johnson, who missed Worksop through illness, dominated Nottinghamshire's innings with his usual panache. Once he almost decapitated Lewis, his former Nottinghamshire team-mate, with a rasping straight drive, and it was Lewis, with a fine catch in the covers, who ended Johnson's entertaining innings.
A crucial factor in a lively contest was some accurate seam-bowling from Andy Oram.