PETER Martin could miss Lancashire's title run-in after his second thumb injury of the season.

"I don't know whether to laugh or cry," said Martin at Grace Road where he hurt himself in pre-match practice and then saw Lancashire struggle without him in the key championship clash against Leicester.

"To get two thumb injuries in the space of a few weeks after going 12 years without any serious problem is ridiculous."

Martin cracked the top of his left thumb trying to take a one-handed catch in Lancashire's warm-up. It would have been only his second championship appearance after missing 10 weeks with a badly broken right thumb, sustained when facing Dominic Cork in May.

Lancashire brought in Glen Chapple to replace him yesterday, but they missed Martin badly as Leicester recovered from 70-4 to build a formidable total on a pitch expected to wear over the next three days.

Martin added: "It was a soft way to get another injury. We were having catching practice and I tried to take it one-handed and got it wrong."

Aftab Habib engineered the Leicester fightback, first with burly left-hander Jon Dakin and then with ex-Lancashire star Phil Defreitas who finished unbeaten on 90 in their 362-7 before being all out for 372 today.