[themaclad]

After what seems to be the longest wettest and at times coldest winter for years the though of sun filled days lies tantalising within grasp, unfortunately the English Cricket Board have scheduled only minimal proper cricket during these months so on Friday Lancashire start their County Championship season with a four day game against newly promoted Nottinghamshire.
From last years team they have lost Jarvis, McLaren and Procter has moved onto Northants.
With the loss of the first two named Lancs have lost two bowlers who took 78 wickets, so the likes of Bailey, Mahmood have to step up to the plate, they will be helped by the experienced Onions who has moved from Durham, Clark and when available Anderson however Jimmy possible has a shoulder injury which may limit his appearances as will Test calls.
Spin option Parry, Parkinson and Kerrigan are the three options however Kerrigan seems to have gone backwards since his solitary test, spent a period of time on loan at Northants be interesting to see if he gets much of a go this season.
Batting wise, the signing of Jennings again from Durham should strengthen the batting although again Test Calls may limit his games.
Hameed and Livingstone also on the England radar hopefully Hameed will have a better season than last year although does seem to have brittle fingers. Chanderpaul and Davies may have to score heavily as the county are also no doubt going to be without Buttler for the majority of the early games due to playing in India then the five one dayers against the Convicts.
Apart from Jennings and Onions, the county have also signed Joe Mennie as overseas bowler, he is available for the entire season in all formats.
As usual the weather will be a factor in the North West.
There will be a lot of cut and paste on this thread however hopefully will be there on Sunday weather permitting.

[themaclad]

The strong accent remains, as does his pride for the county of his upbringing, but, when it comes to his cricket, there’s no doubting where Steven Mullaney’s allegiances now lie.

No-one was more delighted than the all-rounder when he made his professional debut as a 19-year-old in a Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy match at Worcester in May 2006, picking up the wicket of Kabir Ali in a 119-run win for the visitors.

But after his appearances at Emirates Old Trafford were limited, a move to Trent Bridge in the summer of 2010 really kick-started Mullaney’s career, and since then a steady upward curve, both in terms of his on-field contribution and standing in the dressing room, has ensued.

I don’t think that this match and situation being against my old county puts any extra onus on it for me.”

Indeed, the 2017 summer was the 31-year-old’s best to date, with 709 runs and 25 wickets in 12 Specsavers County Championship, not to mention another 378 runs and eight wickets in the Royal London One-Day Cup and 173 runs and eight wickets in the T20 Blast, helping Notts to promotion and a rarely-achieved white ball trophy double.

Now newly-installed as Club Captain, the Club’s number five will be in familiar surroundings as he leads the side in to battle in a competitive match for the first time since Chris Read’s retirement last September.

Yet while he still has a huge amount of respect for his former employers, and will never forget his roots, these days he’s Nottinghamshire through and through.



“I don’t think that this match and situation being against my old county puts any extra onus on it for me, because it would have been a proud and privileged moment whoever it was going to be against,” insists Mullaney. “This will be my ninth season at Trent Bridge now so I’m firmly an Outlaw, but it will be nice going back and leading the team for the first time at my old ground.

“It actually feels like the first game as Captain has come round quite quickly, especially since Christmas. But I cannot wait to get stuck in at Old Trafford and I’m confident that we have practised really well and are ready to go.

“Whether I get a decent reception from the Lancashire members depends how the first session goes, I suppose! I’m sure I will see some familiar faces, but I will always say hello and be respectful, so hopefully there won’t be any harsh words.

"Whether I get a decent reception from the Lancashire members depends how the first session goes, I suppose!”

“My best mates at the Club are Karl Brown and Steven Croft, who are still there, and I’ve been away with a few others in the Lancashire team recently in the North-South series. I’m quite good friends with them all, but as soon as that bell rings at 11am tomorrow, there will be no friends for the next six or so hours, or the three days that follow, while we’re playing.”

Read notwithstanding, who served as skipper for a decade, Mullaney follows in the footsteps of some illustrious names to lead Notts, including the likes of Sir Garfield Sobers, Reg Simpson, Clive Rice, Tim Robinson and Stephen Fleming, to name but a few.

But he is far from overawed by those detailed on the honours board at the bottom of the stairs up to the players’ dressing rooms in the Trent Bridge pavilion. Instead, he feels inspired and is ready to tackle the job head on.



He says: “Am I ready as skipper? I suppose we will soon find out. It’s my first game as Captain and I feel ready. The way I want to lead the side is very clear in my mind and I’m confident in my mind I will do a decent job and that the lads will follow me and hopefully trust in the decisions I make.

“I do want to lead from the front and first and foremost I want to make sure that my own game is in order. I think that’s one of the most important things for any Captain. I just want to play the best that I know I can play and hopefully that is good enough.”

Lancashire finished second in Specsavers County Championship Division One last season while Notts claimed the same position in Division Two – enough to earn them promotion back to the top flight.

“We have a thing that we try not to concentrate too much on the opposition and try to concentrate on ourselves.”

Mullaney is not underestimating the step up in quality and knows the Red Rose County will provide a stern early test.

“Lancashire have a very good side and I’m sure they will fancy themselves to be up there in the table come the end of the season,” he says.

“But we have a thing that we try not to concentrate too much on the opposition and try to concentrate on ourselves and if we do that I think it will stand us in good stead.”

Nottinghamshire squad to face Lancashire (from): Jake Libby, Chris Nash, Steven Mullaney ©, Mark Footitt, Riki Wessels, Harry Gurney, Luke Wood, Luke Fletcher, Samit Patel, Tom Moores (wkt), Ross Taylor, Jake Ball, Billy Root.

[jjamez]

I try to keep my eye on a couple of players grom each county, for lancs I am interested to see how hameed goes as a good start and he's in the test side. Heard mahmood has a bit about him, but I feel he has to have something more than other players at the moment, but parkinson seemed to have something in the limited overs format and I'd like to see how he goes in the red ball game, but conditions probably won't favour him

[themaclad]

Sadly for Pearlie can't bat and his fielding worse his brother plays for Leicester. Hameed is quality.

[themaclad]

len Chapple has urged his players to go out and prove their admirers right as they bid for Specsavers County Championship title success this summer.

The Lancashire coach is ready to go ahead of the new campaign, with Division One newcomers Nottinghamshire the visitors to Emirates Old Trafford tomorrow.

Chapple’s side go into 2018 amongst the favourites for this summer’s crown, something which hasn’t been the case in most recent top-flight campaigns given the yo yo-ing between divisions.

The strength of the batting line-up has been lauded, with Keaton Jennings and Haseeb Hameed to open and Alex Davies dropping down to three.

But Chapple, whose side finished second last year, knows all to well that it matters not one jot what the pundits, fans and tipsters say.



“All the team now have got pedigree, where as perhaps in the last few years we’ve lacked that,” said the former all-rounder.

“We’ve always known that we’ve got talented cricketers, but now we’ve got a season under our belts of challenging. In those terms, I think people will expect us to be there or thereabouts.

“Having said that, everyone who knows Division One knows it’s a difficult and unpredictable division. We’ve got to be aware of that, and we’ve got to realise just assuming you’ve got a skilful squad is nowhere near enough.

“We’ve got to be much better than that. We’ve got to work together as a team, we’ve got to work very hard and in a disciplined fashion to achieve our goals.

“The first five games come thick and fast. At the end of that period, we need to be in a good position.”

On the batting strength, he said: “I think most people would agree with that, everyone at the club as well.

“But, at the end of the day, it’s the performances you put out on the field that really matter.

“Absolutely, we fully believe in the ability of our players and believe in the spirit. Now, it’s a matter of going out there and doing it.

“We also know there’s a lot of other good teams out there, and there’s always a surprise package that people have maybe discounted.”





While Moores has been back to Emirates Old Trafford with Notts since leaving for Trent Bridge via England in the early stages of 2013, this will be his first Championship match against the Red Rose as their head coach.

Of Lancashire’s 2011 title-winning coach, Chapple said: “What we have to expect from Mooresy is he knows the ground and knows some of our players. He’ll have information, and we know he’s a good coach.

“People at this club have learned a lot from him, and we’ll be looking to show him exactly how much we’ve learned!

“He’s had an influence on me, but you can’t go around being someone else. In terms of how he goes about it, there’s only one person who can behave like him, and I go about things in my way.”

These two sides last met in the Championship in 2016, with Moores appointed as head coach very late that season.

Lancashire won the home match, like this the opening game of the season, by eight wickets as Neil Wagner took eleven on debut before a draw was played out at Trent Bridge in early July.

Notts are likely to hand debuts to two winter signings - opener Chris Nash from Sussex and New Zealand overseas batsman Ross Taylor.


Squad of 14 two spinners Parry and Parkinson in 14 no Kerrigan think he is likely not to play a lot this season

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Squads
Liam Livingstone ©, Tom Bailey, Shiv Chanderpaul, Jordan Clark, Steven Croft, Alex Davies, Haseeb Hameed, Keaton Jennings, Danny Lamb, Joe Mennie, Graham Onions, Stephen Parry, Matt Parkinson, Dane Vilas

[themaclad]

No play before lunch, Kent already abandoned for the day welcome the 2018 cricket season

[themaclad]

Wonderful start no play on Day 1

[themaclad]

Day 2
"I dreamed that, as I wandered by the way, / Bare Winter suddenly was changed to Spring." Unlike Percy Shelley, the cricketers had no need of a reverie to transform the seasons on the second day of this game; mere slumber had been enough. And immediately the game began on a bright morning, the players and spectators returned to that shared watchfulness for which some of them had waited six months. As if to mirror their mood, the sun returned by lunchtime, and with a far greater suggestion of permanence than Liam Livingstone's batsmen managed against Jake Ball in the first two sessions.

Indeed, by the time a rather late tea was taken Lancashire had been bowled out for 158 with Ball hustling the innings to its close by taking four wickets in 14 balls to finish with 5 for 43 in 17 overs. The home supporters, who had congregated in decent numbers for their first day of Championship cricket, looked for a response from their four seamers and they received it thanks largely to Tom Bailey who took three wickets to help leave Nottinghamshire on 127 for 6 at the close. Against all odds, Lancashire can feel they had enjoyed fractionally the better of things.

One of Bailey's wickets was that of Steven Mullaney who surely thought he was going to end this first day on the field as the more content of the two freshmen captains pitted against each other in this match. The Nottinghamshire skipper rotated his bowlers sensibly while Livingstone's main contribution was to leave alone a booming inswinger from Luke Wood which duly knocked out his off stump.

By the time that third wicket fell Mullaney's decision to dispense with the toss had been justified, Ball gaining the benefits from eventually bowling a fuller length when he had a hesitant Haseeb Hameed leg before for seven after 45 minutes play. Harry Gurney then had Jennings caught and bowled off a leading edge for 11 with his third ball and the tone of matters had been set.

Wood's direction was awry in his first over and Alex Davies collected two boundaries with brutal cuts but the effervescent left-arm seamer then cleaned up Livingstone and another inswinger in the next over had Davies leg before for 23. The blonde-haired Wood's joyous celebrations after both his wickets were reminiscent of the golden age of glam rock.

Lancashire's best partnership was shared by the contrasting figures of Dane Vilas and Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who put on 64 for the fifth wicket, most of the runs coming in the hour after lunch. Vilas took the lead with some dominant drive and pulls off Ball and Wood while Chanderpaul accumulated 11 runs in 53 balls. The latter's patience put one in mind of a sculptor but given that he marks his guard by knocking a bail into the crease with his bat-handle, this was not inappropriate.

Day 3

First days cricket this season, got rained off after 4 pm not an easy batting day against seam under grey skies with the lights on early doors, irony that three of the four wickets Lancashire took were with spin, Livingstone getting them all.
Notts got a useful lead of 64 which was almost wiped off by the Lancs openers two late Gurney wickets changed the complexion of the game although both Hameed and Davies got iffy decisions. 54-2 at tea then it hammered down

[themaclad]

The cricketers almost always console you; they invariably bring you peace. That, at any rate, was the curious feeling one had even on this grey Sunday at Emirates Old Trafford as one watched Nottinghamshire's batsmen build a lead of 64 runs and then Liam Livingstone's batsmen reduce it to just six before persistent rain prevented any play after tea.

Behind Stretford Town Hall a football match rumbled away but inside the home of Lancashire cricket the County Championship has settled in, even in this benightedly wet April. And, it had to be remarked as the day progressed, this Old Trafford was probably the more content.

None of which will console either Haseeb Hameed or Alex Davies this bedraggled Sabbath evening. Hameed had put on 49 with Keaton Jennings and had looked in little trouble until he played forward and didn't quite miss a ball from Harry Gurney. That, at least, was the judgement of Graham Lloyd. Hameed looked at the umpire for a moment and trudged off with 19 runs against his name. No one missed the point that an opportunity to impress the selectors had gone a-begging.

Five minutes later Davies attempted to get off the mark by pulling his fifth delivery backward of square. The ball went through to Tom Moores who joined the slips and Gurney in a full-throated appeal. Again Lloyd's finger was raised. Davies stood his ground and gazed at the official for a couple of long Steinbeckian seconds. One imagines that not since the age of the basilisks has there been such a glance.

But there was nothing Davies could do about things except follow Hameed to the pavilion. Jennings, whose straight drive off Samit Patel had been one of the shots of the day, came in to tea unbeaten on 27. Then the rain set in with growing vengeance. Quite soon it was raining at all the County Championship venues except Lord's, where the game was over, and Headingley, where it hadn't started.


The first third of this day at Old Trafford had been taken up with Nottinghamshire carefully constructing their lead of 64, an advantage which may have been beyond their avarice on the Saturday evening. Riki Wessels' 44 was the largest contribution but one's eye was taken by young Tom Moores, a batsman who will never let a bowler settle if he can help it. The heir to Chris Read's gauntlets, Moores is, like his predecessor, every inch a cricketer and his 143-minute 38 is the longest innings of the match to date.

Lancashire's bowling was willing enough but the home side never looked like taking wickets until the last three fell in as many overs, two of them to Liam Livingstone. The Lancashire skipper had earlier produced a fine off-spinner to remove Wessels but the grey morning session was also illumined by Moores' cover-driving and his picked-up six off Keaton Jennings, a shot plucked straight from a steamy July evening at Trent Bridge and the pressing needs of T20 cricket.

Moores was the only Nottinghamshire batsman not to be dismissed by Livingstone on this third day. He was bowled by Joe Mennie when attempting to make room to pull the ball to leg but he managed to do no more than deflect it onto his leg stump. A few minutes' later Jake Ball's heave saw him stumped by Davies and the Lancashire openers dashed off to prepare for their innings.

[themaclad]

Lancs 73-8 stunningly inept

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73-9

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73 all out 15-8 this morning Gurney six wickets FFS Notts need 10 to win

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Notts 1-1 still in this

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5-2

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5-3 Mennie on a hat trick

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9-4
If we had set them 25 we would have cruised this

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10-4 lost by six wickets