MATCH PREVIEW: Yorkshire Vikings v Lancashire
Lancashire’s One Day Cup campaign got off to an encouraging but ultimately soggy start at beautiful Sedbergh School yesterday, the opening match of the tournament finishing in a rainy No Result against the Essex Eagles.
Yorkshire Vikings v Lancashire
Metro Bank One Day Cup, Group One
Thursday August 3, 2023, 11am
Scarborough Cricket Club, North Marine Road
A 36-overs-per-side contest saw the Red Rose post a commanding 270-7, an innings built around Dane Vilas’s excellent 65 off 44 balls from number four. Of the nine batters used, only Keaton Jennings failed to reach 20. And he made 19.
Essex were then tottering at 26-2 after six overs before the rain returned to the Cumbrian venue. Had another four overs been bowled, Lancashire would surely have won. However, it just wasn’t to be.
Now for the Roses clash in Scarborough or, as the locals call it, Scarbados.
Lancashire won last season’s clash at York but actually have a score to settle this season.
The only two Roses meetings of the summer have come in the Vitality Blast, and one of those was rained off at Emirates Old Trafford. A few weeks earlier, right at the start of June, the Vikings won at Headingley by 15 runs.
Yorkshire started their campaign with a defeat against champions Kent Spitfires at Scarborough yesterday, beaten by two runs on Duckworth Lewis Stern.
Opponents:
Like Lancashire, Yorkshire’s squad has been one of the hardest hit by the Hundred. But also like Lancashire, they do have their club captain at the helm in Pakistan batter Shan Masood.
Masood skippered the side to a narrow defeat against Kent yesterday, a match in which Matthew Parkinson played for the visitors.
Kent recovered from 49-4 to 292-9, including a hat-trick for all-rounder Matthew Revis and a brilliant 3-16 from 10 overs with the new ball for Ben Coad.
Three rain stoppages then revised Yorkshire’s target, ultimately to 181 in 24 overs having come off at 53-2 after 11.
Some lusty hitting actually got them ahead of the rate, but they finished on 117-4 after 17 overs and were two runs short of the Duckworth Lewis Stern par score.
Yorkshire failed to qualify for the quarter-finals in the Blast and are out of the promotion running in Division Two of the Championship.
Opposing player to watch:
All-rounder George Hill was George Balderson’s England vice captain at the Under 19s World Cup in South Africa in early 2020 and was educated at Sedbergh School, the same system Lancashire’s Tom Aspinwall came through.
Hill, 22, has played 64 times for Yorkshire’s first-team across all formats since debuting in first-class cricket for the county during the Covid summer of 2020.
He has scored four centuries in all - three in the Championship and one in this competition last season.
He is a tall and wiry batter who is particularly good against spin and possesses deceptive power. He is also a skilful and canny rather than pacy seamer and a good slip catcher.
He took 6-26 in last September’s Roses Championship draw at Emirates Old Trafford.
Previous meeting:
An on-point bowling display set up a comfortable Roses win for Lancashire at a packed York Cricket Club in last season’s One-Day Cup in early August.
Luke Wells-led Lancashire got their campaign underway at the second attempt, after their opening group game against Essex at Sedbergh was washed out. Deja vu, hey!
In front of a 4,449 crowd at sunny Clifton Park, Yorkshire were bowled out for 224 inside 49 overs. Danny Lamb returned 3-32 from five overs, including two wickets in one over to put the skids under the Vikings on a used pitch.
Wells returned 2-25 from eight overs of leg-spin before opening the batting and racing to a career best 88 off 67 balls with 12 fours and a trio of sixes, paving the way for a seven-wicket win with nine overs remaining.
Yorkshire were hurt by the fact nine of their batters reached double figures but only Will Fraine reached 40. He top-scored with 41 against a Red Rose attack including miserly trio Will Williams, Wells and Indian overseas off-spinner Sundar.
In reply, Lancashire initially batted with caution. Only 23 runs came in the first five overs. But once the platform was laid, they hit cruise control and eased to victory.
What they said:
Graham Onions, Lancashire’s coach, says he is relishing the next month in charge of the county’s team.
Onions has taken over from Glen Chapple whilst he is working in the Hundred, and he joked: “It’s not often I have a smile on my face, but I’m loving every bit of it.
The former England, Lancashire and Durham fast bowler has been on the Red Rose coaching staff since retiring from playing in September 2020.
“I’ve learnt and developed over the last few years,” he continued. “Ultimately it’s my role to allow the players to enjoy their cricket and give them the freedom to go out and play. That’s my intention.
“Of course there may be some tricky chats down the line with regards to selection or if we maybe don’t win a game down the line. Ultimately, we want to win the trophy - that’s what it’s about.\
“In many ways, it’s not about me. It’s about the players and Lancashire.”
Onions will be assisted by Karl Krikken, who led the side last season.
“Krik has done a fantastic job, and he’s been a mentor of mine. I’m learning from him all the time,” he said.
Talking of another strong relationship, Onions and captain Keaton Jennings go way back too.
“It makes me feel very old. I’ve played all of Keats career with him since he first came over to Durham,” he said. “Him captain and me coach, it’s a nice little fairytale. We’re good mates, but ultimately we challenge each other as well.”
Talking of fairytales, that’s what it would be if Lancashire’s young up and comers can help secure this One-Day Cup title. Next stop on that journey is Scarborough, where Onions has previously done some coaching at the local college.
“Great place to play,” he added. “There’s not a great deal we can improve on, performance wise.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire have won the last two One-Day Cup matches against Yorkshire, including by just one-run at Headingley in late April of 2019.
Yorkshire last won a List A fixture against the Red Rose in this competition at Emirates Old Trafford in early June 2018.