Lancashire Story

[UTBash]

I'm putting my England story on hold for the time being and want to come away from an international story. You may remember I started a Lancs story a while ago and I lost that save because of my Laptop breaking, so I'll be starting a Lancashire story again.

Targets:
First Class: Avoid relegation.
Challenge Trophy:Top Half of Group.
T20 Cup: Semi Final.

Lancashire CCC 2012 Squad

Batsmen

Stephen Moore - 31 - Left Handed Opening Bat
The experienced opener will be a vital part of our batting line up this season. I expect him to be one of our top run scorers.

Paul Horton - 29 - Right Handed Opening Bat
As with Moore, Horton has similar if not higher expectations. His First Class average is just short of 40 but I'm hoping he can average higher than that this season.

Karl Brown - 23 - Right Handed Opening Bat
Karl will be our back up opening batsman, but may possibly be used in the middle order throughout the season.

Ashwell Prince (Overseas) - 34 - Left Handed Bat
I don't have to say too much about Prince, if Horton and Moore are vital, he is something else. We need him to be our main batsman in all forms if we want to stay in CCD1 and compete in the shorter formats.

Andrea Agathangelou - 22 - Right Handed Bat
The young batsman may be used as part of the middle/lower order in some games. I can't imagine I'll use him too often in the longer format, but he may get more of a chance in the List A and T20 games. He also bowls a cheeky bit of leg spin which may be used on the odd occasion.

Steve Croft - 27 - Right Handed Bat
Crofty will need to step up his game this season and will be used in all formats. If needed he can be used as a part time bowler due to his medium pace.

Jordan Clark - 21 - Right Handed Bat
I can't imagine Clark will play many first class games but if he gets a chance and takes it he may. He'll probably be given a chance in the shorter game and if needs be can put on the gloves to keep.

Julian Ellery - 21 - Right Handed Bat
New youth signing Julian Ellery is one of my own signings. So of course he will get a chance! To be fair he is averaging 55 in the 2nd team, which is more than any of our young players!

Younis Khan (Reserve Overseas) - 34 - Right Handed Bat
An excellent Pakistani Batsman who, if needed, will need to make up for Ashwell Prince's runs.

Wicket Keepers

Gareth Cross - 27 - Right Handed Bat
Cross is under immense pressure by the two young lads who can keep, Davies and Clark. He needs to step up as a senior player early on to keep his place in the side.

Alex Davies - 17 - Right Handed Bat
A 17 year old with bags of potential. Played in the U19's world cup in real life last month. Despite being 17 he may push for a place if Cross fails us.

All Rounders

Luke Proctor - 23 - Left Handed Bat, Right Arm Fast-Medium
Another inexperienced but talented player. Expect a lot in the future from him. This year I expect a reasonable contribution with both bat and ball.

Tom Smith - 26 - Left Handed Bat, Right Arm Fast-Medium
I'm hoping that when called upon Tom will do a good all round job for us, he may be used more in one day games than First Class games.

Yasir Arafat (T20 only) - 30 - Right Handed Bat, Right Arm Fast-Medium
The experienced Pakistani will play a big part in our bid to be successful in the T20 competition, especially with the ball.

Bowlers

James Anderson - 29 - Right Arm Medium-Fast
When he's not on England duty he will need to be in top form and lead the attack!

Glen Chapple - 38 - Right Arm Fast-Medium
The veteran seamer will still play a big part despite probably being in his last season. He'll also boost our batting order with some handy innings' at the end.

Kyle Hogg - 28 - Right Arm Fast-Medium
After a successful 2011 season, we'll be hoping for Hoggy to continue that form. Another handy batsman also.

Gary Keedy - 37 - Slow Left Arm
Another veteran bowler, however his chances may be limited due to the rise of Simon Kerrigan.

Simon Kerrigan - 22 - Slow Left Arm
I'm expecting big things from the young spinner! Bags of talent and potential and will be very important as our main spinner. I just hope he can handle that pressure.

Saj Mahmood - 30 - Right Arm Medium-Fast
The erratic ex England man will spend most of the season in the 2nd's and may get the odd first class game.

Oliver Newby - 27 - Right Arm Fast-Medium
Probably will be a back-up seamer, or maybe a back-up, back-up seamer.

Stephen Parry - 26 - Slow Left Arm
Parry probably won't be used much or at all in first class games, but will play a part in our List A campaign.

Ajmal Shahzad - 26 - Right Arm Medium-Fast
He'll probably start in the 2's but come into the squad. I expect him to play a part and hopefully do well enough to create a selection dilemma, the more performers the better.

Naqaash Tahir - 28 - Right Arm Medium-Fast
I'm not sure he'll play much of a part to be honest, but who knows.

[UTBash]

First Class Friendlies

Comprehensive! In other news Notts bowled Loughboro out for 26!





Two decent practice matches. Our batting needs to find some consistency though.

However, Luke Proctor will miss the start of the season after a fracture has ruled him out for 3 weeks.

[DaveK93]

Looks like a good squad, good luck!

[UTBash]

Lancashire vs Sussex (CCD1)

Here is our first First Class game, and the teams.

Lancashire: Horton, Moore, Prince, Ellery, Croft, Brown, Cross, Hogg, Chapple, Anderson, Kerrigan.
Sussex: Joyce, Nash, Goodwin, Prior, Yardy, Gatting, Brown, Magoffin, Arif, Khan, Panesar.

On paper, Sussex slightly edge it in the batting department, but we have four quality bowlers. The pitch is an extremely flat pitch and the weather is supposed to stay decent until the third day.

The Match

We won the toss and batted.

Lancs 1st Inns
It was a lower order revive that stopped us being bowled out for under 150. Kyle Hogg (82) and Glen Chapple (32*) made a 75 partnership late on to save us. As well as that, Hogg and Cross made a 56 partnership when we were 104-6. Their 4 bowlers all shared wickets.

Sussex 1st Inns
It was part timer Steve Croft who took the first wicket when Sussex were 151. From there we didn't bowl any better, allowing Sussex to amass a total of 495 all out. Croft took 3 wickets and only bowled 15 overs, in comparison to Anderson and Chapple bowling just over 30 each, taking one wicket between them, and being hit for over 100 runs..... We had our work cut out to save the game.

Lancs 2nd Inns
Survival was key in this innings. We finished day 3 with two wickets gone, trailing by 137. Ellery (110)supported Horton (126) maturely, as we took the lead in the afternoon session. Their partnership was worth 199. Despite a Croft golden duck and a failure from Cross and Brown, Hogg and Chapple were there to show their batting capabilities once again, batting the final day out to play the draw.



Result: Match Drawn. Lancs 5 points, Sussex 10 points.

Other CCD1 Results
Middlesex beat Surrey by 141 runs.
Warwickshire beat Somerset by 6 wickets.
Durham beat Nottinghamshire by 67 runs.

Despite the draw, we managed just 2 bonus points which leaves us in 8th, however we have a game in hand on many teams.

[UTBash]

Lancashire vs Warwickshire (CCD1)

We play a strong Warwickshire side who won their first game, we remain unchanged.

Wow, a strong side! I tip them for a top 3 finish!

Warwickshire XI: Chopra, Westwood, Bell, Trott, Ambrose, Troughton, Woakes, Barker, Clarke, Wright, Rankin.

The Match

Warwickshire won the toss and chose to bat.

Warks 1st Inns
The first day of cricket was one of ups and downs. We started off well leaving them 37-2, but England men Trott (72) and Bell (157) made a stand of 178. However in the final session we turned it around again leaving them 339-7 at the close. The depth in their batting was shown when Clarke (54) provided a good stand with Wright in the lower order.

Lancs 1st Inns
We started excellently, with an opening partnership of 148. Our top 3 batsmen all passed fifty, but unfortunately, our weak middle order failed us as we were bowled out for 293. We failed to avoid the follow on and even worse, our keeper Cross was forced to retire hurt.

Lancs 2nd Inns
Simply appauling. 142 all out and lost. Steve Croft has scored 12 runs in four innings', and his highest score is 11........



Result: Warks win by an innings/21 runs. Lancs 4 points, Warks 22 points.

Other CCD1 Results
Surrey beat Worcestershire by an inns/92 runs.
Somerset beat Nottinghamshire by 42 runs.
Middlesex beat Durham by 222 runs.

[UTBash]

Somerset vs Lancashire (CCD1)

Cross is ruled out for 7 weeks so Davies is given the nod instead of Clark, the middle order is given another chance with a re-jig of the batting order.

Lancs: Horton, Moore, Ellery, Brown, Prince, Croft, Davies, Hogg, Chapple, Anderson, Kerrigan.

Somerset XI: Trescothick, Suppiah, Compton, Kieswetter, Hildreth, Buttler, Trego, Philander, Dockrell, Hussain, Kirby.

Somerset are better on paper with great quality in both departments, it's going to be another tough one.

The Match

We won the toss and chose to bat.

Lancs 1st Inns
We started well, seeing off the new ball as Somerset held the dangerous Philander back after bowling just 3 overs. However he returned before the end of the first session to dismiss Horton for 39 and we ended the session 98-1. Despite Ellery going cheaply, Moore and Brown made a healthy 69 partnership before Moore fell painfull close to a century on 95. We did collapse slightly, our middle order patching up seemed to have worked in a way, as Brown and Prince both held the middle order together passing fifty each. We finished with a platform to build on mind.

Somerset 1st Inns
Our bowling needs to drastically improve, we're struggling to bowl teams out! Steven Croft took 5 wickets despite going at 6 an over when he was brought on as a last resort to bowl a decent wicket taking spell! He's been one of out
r best bowlers. Anyway they declared halfway through day 3 with a lead of 138 with three partnerships over 100 to start with. They were actually 427-3 before Croft came on.

Lancs 2nd Inns
Once again we were awful. Philander showed his class by taking his tenth wicket in the match. Croft made his third golden duck of the season, he's supposed to be a batsman not a bowler. I'm certain he will come good and I do have faith in him. You know its bad when Prince is not out twice when batting at 5. They need 77 to win.

Somerset 2nd Inns
As expected we lost, but we didn't make it as easy as it could've been. (Can't you tell I'm trying to be optimistic here ). Anyway, this is a start to forget and hopefully we can stop the rot some time soon.



Result: Somerset win by 6 wickets.

Other CCD1 Results
Worcestershire beat Nottinghamshire by an Inns/10 runs.
Sussex beat Warwickshire by 207 runs.
Durham beat Surrey by 161 runs.

[UTBash]

CCD1 Table Update

We're already in a desperate position, being the only team not to win a game. I do however feel that we will struggle in the CCD1 this season due to having a young side and not too much real quality. We certainly don't have a star like a lot of the other sides.

[UTBash]

Lancashire vs Nottinghamshire (CCD1)

We welcome a very good, but out of form Notts side. We also welcome all rounder Luke Proctor back into the squad, he replaces Ellery. Prince goes back to 3 and Proctor takes 5th position in the order.

Notts XI: Hales, Edwards, Taylor, Voges, Patel, Wessels, Read, Broad, Swann, Adams, Fletcher.

The Match

We won the toss and batted.

Lancs 1st Inns
Prince continues to lead the batting order, scoring a very good 98! 17 year old Davies made his maiden First Class half century, providing a good innings lower in the order to take us over 300 to pick up what could be another vital bonus point. Broad started off rusty but came back to polish off the tail as we were 310 all out.

Notts 1st Inns
We finally bowled with some real purpose! We managed an early wicket and Chapple's aggressive first spell resulted in James Taylor retiring hurt. Only Edwards and Patel put up a fight as we bowled them out for 219, with Anderson taking his first 5 wicket haul of the season.

Lancs 2nd Inns
The important part of this innings will be the declaration, if we get to that part. We started the 3rd day with a lead of 121. Only Moore, Brown and Prince passed 40 runs. But we reached a position I would've like us to be in. We were bowled out with a lead of 327 with half a session to go in the 3rd day.

Notts 2nd Inns
Just 9 wickets to take, and hopefully we can get into their batsmen before the close of the 3rd day. Notts ended day 3 on 44-1, with Hogg taking the first wicket. A decent first session for us, they were 147-5, we needed 4 wickets and they needed 181 to win. All our bowlers had stepped up sharing the wickets between themselves. Anderson once again led the way with 5 more wickets as we won by 105 runs. A great scalp for us.



Result: Lancs win by 105 runs. Lancs 21 points, Notts 4 points.

Other CCD1 Results
Durham beat Warwickshire by 10 wickets

[DaveK93]

It depresses me to see Notts lose so easily

[UTBash]

Lancashire vs Leicestershire (Challenge Trophy)

So, after a good win against Notts, we change to the 40 over game as we welcome Leicestershire. Hopefully we'll get a decent start in this form of the game.

We have quite a few changes, due to fitness reasons mainly, but also as I feel some players are more fitted to the shorter formats and therefore deserve a chance of some cricket.

Lancs XI: Horton(c), Smith, Croft, Prince, Brown, Moore, Davies(wk), Hogg, Parry, Anderson, Kerrigan.
Leics XI: Jefferson, Du Toit, Ali, Eckersley, Boyce, Cobb, White, Naik, Henderson, Joseph, Hoggard.

The Match

We won the toss and bowled first.

Leics Innings
Tom Smith took the new ball with Kyle Hogg, with Anderson being saved. Hogg was the main opener, taking 3 wickets in the first two powerplays. The spin twins followed Smith and Hogg after they bowled out and Leics were 76-3 from 16 overs. Parry struggled to keep it tight and after 4 overs was replaced by Croft, who struck in his first over. After 25 overs, they were 126-5, we decided to try and turn the screw from here on in and bowl aggressively for a few overs. It paid off, and we reduced them to 143-9 before a decent final wicket partnership took them to 190 all out. Croft once again impressed with the ball, taking 4 wickets.

Lancs Innings (191 required)
We struggled to get a decent start and Horton fell for 3 from 14 balls, Smith with 5 from the same amount of balls. In came Croft and Prince, who managed to release some pressure before falling at similar times, much like the openers. Croft with 34 from 22 and Prince with 17 from 16. There was a very long way to go, 66-4 from 13. Moore fell for 34 as we fell to 105-5, it was Davies' chance now, with Karl Brown needing to take the main role and responsibility now. Young Davies struggled to rotate the strike and Brown crumbled in the end, although his innings was a decent one. 169-6 from 35, 22 runs needed from 5 overs.... We're in a better position than they were right? The now set Davies took 5 from the next over, keeping us in touch. The 38th over was a biggy for us as we picked up 9 from that over. 7 from 12 balls! Davies managed to hold his nerve, but after hitting a 4 the first ball he failed to score another run in the over! 3 from 6 needed...........

First Ball: One to Hogg, 2 from 5 needed.
Second Ball: GONE! Davies hauls out to mid on, 2 from 4 needed.
Third Ball: DOT BALL! Parry plays his first ball back to Joseph. 2 from 3 needed.
Fourth Ball: DOT BALL! Parry plays and misses! 2 from 2 needed.
Fifth Ball: NOT OUT! Parry misses the ball and is given not out as the ball racks against his pads! 2 from 1 needed.
Sixth Ball: OUT! BOWLED! Leicestershire win by 1 run! Parry just wasn't good enough!

Wow, what a finish. Very disappointing to be fair, Parry couldn't get bat on ball!!



Result: Leicestershire win by 1 run.

Other Group A Results
Gloucestershire beat Netherlands by 97 runs.

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Sussex vs Lancashire (CCD1)

Hopefully we'll carry on from the good win against Notts as we field the same team from that game!

Sussex: Joyce, Nash, Goodwin, Prior, Gatting, Yardy, Brown, Magoffin, Arif, Anyon, Panesar.

The Match

Sussex won the toss and batted first.

Sussex 1st Inns
Kerrigan finally found his first class form, bowling almost 40 overs and taking 6-97. Sussex batted well with everyone but Monty reaching double figures. We missed out on the full bowling points by 2 overs, but as long as we batted well we were in a position to take a result from the game, hopefully!

Lancs 1st Inns
We didn't have the best of starts, losing Horton for 1. After a rebuild by Moore (42) and Prince who was still not out on 50, we collapsed to 113 when Panesar showed the joys of being a spinner on this track. We failed to avoid the follow on, being bowled out for 184, Prince left stranded on 88! 7 of our batsmen scored 21 between them.

Lancs 2nd Inns
Great, Horton gone first over for 0. Our saviour Prince went for just 26 as we fell to 40-2 in a dangerous position. THANK GOD! Saved by rain, the whole 3rd day was a washout, and from here we could get a draw easily, or so I think at this moment...... 2 wickets down, final day, trail by 136, what's the worst that could happen? Well, 287 all out isn't too bad! Moore and Proctor both scored 70's, Croft scored, erm, 2, taking his run tally to 43... for the season! Haha.

Sussex 2nd Inns
95 needed from half a session! What do I do here?!? They had to have a go, and they got into a position where they needed 16 from 3 overs, the nerves are going here! 6 came from Anderson's over and Kerrigan stepped up to bowl the penultimate over. It was a good one going for just 3. Anderson on, 7 from 6 needed. I never thought I'd do one of these for a First Class game but here goes.....

First Ball: NOT OUT! LBW appealed, but a big dot ball. 7 from 5 needed.
Second Ball: 1 run! Inside edge from Gatting. 6 from 4 needed.
Third Ball: 2 runs to Yardy! A wayward ball just stops before the boundary, lucky for Jimmy. 4 from 3 needed.
Fourth Ball: HEARTBREAK! Yardy squirms a chinese cut down to fine leg for 4! Why do you do this to me ICC



Result: Sussex win by 6 wickets. Sussex 23 points, Lancs 2 points.

Other CCD1 results
Somerset drew with Durham.
Nottinghamshire beat Middlesex by 9 wickets.
Surrey drew with Worcestershire.

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Warwickshire vs Lancashire (CCD1)

We're looking to bounce back from our defeat at Sussex, and we do so with reserve overseas man Younis Khan in the line up, Ashwell Prince is out for 2 days, girl! Jimmy Anderson has received his call of duty for England which means Ajmal Shahzad gets his first game of the season.

Lancs XI: Horton, Moore, Proctor, Khan, Brown, Croft, Davies, Hogg, Chapple, Shahzad, Kerrigan.
Warwickshire XI: Chopra, Westwood, Ambrose, Troughton, Evans, Woakes, Barker, Clarke, Porterfield, Wright, Rankin.

We'll have to be on top bowling form against a side with an opener at number 9!

The Match

Warwickshire won the toss and chose to bat.

Warks 1st Inns
Despite their batting depth, we bowled extremely well to reduce them to just 233. They had two men pass fifty, in Evans and Clarke. Kyle and Keggsy took 4 wickets a piece with Ajmal and Glen taking one each. A good start.

Lancs 1st Inns
We started well, hitting 50 from the first ten overs and ending day on on 65-0! Horton (27) was the first man to go, with the score on 77. Moore and Proctor put on another 80 before Proctor fell for 26 with Moore not out on 80, next in, Younis Khan! Khan and Moore both took us past their total and soon after Khan was bowled for 41, Moore still staying strong on 122. It was the 102nd over, Moore was on 192, and a huge six and majestic four took him past 200, we were going strong at 370-3! He fell on 226, but the damage was done! Brown and Croft, yes Croft, both passed 50 and we declared on the 3rd day with a lead of 270! One half well done.

Warks 2nd Inns
Despite having them 220-7, their depth was displayed, as Porterfield and all rounder Keith Barker both made 50's to make sure the game wasn't over by an innings. However when their resistance was halted, they fell quickly to 375 all out. We needed 105 from a session and a half. Kerrigan took 4 wickets once again!

Lancs 1st Inns
Funny game is cricket! They got a bit giddy when they dismissed Moore for 1 and soon after Horton. But Proctor and Khan steadied the ship and took us home with ease!



Result: Lancashire win by 8 wickets.