Lancashire Under 18s Boys win regional three-day Championship
Lancashire’s Under 18s boys have ended their summer in style by winning their regional three-day Championship group.
The countywide red ball competition at Academy level is split into regional groups which don’t progress any further to a nationwide final.
The Red Rose were placed in a six-team group with Derbyshire, Durham, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire and came out on top with two wins and three draws from five games.
Their title-clinching result was a draw against second-placed Leicestershire at Uppingham School, which finished yesterday. Lancashire finished one point above the Foxes in the table.
“This three-day block is the pinnacle of our cricket, and that’s where the players’ cricket is tested most,” said Chris Benbow, Lancashire’s head of talent pathway.
“This last eight-week block has been really busy. It’s been three-day cricket, club cricket, three-day cricket.
“So you can imagine that for a lot of 16 and 17-year-olds, it’s something they’ve never really known before.
“To maintain their skill-level like they have done has been really impressive, and it’s been a great achievement for the lads to go on and win it. We’re delighted. They’re a great bunch of lads.
“It’s nice playing the 50-over cricket, but it’s knockout cricket and a different challenge.
“We had a nice trip to Scotland and played some decent cricket and then came up against a tough Yorkshire side in Barnsley, and we couldn’t get across the line in a very competitive game.
“Our T20 cricket, we had a brilliant week where all the counties in the North Group came together at York Cricket Club and Clifton Alliance in May. It felt like an event rather than a lot of travelling around like we’ve done in the past.
“It was a different sort of pressure for the lads.
“Mike Yardy (England Under 19s coach) was there on one of the days having a wander around, and there were quite a few ECB scouts. A lot of the other coaches when they had games off would watch other counties.
“That meant there were a lot more people watching than the lads are used to.
“It added a different element, and we’re definitely going to carry that on next year. I think the guys over at Yorkshire have already organised some dates for that.
“The lads have been exposed to a real good range of cricket throughout the whole year, including a few friendlies when we can coach in game a little bit more. It’s been a pretty rounded summer.”
In terms of their Championship title success, Lancashire won their matches against Durham - by one wicket chasing 225 - at Warrington last month and by 126 runs against Yorkshire at Southport earlier this.
Within that, there have been a number of standout individual performances.
Benbow continued: “The big shining light is that I can’t ever remember a season where two lads have scored double hundreds.
“We’ve had that this year, which has been really pleasing.
“Kesh Fonseka scored 220 in our draw against Derbyshire and Rian Maisuria 200 not out against Yorkshire.
“You can’t train for that kind of thing, and that’s the great thing about it.
“The most you’re going to bat in training, be it in the winter or summer in the nets, is probably 90 minutes.
“On the occasions where the lads have got double hundreds, and there’s been others who’ve had hundreds, they’ve been at the crease for three sessions. It’s a solid six-hour stint.
“And it comes at a time when there’s no second-team cricket in that block.
“So the top-end 18s lads who aren’t involved in the Metro Bank stuff, they fall back into this competition. The standard is definitely up there. To bat over that period against a real quality of opposition, it’s a big positive for the lads.
“We’ve also had fast bowlers who’ve gone through full seasons of real good work and have had second-team recognition off the the back of that. We’ve also had spinners taking wicket.”
Macclesfield Cricket Club and Cheshire pathway product Joe Moores was one of those who scored a Championship hundred, a 15-year-old wicketkeeper-batter who is the nephew of former Lancashire Championship-winning coach Peter and the son of Steve, the head of cricket at King’s School, Macclesfield.
Left-handed Joe also caught the eye at last week’s ECB Super4s competition at Loughborough - a four-team regional competition which brings together the best Under 18s players from across the country, playing a mixture of T20 and 50-over.
Benbow was part of the coaching staff for the North team alongside John Windows from Durham and James Lowe from Yorkshire.
Unfortunately, they didn’t win a game, but Moores smashed a brilliant 139 off 77 balls batting at four in a 50-over defeat against the Midlands team last Tuesday.
Leg-spinner Haider Hussain, from Hyde, also impressed with eight wickets, the joint second most in the event.
He also claimed an excellent first-innings 5-89 in Lancashire’s aforementioned Championship draw against Leicestershire earlier this week.
“On the whole, for the North, it was pretty tough. We didn’t win a game,” reflected Benbow.
“It’s a great week to be involved with because you’re pulling together the best of the best.
“From Mooresy’s point of view, what he did in that one game as a 15-year-old was exceptional. He blasted a hundred in no time and was hitting balls into the Indoor Centre at Loughborough, onto the roof of the old admin buildings there and into the car park.
“It was definitely exciting, and he’s someone to keep an eye on.
“Haider went pretty well with the ball. He picked up some important wickets in a couple of games, but on the size of the pitches there it’s quite challenging. Similar for Charlie Parkinson.
“When you’ve got lads like Alex Wade (Yorkshire) and James Minto (Durham), who are bowling 86mph as 16 and 17-year-olds, he kind of took second fiddle.
“It was a good learner for him, and he got to yard-stick himself against the best from other counties.”
Lancashire’s fledglings have clearly ended the season superbly with silverware. But they started it well too.
“We went on that pre-season tour to Sri Lanka, and it was a good feed in to the season, added Benbow. It really helped us hit the ground running.
“We won’t be going this winter, but I’m quite excited about the next time we do go.”
Of course, we are not forgetting the fact that two of the players who started this summer on Lancashire’s Academy, Rocky Flintoff and Keshana Fonseka, have gone on to make their first-team debuts and also sign professional contracts at Emirates Old Trafford.
In next week’s part two of our summer review at Academy level, Chris Benbow will discuss their progression having followed the likes of Tom Aspinwall, Charlie Barnard, George Bell, Josh Boyden and Matty Hurst out of the county’s pathway structure.
Meanwhile, it has been quite the fortnight for Lancashire’s pathway, both boys and girls.
Last week, Lancashire’s Under 18 beat Essex by one wicket to win the National County Cup. Earlier this week, the Red Rose’s Under 14s boys won their National Championship title by beating Surrey by 75 runs in the final.