With the Big Show in tow, Lancashire ought to jump straight back to Division One

COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP PREVIEW: It would be something of a scandal if the Red Rose is not playing in the newly expanded top tier in 2020

lancs260302-min

Ins: Glenn Maxwell, Joe Burns, Richard Gleeson (Northamptonshire), George Lavelle, George Balderson, Jack Morley, Tom Hartley (all youth)

Outs: Jordan Clark (Surrey), Arron Lilley (Leicestershire), Simon Kerrigan, Karl Brown (both released)

Fixture list: April 11 - Middlesex (a); May 14 - Northamptonshire (h); May 20 - Worcestershire (h); May 27 - Gloucestershire (a - Cheltenham); June 3 - Leicestershire (h, Liverpool); June 10 - Worcestershire (a); June 17 - Derbyshire (a); June 30 - Durham (h, Sedbergh); July 7 - Northamptonshire (a); July 13 - Sussex (h); August 18 - Glamorgan (a, Colwyn Bay); September 10 - Derbyshire (h); September 16 - Middlesex (h); September 23 - Leicestershire (a)

Remind me what happened last year?

Oh dear. It was not a good season to be a Lancashire cricket fan. Bickering between members and club, a miserable stream of results and, at the end of it all, a relegation by virtue of having won fewer games than Nottinghamshire, with a point having been taken off their tally for an over-rate offence in mid-July. Yeah, it was a bad’un.

Lancashire only won three matches, and one of those came after their fate was confirmed. They picked up more bowling bonus points than any other side in the division, led by PCA Championship Player of the Year Tom Bailey, and no one in the bottom half of Division One collected more with the bat. Yet too often they capitulated - on six occasions they were bowled out for less than 200 in their first innings.

There were highlights - Jordan Clark’s hat-trick to end all hat-tricks in the Roses match (Root-Williamson-Bairstow… phwoar) and the tied game in Taunton instantly come to mind, as does Liam Livingstone protecting a broken thumb with a thighpad in a vain attempt to avoid defeat by Yorkshire - but they were far too few and even further in between.

lancs260301-min

Lancashire are looking to bounce back after relegation

What’s happened over the winter?

Liam Livingstone resigned the captaincy after a difficult time in charge, with Dane Vilas - who had a mighty fine 2018 that included 54 dismissals, 792 runs and a bumper double-century against Somerset - taking on the role.

Livingstone said he had mulled “long and hard” over the decision but decided to stand aside “to put the team’s interests first”. Tom Bailey has been tied to a new contract, while in a backroom reshuffle Karl Krikken became performance manager and Mark Chilton added the position of performance director to that of Glen Chapple’s assistant coach.

Paul Allott, the director of cricket, further enraged an already embittered hardcore support by claiming that there is “nowhere else in Lancashire where there is a decent four-day pitch that is capable of staging a first-class game” after announcing that Sedbergh School (in the Cumbrian Yorkshire Dales) would host the clash with Durham. Southport and Blackpool were left feeling like jilted lovers.

VISIT THE COUNTY HUB: Your one-stop shop for English domestic cricket

Who’s arrived and who’s left?

Lancashire made a major statement in December by securing the services of Glenn Maxwell for all forms of cricket in the run-up to the World Cup.

Maxwell could play in five Championship games as he tries to convince the Australian selectors that he is worth an Ashes place - a process which might as well involve the allrounder smashing his forehead into a wall.

Compatriot Joe Burns will be available for 10 four-day matches and provides a secure pair of hands at the top of the order. Jordan Clark’s departure to Surrey is the highest-profile of all the outs, while Lancs bid a sad farewell to Simon Kerrigan, whose struggles had led him to taking a break from the game in April.

lancs260303-min

Tom Bailey was excellent in 2018

Who will be the key men in 2019?

Liam Livingstone had an injury-affected 2018 and when he did play his form was wretched. Whether the strain of captaincy was a major factor in that will only really be clear once he has a run of games in 2019.

He has been in prolific form with Karachi Kings in the Pakistan Super League, though, and once he returns from the IPL - where he links up with Lancs teammate Jos Buttler - much will be expected of him at Old Trafford. In the early season, though, his county will need the likes of Dane Vilas, Keaton Jennings (who seems set to lose his Test place) and Alex Davies to build scores.

And then there is the Aussie connection. Maxwell and Burns should make stacks of runs in Division Two. If they don’t, what ought to be a banker promotion could be undermined.

If Matt Parkinson can stay fit, he could start to make England selectors place him under serious consideration, while it will be interesting to see whether Tom Bailey can recreate his phenomenal form from 2018.

What can we expect from this team this season?

It really ought to be promotion. There is a lot of class in the batting lineup and plenty of variation with the ball. It would be something of a scandal if the Red Rose is not playing in the newly expanded top tier in 2020.

Prediction: 1st

ecb_winner_web_ad

Comments

LATEST NEWS

STAY UP TO DATE Sign up to our newsletter...
SIGN UP

Thank You! Thank you for subscribing!

Edinburgh House, 170 Kennington Lane, London, SE115DP

website@thecricketer.com

Welcome to www.thecricketer.com - the online home of the world’s oldest cricket magazine. Breaking news, interviews, opinion and cricket goodness from every corner of our beautiful sport, from village green to national arena.