MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire v Warwickshire, Metro Bank One-Day Cup
Lancashire v Warwickshire
Metro Bank One-Day Cup, Group B
Friday August 22, 2025, 11am
Liverpool Cricket Club, Aigburth
Lancashire are now out of contention for a top-three finish and knockout cricket.
Their fourth defeat in six Group B games, against Durham at Liverpool yesterday, sealed their fate.
Now, the aim for a group including a number of young players is to keep developing and try and snare a win or two to send them into the winter with a spring in their step.
They face a Warwickshire side firmly in contention for a top-three finish having won three of five games so far. They sit on 12 points and just outside the qualification places.
This is the first of two remaining games, both at home. The Red Rose face Middlesex at Emirates Old Trafford on Tuesday - another side in knockout contention.
Despite only winning one match, Lancashire have impressed in flashes elsewhere in this competition. Yesterday was a case in point. They started and finished the game well but crucially just came up short through the middle phase of the game with both bat and ball as Durham won by four wickets chasing 321.
Opposition
Warwickshire were beaten semi-finalists in the One-Day Cup last season - by eventual champions Glamorgan.
They are challenging again. But, given they find themselves outside the top three places in Group B, the Bears know that this is realistically a must win contest.
Coached by former opener Ian Westwood, they’re captained in this competition by talismanic all-rounder Ed Barnard.
He was the joint leading wicket-taker in the competition last year with 19.
They also have former Lancashire wicketkeeper-batter Alex Davies available to them for this ongoing campaign.
Warwickshire were champions in this competition back in 2016, under the guise of the Royal London Cup. They beat Surrey in the final at Lord’s.
Emerging leg-spinner Tazeem Ali is their leading wicket-taker in this campaign with 12, while wicketkeeper-batter Kai Smith is their leading run-scorer with 182 to his name, including two fifties. Davies scored their only century of the campaign, 123 from number four in a win over Northamptonshire at Rugby.
Opposition player to watch
Nineteen-year-old leg-spinner Tazeem - or Taz - Ali has played four of the five games in this year’s One-Day Cup and has already made headlines having taken back-to-back five-wicket hauls.
An England Under 19, Ali has played first-team cricket for Warwickshire in both the Rothesay County Championship and in 50-over cricket. He debuted in the latter in 2023 and has played four times in Division One this season, taking 11 wickets with a best of 4-66.
His back-to-back five-fors came in wins over Northamptonshire and Kent at Rugby School - 5-43 and 5-54.
He was actually born in Amsterdam and spent his early years in the Netherlands before moving over to the UK and coming through the Warwickshire age-groups.
His first recorded appearance for them came at Under 14s level.
Previous meeting
This is the first List A meeting between Lancashire and Warwickshire in more than six years.
The two counties last met in May 2019 in the Royal London Cup, at Edgbaston, a game which Warwickshire won by five wickets on DLS.
Lancashire, inserted, posted 277-7 from their 50 overs, with captain Dane Vilas top-scoring with 83 off 79 balls from number four. Steven Croft and Saqib Mahmood also contributed a pair of 45s.
In reply, rain reduced Warwickshire’s chase to 255 in 45 overs, and Sam Hain was their hero with 84 not out off 100 balls as they recovered from 62-3 in the 15th over.
Sir James Anderson struck three times with the new ball, but Hain shared a recovery partnership of 111 for the fourth wicket with Liam Banks, who contributed 61.
The Bears won with three balls remaining.
Lancashire qualified for the knockouts that summer, Warwickshire didn’t. The Red Rose were beaten semi-finalists.
What they said
George Bell hailed the influence of Josh Bohannon in helping him get over the line for his maiden first-team century at Liverpool yesterday, in defeat to Durham.
Bell and Bohannon shared a third-wicket partnership of 175, both scoring hundreds.
Opener Bell made 104 off 115 balls and Bohannon 106 off 102.
The 22-year-old said: “Bosh helped me get there.
“At times, we took the pressure off each other with the way that we played.
“And to be in such a good partnership with him was massive.
“Having him at the other end, I was really happy that he was there for it because he knows more than anyone how hard I'm trying to work to get big scores and do this.
“So it was really good to have Bosh there, and he played so well as well.
“If anything, without him playing like that, I might not have got there.”
Looking forward to tomorrow’s clash with the Bears, Bell added: “Obviously, we know the conditions now as well, so that's going to help. We know what to expect and hopefully that will help us go well and get a win.”
How’s Stat!
Lancashire’s captain for this campaign, Marcus Harris, is closing in on 3,000 career List A runs.
A stellar day at Liverpool tomorrow could see the Australian overseas left-hander get there.
He currently has 2,846 runs to his name, at an average of 35.57.
Harris has reached 50 on 20 occasions in his career, including three hundreds.