Player Profile
George Balderson sprinkled a bit of magic on Lancashire’s pursuit of silverware in 2022.
Those present at Chelmsford for the short and sharp Rothesay County Championship match against Essex in late September will have seen the all-rounder claim a superb 5-14 with his skilful seamers as the Red Rose successfully defended a target of 98.
It was a haul including a hat-trick, his victims being Sir Alastair Cook, Dan Lawrence and Matt Critchley.
Yes, it was a bowler-friendly pitch, and the victory inside two days ultimately didn’t mean anything in terms of the title race as Surrey beat Yorkshire at the Oval the following day. But what a performance it was from the highly-talented cricketer who continues to get better and better, as his performances in 2023 and 2024 proved.
Before we get there, let’s stick with 2022 for a moment.
Balderson followed that Essex display up with a superb 97 from number seven in the order during the final week win against Surrey at Emirates Old Trafford, his best batting performance in 11 Championship appearances throughout the summer.
A month or so earlier, the Cheadle Hulme-born star had also hit a maiden first-team century - a superb 106 not out in a Metro Bank One-Day Cup defeat against champions to be Kent at Canterbury.
The former England Under 19s captain has impressed in both Championship and One-Day Cup cricket for the Red Rose, and briefly in the Vitality Blast too. He made his first of three appearances in T20 cricket in 2024, claiming a best of 2-15 amongst three wickets and 37 not out in a haul of 76 runs.
Encouragement? Undoubtedly. Now the aim for Balderson will be to cement his place in that format as well, just as he has done in the Championship and 50-over stuff.
Balderson is a versatile cricketer who has opened the batting and batted in the middle order during his first-team career as well as performing regularly when called upon with the ball.
His seam bowling is developing at pace, and he has the handy knack of making things happen.
If 2022 was his breakthrough year, Balderson, who bats left-handed and bowls right, kicked on impressively in 2023, winning the club’s young player of the year award.
He hit 702 runs in 11 Championship appearances, including a pair of centuries against Warwickshire at Edgbaston and Northamptonshire at Wantage Road.
The first, in a draw, was a career best 116 not out. The latter, a first-innings 115, contributed to an innings victory. He also added 23 wickets with a best of 4-69.
In the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, he hit 221 runs in eight matches added to 10 wickets.
Balderson captained England’s Under 19s through 2019 and into the 50-over World Cup in early 2020 when they beat Sri Lanka in the Plate final. That basically meant England were the best of the teams who failed to reach the quarter-finals.
He was promoted to open the batting in Lancashire’s Championship team in late 2021 following an injury to Keaton Jennings, and he hit two half-centuries in September, including 65 in the Bob Willis Trophy final defeat against Warwickshire at Lord’s.
Balderson, a product of the Cheadle Hulme club, played age-group cricket for Cheshire before progressing through to second-team cricket with the Red Rose.
He signed his first professional contract at Old Trafford in 2018. He heads into the 2025 summer aged 24.
Balderson helped Lancashire win the Second XI T20 title in 2018, playing both games on Finals Day at Arundel. He has also captained the North in the ECB Super 4s, a competition for the most talented young players in the country.
In 2024, he hit 454 runs from 14 Championship matches added to 36 wickets. He returned bests of 48 and 4-50. In the One-Day Cup, he finished with two fifties in the final two matches of a frustrating campaign team wise.
Perhaps most eye-catching was a trio of miserly returns with the ball. From 10-over spells, returned figures of 0-35, 1-20 and 1-39.
The latter came against Worcestershire at Emirates Old Trafford, a final-round group win. He hit 50 with the bat in that game too, indicating an exciting talismanic quality.