MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire v Derbyshire
Lancashire’s sixth Championship match of the summer sees them host one of the pacesetters in Division Two, Derbyshire, who currently sit second in the table.
Lancashire v Derbyshire
Rothesay County Championship, Division Two
Friday May 16 - Monday May 19, 2025, 11am
Emirates Old Trafford
Derbyshire are unbeaten after five games, winning one and drawing the other four. They are sat on 74 points, 21 behind league leaders Leicestershire (95).
The Red Rose head into this game on the back of a defeat to Northamptonshire at Wantage Road on Sunday, beaten by 70 runs as they were bowled out for 165 chasing 236.
The county are bottom of the table having drawn four and lost one, with 50 points, and have thus endured a difficult start to the summer. Opening batter Keaton Jennings resigned as red-ball captain on Tuesday.
But it shows how tight things are that new captain Marcus Harris and co are only 24 points adrift of second spot, the equivalent of a maximum points victory.
Derbyshire come into this fixture on the back of a week’s rest. They drew last time out against Glamorgan at Sophia Gardens at the start of the month.
Jimmy Anderson is fit again following a calf injury, and he will be in contention to play his first match of any kind since last July.
Opposition
Coached by Mickey Arthur and captained by veteran batter Wayne Madsen, Derbyshire have made a very bright start to the season.
Since beating Gloucestershire by nine wickets at home during the opening week of the season, they have drawn all four games, all of which were high-scoring affairs.
This season’s Championship form is a marked improvement from last year, with them finishing bottom of Division Two with only one win from 14 matches.
Madsen, aged 41, was re-appointed Derbyshire’s captain for the second time, replacing fellow batter David Lloyd, who stepped down in March after one season in charge.
Madsen was previously captain in 2012 when Derbyshire won the Division Two title.
He was Derbyshire’s leading Championship run-scorer last season with 1,005, while fast bowler Zak Chappell claimed 31 wickets.
Madsen is having another fine season, with his haul of 485 runs including three fifties and a hundred. He is the fourth leading run-scorer in Division Two.
Former Lancashire all-rounder Luis Reece, meanwhile, has taken 19 wickets, including a best of 6-52, with his left-arm seamers - the third best haul in Division Two this season.
Overseas signings Caleb Jewell and Blair Tickner have also made significant contributions.
Australian left-handed batter Jewell has been opening the batting and has contributed 433 runs with a quintet of half-centuries. New Zealand fast bowler Tickner, in his second season with the county, has taken 15 wickets.
Opposing player to watch
Derbyshire have got a significant Red Rose presence in their squad, with Luis Reece joined by wicketkeeper-batter Brooke Guest and left-arm spinner Jack Morley, the latter who is in his first full season in the East Midlands.
But it is Reece who has shone this season.
Added to his aforementioned 19 wickets, he has also contributed two fifties in 234 runs from the middle and lower middle order.
Now aged 34, Reece played first-team cricket for Lancashire between 2013 and 2016 before moving in 2017.
In Derbyshire’s opening round win over Gloucestershire at the County Ground, Reece claimed career best match figures of 10-97, including a first-innings 6-52 with the new ball.
Previous meeting
Lancashire beat Derbyshire at Liverpool in the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020, with Jack Morley taking four wickets in the second innings on senior debut against the county he has since joined.
The Red Rose also beat Derbyshire heavily the last time these two counties met in the Rothesay County Championship, that a mid-September 2019 clash at Emirates Old Trafford, which the hosts won by an innings and 45 runs inside three days.
With two games of the season remaining, Lancashire secured promotion and were to go on and win the Division Two title.
Richard Gleeson took the new ball and claimed an impressive 5-64 as Derbyshire were bowled out for 244 having elected to bat.
Josh Bohannon then hit a maiden first-class century, a brilliant 174 from number three, to underpin a 418 all out response, which concluded midway through day three.
Derbyshire then crumbled second time around, to 129 all out, with Tom Bailey, Matthew Parkinson and overseas Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell claiming three wickets apiece.
What they said
Dale Benkenstein has paid tribute to outgoing captain Keaton Jennings after the opener’s decision to step down as the county’s red-ball captain earlier this week.
Jennings relinquished the role he has held since 2023, though he will continue to skipper the side in the Vitality Blast, which starts later this month.
“A huge thank you to Keats,” said coach Benkenstein. “He’s one of the most amazing men you’ll ever meet.
“Having been a captain myself, you understand the pressures and the weight it has on you, especially in county cricket with the weight of cricket.”
The Red Rose management have handed the four-day captaincy to in-form Australian overseas batter Marcus Harris.
Benkenstein said: “Marcus is a very established cricketer and a very experienced person, and I feel like he understands where we are right now. I’m hoping that fresh pair of eyes gives us that spark we need.
“As we all know, most Australians have that inner confidence. The way he is playing as well just helps.
“We also get a bit of a boost with Jimmy Anderson being available. He’s worked so hard. The work he’s put in to try and get back for this game has been amazing. It will be fantastic to have him back in the team.
“The experience he brings, and you can’t have a more Lancashire through and through player. Just to have that on the field is invaluable, and we have missed that at the beginning of the season.”
Lancashire’s fast-bowling knight is in line to play his first match since last July, following international retirement last year and a calf injury at the start of this.
Harris will be assisted by Anderson and current vice captain Josh Bohannon.
Lancashire sit bottom of Division Two with four draws and a defeat, and their failure to chase 236 on day three for victory brought the county’s disappointing start to the season to a head.
Benkenstein added: “We ended up with a loss knowing that we really should have won that game.
“There’s been some meetings had this week and some decisions have been made. But the bottom line is that it isn’t good enough. We are a better side than that.
“I’m pleased that we are getting ourselves in positions to win games, but very frustrated that we haven’t been ruthless.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire have won their last seven first-class matches against Derbyshire. In that run, they have completed the Championship seasonal double over them in 2005, 2015 and 2019.
Tom Bailey needs three wickets to reach 400 in his first-class career.