MATCH PREVIEW: Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs Lancashire, Metro Bank One-Day Cup
Squad to face Northamptonshire Steelbacks:
Josh Bohannon (c), George Balderson, Charlie Barnard, George Bell, Jack Blatherwick, Josh Boyden, Rocky Flintoff, Keshana Fonseka, Chris Green, Venkatesh Iyer, George Lavelle, Jack Morley, Harry Singh, Will Williams
There’s no hiding away from the fact that this campaign will not be remembered fondly from a results point of view. But when all’s said and done, there will still be some obvious positives.
In fact, it may be that coach Dale Benkenstein looks back at Thursday’s defeat against Middlesex at Emirates Old Trafford with most encouragement given the performances of young guns Rocky Flintoff, Kesh Fonseka and Josh Boyden.
In a five-wicket, rain-affected defeat, Jack Morley’s three wickets should also not be forgotten given his coach had, a week or so ago, spoken about him not being at his best of late.
But Flintoff was the Red Rose’s outstanding performer with 88 as the hosts posted 233-9 in 48 overs. On debut, fellow England Under 19 Fonseka opened the batting with 42 before left-arm seamer, also on debut, claimed three wickets.
If the trio go on to have successful careers, contributing to healthier results along the way, then not all was lost amidst Thursday’s defeat, Lancashire’s sixth in a row.
Next up are Northamptonshire at Wantage Road tomorrow, a county who are also out of the running for knockout cricket later this month. They have so far won one from six and sit second-bottom in Group A, a place above Lancashire.
Opposition
These two counties have a rich white ball history. While Lancashire can boast a long list of triumphs in List A cricket, Northamptonshire can do similar in Twenty20 cricket having won the Blast twice.
The Red Rose can point to two notable triumphs over the Wantage Road county. They beat them in the 1996 B&H Cup final at Lord’s and also in the 2015 Vitality Blast final at Edgbaston.
Most recently, the Steelbacks took the bragging rights in the Blast by beating Lancashire in the final group game at Emirates Old Trafford last month to seal a home quarter-final next month.
Qualification for the last eight in the Blast, marks an oasis amidst what has been a difficult season for Northamptonshire, who also find themselves second-bottom in Division Two of the County Championship and without a win in nine games.
In the One-Day Cup, they have really struggled - somewhat surprising given they have plenty of experience within their ranks, including the likes of Indian batter Prithvi Shaw, his opening partner Ricardo Vasconcelos, Saif Zaib and seamer Ben Sanderson.
Wicketkeeper Lewis McManus has been their captain in this format, which Luke Procter hasn’t played.
Indian overseas batter Shaw is their leading run-scorer with 303 from six games and Justin Broad and Zaib have taken nine wickets apiece for the Steelbacks, coached by John Sadler.
Opposition player to watch
Indian overseas batter Prithvi Shaw has played international cricket across all three formats, representing his nation a total of 12 times, including six times in ODI cricket. His solitary hundred for India came in Test Cricket.
But he has been out of their plans for a little over three years now.
Shaw is in his second spell at Wantage Road having represented the county last summer. In fact, in the four games he played in this competition, he posted scores of 244 and 125 not out.
The 24-year-old’s contributions this campaign haven’t been quite as eye-catching, though impressive nonetheless. His 303 runs has included scores of 76, 97 and 72 - all in succession.
A classy, diminutive player, Shaw has an excellent career List A record having scored 10 hundreds and 14 fifties, including that aforementioned double ton, in 63 matches.
He averages 56.93 and will be a threat to Lancashire’s hopes of getting off the mark in this campaign.
Previous meeting
Lancashire achieved their highest ever successful run chase when these two counties last met in List A cricket, the Red Rose chasing 371 to beat the Steelbacks at Blackpool in August 2022.
This was a fixture which saw a trio of centurions; Ricardo Vasconcelos (104), Emilio Gay (131) and Keaton Jennings (125).
Northamptonshire posted a commanding 370-4 in this group fixture, with openers Vasconcelos and Gay sharing 198 before they were both run out.
In reply, Jennings and Luke Wells, who added 84, got the hosts ahead of the game with an opening stand of 130 in 16 overs.
When Jennings fell, at 264-5 in the 38th over, Lancashire still needed 107 to win. But George Lavelle saw them home with a memorable 61 not out off 34 balls.
In the end, it looked remarkably comfortable, a margin of four wickets with 10 balls to spare. Lancashire went on to reach the final that season, only to be beaten by Kent at Trent Bridge.
What they said
Josh Bohannon remains confident Lancashire will finish their Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign on a winning note.
The Red Rose’s stand-in captain - deputising for Keaton Jennings whilst he’s at the Hundred - believes one or two wins in the final two Group A games will lay the platform for a more positive campaign in 2025.
Speaking ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Wantage Road, England Lions skipper Bohannon said: “I’ve got absolutely no doubts that we’ll turn it around in these next two games.
“That will give us confidence. Once we’ve done it once, it becomes a habit.
“If we can get that win, people will be clearer on how we want to go about our cricket having done it.
“We’re pretty clear on how we want to play - unfortunately, it’s just not worked out with the bat or when we have bowled first. But that’s the game sometimes and how it goes.
“I don’t want to put any more pressure on people - the game’s hard enough as it is. I just want people to turn up and enjoy it, enjoy the battle.
“The environment we want to create in that dressing room is quite relaxed, but obviously making sure we are switched on when we cross that line.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire’s winning total in that aforementioned fixture at Blackpool two years ago, 372-6, remains their joint third highest ever List A total and joint second highest against a first-class county.
Their highest remains the 406-9 they scored in defeat against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge in 2019.