MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire vs Northamptonshire
Rain has dominated the last week in English Cricket.
Lancashire vs Northamptonshire
LV= Insurance County Championship, Division One
Tuesday July 25 - Friday July 28, 2023, 11am
Emirates Old Trafford
Not only did the weather ruin England’s chances of a famous Ashes victory over Australia at Emirates Old Trafford, it also put the kibosh on Lancashire’s hopes of beating Warwickshire in the Championship at Edgbaston last week.
The Red Rose played much the better cricket down in Birmingham and went into the final day on 182-6 in their second innings, leading by 297. But a washout ensued and it was draw number six from nine games instead of win number three.
It means Keaton Jennings and company are firmly placed in mid-table with five fixtures remaining, sixth with 100 points - 61 behind leaders Surrey with a game in hand.
It’s at the other end of the table we look for this fixture, given visitors Northamptonshire are bottom having lost six of nine games.
Their 50 points leaves them 26 behind third-bottom Kent with a game in hand. They aren’t cut adrift yet, but they need a couple of wins pretty quickly.
This is the first of back-to-back meetings with Luke Procter’s side, who also host Lancashire at Wantage Road on September 3 - the first four-day game back after the forthcoming five-week break for the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, which starts next week.
Opponents:
It hasn’t been the debut captaincy campaign that former Lancashire Championship winner Luke Procter would have wanted, him leading the Midlanders in four-day cricket this season, replacing Ricardo Vasconcelos.
Northamptonshire - not Northants, it’s a nickname the county dislike - won their second game of the season at home to Middlesex in April. But they have only drawn two other fixtures and lost six.
The county were beaten at home by nine wickets inside three days against Somerset at Wantage Road last week.
Rob Keogh, who also bowls handy off-spin, is their leading run-scorer with 535, while English-born Australian left-hander Sam Whiteman - their overseas player - is just behind with 526.
Whiteman has scored two centuries in the Championship this season and Keogh one. No one else has reached three figures, indicating their troubles.
Kendal-born seamer Curtley-Jack White has been their leading wicket-taker with 28.
As aforementioned, Northamptonshire are not yet cut adrift at the bottom of Division One given they are 26 points behind third-bottom Kent with a game in hand.
But with back-to-back games against Lancashire now and in early September, they simply can’t afford to lose both of them.
Opposing player to watch:
Left-handed opening batter Emilio Gay is one of Northamptonshire’s two big future batting hopes. The other is fellow leftie Saif Zaib.
Gay is a tall batter from Bedford, coming through the same school system as Sir Alastair Cook (Bedford School).
The 23-year-old bats with more of a flourish than Cook does, and he has scored 392 runs from five Championship matches this season.
His best of three first-class centuries in 33 career appearances so far represents a score of 145, and he has been spoken about for future England Lions honours.
Previous meeting:
Lancashire beat Northamptonshire by four wickets at Wantage Road almost this time last year (July 19-22). It was a game which was played amidst a heatwave across the UK, shortening the opening day of the fixture to avoid extreme heat.
The Red Rose bounced back from conceding a first-innings lead of 103, chasing down 278 thanks to Josh Bohannon’s fine 103 off 168 balls - the other score above 60 in the match.
Indian all-rounder Washington Sundar made his debut for Lancashire, claiming five wickets with his off-spin as Northamptonshire were bowled out for 235 early on day two.
CJ White also claimed five wickets as Lancashire responded with 132 all out. But the game changed in the second innings, with new ball seamers Will Williams and Tom Bailey sharing nine wickets as the hosts were bowled out for 178.
Williams finished with 5-41 and Bailey 4-65 before Bohannon’s super century set up a pretty straightforwards chase. There was a slight concern when he fell to leave the score at 209-6, 69 still required.
But Williams (29) and Sundar (34) shared an unbroken seventh-wicket stand to seal a 19-point victory.
What they said:
Keaton Jennings is backing George Balderson to turn his first career first-class century into number two and many more on top after the 22-year-old’s superb 116 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston last week.
Balderson helped Lancashire recover from 91-5 in the first innings to 327 all out, the all-rounder going a long way to ensure the visitors were able to drive the game.
The versatile left-hander scored a 50-over century in last season’s One-Day Cup, but to do it against the red ball has given him significant confidence.
Balderson has only played six matches in the Championship this season, but with the likes of Rob Jones departing for Worcestershire ahead of next season he is now set for greater opportunity.
Jennings is convinced he will grab it with both hands.
The captain said: “I hope he continues to learn and grow and continues to enjoy his cricket because he’s got a really good future ahead of him. It’s fantastic to see.
“Baldy said it himself, there was a bit of relief because you know you’ve done it.
“It’s that sort of bursting of a bubble, and you think, ‘I’ve done it once and I can do it again’. Then you do it again and you start to get into that rhythm of how to get hundreds, which will be his next step.
“I’m really happy for him, especially with the way he’s gone about his work. He’s done a lot of work in the last two or three weeks - analysis of his own game and a lot of graft in the nets with a lot of coaches.
“To see him go out and score runs, in the areas he’s worked on, against a high-quality attack is really satisfying.”
On the clash with Northamptonshire, which will hopefully not be dominated by the weather, Jennings added: “Every team in Division One is outstandingly strong. We’re playing good cricket - we just need to continue to do that.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire have only lost once against Northamptonshire in the Championship in the 21st century (2005 at Wantage Road). The Red Rose have won eight and drawn eight against this opponent since the turn of the century.