MATCH PREVIEW: Gloucestershire v Lancashire

MATCH PREVIEW: Gloucestershire v Lancashire

Lancashire have some momentum they will be desperate to maintain as the second promotion spot behind all but home and hosed leaders Leicestershire is hunted down.

That’s come on the back of quarter-final qualification in the Vitality Blast, courtesy of finishing top of the North Group, but also following their first County Championship victory of the season last time out against Derbyshire at Chesterfield.

That came by 261 runs at the start of the month, leaving the sixth-placed Red Rose on 102 points after nine games with a win, two defeats and six draws.

They are now 24 points - the equivalent of a maximum-point win - behind second-placed Derbyshire with five fixtures remaining in the summer.

The next fortnight sees Lancashire travel to Gloucestershire and then host Glamorgan at Emirates Old Trafford, starting next Tuesday. 

Both of those counties are fourth and third respectively in the table.

Australian overseas batter Marcus Harris is available having missed the last two games due to paternity leave. 

Opposition 

Gloucestershire sit fourth in the table with exactly the same won one, lost two drawn six record as Lancashire. They are nine points better off courtesy of a stronger bonus points record, particularly with the bat.

Captained by Australian opening batter Cameron Bancroft, they also have his compatriot, Todd Murphy, available for this period of the Championship summer.

The Test Match off-spinner was signed for the four mid-season Kookaburra ball games, of which we have already played two. The next fortnight completes that block.

Gloucestershire’s only win so far in four-day cricket came at home to Kent in mid-May.

The week before that, they drew a high-scoring clash with Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.

They were last in Division Two in 2022 and finished bottom of Division Two in 2023 and second-bottom last season.

Under the coaching of their former captain Mark Alleyne, they are having a much better campaign and are firmly in the promotion mix. 

Unfortunately for them, however, they have failed to defend the Vitality Blast title they won last year, missing out on quarter-final qualification last week.

Two-time England Test wicketkeeper-batter James Bracey is their leading run-scorer in this season’s Championship with 813 runs from nine matches, including three centuries.

New-ball seamer Ajeet Singh Dale leads the way with 25 wickets from seven matches.

The aforementioned spinner Murphy has taken six wickets in two matches.

Last time out, they drew with Glamorgan at Cardiff at the start of the month. 

Previous meeting 

Lancashire and Gloucestershire played out a high-scoring draw at Emirates Old Trafford in mid-May, the Red Rose county’s fourth successive draw at the start of the season.

Marcus Harris hit a superb 167 to underpin Lancashire’s first-innings 450 all out having elected to bat.
Gloucestershire bettered that with 589-8 declared. Ollie Price impressed with 253 not out through to the end of day three. Toms Bailey and Hartley claimed two wickets apiece for the hosts, as did George Balderson.

Gloucestershire’s hopes of a victory were raised when they reduced Lancashire to 89-3 inside 23 overs, including the key wickets of Harris and captain Keaton Jennings.

But Josh Bohannon, Matty Hurst, Luke Wells and Tom Hartley, the latter with an innings-high 37, all patiently posted scores in the thirties to avert any danger with a total of 255-8.

What they said 

Mark Chilton believes Championship promotion can form part of a hugely successful second half of the summer for the Red Rose county.

Lancashire’s director of cricket performance knows full well the side have plenty of work to do to elevate themselves into second place in Division Two, but he has full faith in the players and Steven Croft as interim head coach that it can be achieved. 

Ahead of the trip down the M5, Chilton said: “I see no reason why we can’t win both white-ball competitions, and I still think we’ve got a chance of getting promoted from Division Two. 

“That’s what I think we’re capable of. 100 percent. 

“We know that to get promoted, we’re going to have to be really, really strong in these next five games. We’re going to have to get three or four victories. 

“We still have got that opportunity in front of us, and we all know this white-ball team is capable of winning a trophy (Blast). And I’m really excited about the 50-overs. 

“That was a difficult comp for us last year, but I think there was a lot of learning that went on. If we can take some of the confidence that’s been built around the environment at the minute, I look at that and think, ‘There’s no reason why we shouldn’t compete there’.”

How’s Stat! 

Lancashire and Gloucestershire have played 13 Championship matches at Cheltenham College, including the first meeting in 1920. 

Gloucestershire just shade the head-to-head record with five wins to four added to a quartet of draws.

Gloucestershire are unbeaten in the last eight matches against Lancashire at this venue, winning four and drawing four. The last Red Rose win there was in 1961 - a team captained by the late Ken Grieves.