News

Lancs to make changes

Lancashire have announced a 14-man squad for tonight's match which will be 15 overs per side starting at 8.15pm

Lancs squad: Steven Croft (c) Andrea Agathangelou, Karl Brown, Gareth Cross (wkt),  Kyle Hogg, Paul Horton, Junaid Khan, Gary Keedy, Simon Kerrigan, Steven Moore, Oliver Newby, Stephen Parry, Luke Procter, Tom Smith

Fit again captain Glen Chapple says Lancashire can still feature heavily in the Clydesdale Bank 40 competition ahead of tonight’s floodlit meeting with Group C leaders Somerset at Old Trafford.

The Red Rose county are already behind the eight-ball having lost two of their opening five matches, including May’s trip to Taunton, but they do have a game in hand on the majority of their rivals.

Only the top team in each group is assured of a place in the semi-finals, with the other place going to the best placed runner-up out of all the three groups.

And, with Somerset having won five from five so far, tonight’s match is one that Lancashire must realistically win.

But, on the back of six successive Twenty20 wins, there will be few who would back against Lancashire pegging back Marcus Trescothick’s men on their own patch.

Chapple said: “We can still qualify, but it will take us to win every game and other sides to play ordinary.

“We will pick a side that can win the game, but we won’t take any risks with anyone.

“We will still pick teams that can win games, but we know at the start of the season we aren’t going to put out our strongest team for every game in the competition because of the demands on the schedule.

“But I would love us to win every game and see where we are.”

Chapple played his first match since June 2 against Northants Steelbacls in the Friends Life t20 on Friday following a hip injury. He is not a starter tonight, but is set to line up in the eleven for Wednesday’s County Championship match against Yorkshire at Headingley.

“For me it was important to get a game and bowl well, which I think I did,” continued Chapple, who took 1-17 from his four overs.

“I tried to put a bit of pressure on myself because it’s important when you miss as many games as I have that you prove to yourself you can do a job. It was a way to get some confidence back because, no matter how long you have played this game, you need to get some form behind you.

“We have been managing my situation really carefully. I have been bowling for some time, building up strength and stamina, to make sure that when I came back I was up to not just performing in a Twenty20 game, but in the Championship as well.”

The layman’s term for Chapple’s injury is hip, although the technical term is a torn iliacus muscle: “They have never seen a cricketer do it, but it is a muscle, and it has every right to be pulled,” he explained.

But every cloud has a silver lining, with Chapple adding: “I have ended up doing what, in effect, is three weeks of pre-season training again. My body is in better shape than it would have been if I had played all the Twenty20 games.

“I would have liked to have played them, but where I am now is a good spot to be.”

Meanwhile, is expecting to find out over the next 48 hours the date and time of next month’s Friends Life t20 quarter-final against Sussex at Hove, with the Saturday 6 August date looking increasingly unlikely due to a clash with the football at Brighton's new ground nearby. It is a game Chapple is relishing.

He added: “Sussex are a good team, but we are ok with that. It is just important we maintain everything we’ve been doing.

“I wasn’t really too bothered who we got because it is about us and what we can do.

“If we perform the way we have done in the last six games, we are confident we can beat anyone. Everyone who has qualified has played some good cricket to get to the semi-finals, but we have a great chance of getting to Finals Day.”

Glen Chapple was talking to Graham Harcastle
Photo (c) Simon Pendrigh