[themaclad]

County Championship fixtures

Sun 12 – 15 April - Lancashire vs Kent – Emirates Old Trafford
Sun 19 – 23 April - Gloucestershire vs Lancashire – The Brightside Ground
Sat 25 – 28 April - Warwickshire vs Lancashire - Edgbaston
Fri 1 – 4 May - Lancashire vs Essex – Emirates Old Trafford
Fri 15 – 18 May - Lancashire vs Somerset – Emirates Old Trafford
Fri 22 – 25 May - Hampshire vs Lancashire – Ageas Bowl
Sun 14 – 17 June - Yorkshire vs Lancashire – Scarborough
Sun 28 June – 1 July - Lancashire vs Warwickshire – Emirates Old Trafford
Sun 5 – 8 July - Northamptonshire vs Lancashire – County Ground, Northampton
Sun 23 - 26 August - Lancashire vs Surrey – Emirates Old Trafford
Sat 29 August – 2 Sept - Essex vs Lancashire - The Cloudfm County Ground
Tues 8 – 11 September – Lancashire vs Yorkshire – Emirates Old Trafford
Mon 14 – 17 September – Lancashire vs Gloucestershire – Emirates Old Trafford
Tues 22 – 25 September – Kent vs Lancashire – Canterbury

Royal London Cup fixtures

Sun 19 July – Lancashire vs Middlesex – Sedbergh School
Fri 24 July – Durham vs Lancashire – South Northumberland
Sun 26 July – Gloucestershire vs Lancashire – The Brightside Ground
Wed 29 July – Lancashire vs Worcestershire – Blackpool Cricket Club
Sun 2 August – Lancashire vs Sussex – Emirates Old Trafford
Tues 4 August – Lancashire vs Essex – Liverpool Cricket Club
Thurs 6 August – Kent vs Lancashire – Canterbury
Sun 9 August – Hampshire vs Lancashire – Newclose, Isle of Wight

Vitality Blast fixtures

Fri 29 May – Lancashire Lightning vs Northants Steelbacks – Liverpool Cricket Club
Sun 31 May – Derbyshire Falcons vs Lancashire Lightning – Pattonair County Ground
Thurs 4 June – Yorkshire Vikings vs Lancashire Lightning – Emerald Headingley
Fri 5 June – Birmingham Bears vs Lancashire Lightning – Edgbaston
Sun 7 June – Lancashire Lightning vs Durham – Emirates Old Trafford
Weds 10 June – Lancashire Lightning vs Leicestershire Foxes - Emirates Old Trafford
Fri 12 June – Lancashire Lightning vs Derbyshire Falcons – Emirates Old Trafford
Sun 21 June – Lancashire Lightning vs Notts Outlaws – Emirates Old Trafford
Weds 24 June – Northants Steelbacks vs Lancashire Lightning – County Ground
Fri 26 June – Durham vs Lancashire – Emirates Riverside
Thurs 2 July – Lancashire vs Worcestershire Rapids – Emirates Old Trafford
Fri 3 July – Notts Outlaws vs Lancashire Lightning – Trent Bridge
Fri 10 July – Lancashire Lightning vs Yorkshire Vikings – Emirates Old Trafford
Sun 12 July – Worcestershire Rapids vs Lancashire Lightning, Blackfinch New Road

[themaclad]

Lancashire on the way to signing every wicket keeper in the world



B J Watling arrives for 9 County Championship games

[themaclad]

Yorkshire v Lancashire 24/7/2020 to 25/7/2020

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So finally we get under way with a two day friendly although way the forecast is might just be a one day friendly, nothing on the website as yet, apparently, the fixtures are out this Friday

[themaclad]

Lancashire Cricket is pleased to announce the Club’s fixtures for the inaugural Bob Willis Trophy.

The First-Class competition for the truncated 2020 season, in place of the County Championship, starts with an away fixture against Leicestershire and finishes against Derbyshire at Liverpool.

All Clubs will play five matches in new regionalised groups with the two best records from across all 18 counties going head-to-head in a five-day final at Lord’s starting on Wednesday 30 September.

Lancashire have two scheduled home First-Class fixtures with one being played at Emirates Old Trafford and the other at Liverpool Cricket Club, due to Emirates Old Trafford’s involvement in England Men’s international summer fixtures.

The campaign starts with an away fixture against Leicestershire, with the venue still TBC, before a trip to Emirates Riverside to face Durham.

Nottinghamshire then visit Emirates Old Trafford on 15 August before the hotly-anticipated Roses clash between 22-25 August at Emerald Headingley.

The group stage rounds off with the visit of Derbyshire to Liverpool starting on 6 September.



All matches are to be played behind-closed-doors, but the Club intend to live stream all five First-Class fixtures to fully paid up 2020 Members and partners exclusively as a reward for their fantastic loyalty and support in a very challenging year for the Club.

White ball fixtures for 2020 will also be announced in due course.

Lancashire’s Director of Cricket, Paul Allott, said: “We were insistent that meaningful red ball cricket was at the top of our priorities for this summer and so we are overwhelmingly pleased to have a competition that finishes with a five-day final at Lord’s.

“Bob was not only a close friend but a visionary for the game and it’s fitting that we’ll be competing for a trophy named in his honour.

“It will be a physically demanding period, with five First-Class games in six weeks, and the players have been looking strong in the lead up to the season with the help of our excellent sport science and medical team.

“We will be going all out to win the competition and bring some joy to our Members after what has been a difficult period for everyone.”

[themaclad]

Stumps: Yorkshire have 337 runs with 5 wickets remaining

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Lancashire enjoyed their first 90 overs in the field on the first day of the two-day friendly against Yorkshire at Emerald Headingley.

Under the pre-arranged terms of the match, Lancashire spent the entirety of the first day in the field and will use tomorrow as batting practice.

It was Lancashire’s first outing against another side since February’s T20 win against a Reliance XI in India, and the first with a red ball since lifting the County Championship Division Two title last September.

Yorkshire finished the day on 337/5 and Graham Onions was the pick of the bowlers’ figures in a typically miserly 2/29 off 14.

With the intra-squad practice match at the start of the week constituting spells 30 and 60 overs per day in the field, today was the first time the squad endured a full 90 over run out and constituted another milestone as preparations step up for the Bob Willis Trophy beginning next weekend.



Tom Bailey and Onions could well be the opening duo come the fixture against Leicestershire and they delivered a testing spell first up here, troubling both sides of the bat. On another day, three or four might have fallen inside the first ten overs.

Bailey was unlucky not to have the first wicket of the day as Adam Lyth’s clip to square leg was put down by Liam Hurt. The left-hander went on to retire at tea on 108.

Though he and Tom Kohler-Cadmore batted through the first session, only in small pockets were they able to cut loose from some tight Red Rose bowling.

The Yorkshiremen both reached half centuries on the stroke of lunch and attacked thereafter. Kohler-Cadmore reached 70 before becoming the first to fall courtesy of a stunning piece of work from Tom Hartley.

The young left-arm spinner, one of two playing for Lancashire in this game, sprung to his left to take a superb one-handed return catch.

Will Fraine was dominant in a partnership alongside Lyth before his dismissal signalled the tea break, nicking Danny Lamb behind to Alex Davies.



With a new pair at the crease, a relatively uneventful 45 minutes ensued before a quick double strike for Graham Onions.

They were classic Onions dismissals, the first moving away to take the edge of Harry Brook’s bat, with Dane Vilas doing the rest following a change of ‘keeper at the tea interval. Tom Loten followed, trapped in front by a ball that barely required an appeal before the umpire raised his finger.

As Lancashire made a raft of bowling changes towards the end of the day, Josh Bohannon had Jonny Tattersall adjudged LBW playing across a straight one before an unbroken stand of 48 closed out the remaining overs.

[themaclad]

Lancashire’s first pre-season match of the 2020 season has completed with a day’s batting against Yorkshire at Emerald Headingley.

The match will go down as a draw in the record books, though that was always going to be the case in this practice scenario where Lancashire agreed to bat today after spending Friday in the field.

Lancashire will undoubtedly feel better off for two competitive days against opposition other than their own team mates.

The key performances of the day came from the all-round duo of Danny Lamb and George Balderson, an unbroken sixth wicket partnership of 116 which encompassed the entirety of the final session.



Lamb finished with the highest score of the day, unbeaten on 76, while former England under-19 captain Balderson was 42 not out at the close.

The pair used over 120 balls apiece, occupying the crease in difficult conditions to see it to the close without being dismissed.

There was a brief delay to proceedings ahead of the second day due to drizzle that only halted play for little more than 15 minutes.

Despite losing Alex Davies to Matt Fisher’s first ball of the game, progress was steady as Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon found their feet at the crease.

Jennings produced perhaps the shot of the day, punching Matthew Waite down the ground for an elegant, straight-driven four, while Bohannon’s back foot punch through cover point was also pleasing on the eye.

On 37, the left-hander edged Waite to third slip, a ball that moved away off the surface.

The seam bowler had Rob Jones caught behind for two shortly after lunch while Bohannon, batting in the number three spot he has made his own, added successive boundaries behind point.



He looked to have settled in nicely before Ben Coad’s first ball of a new spell nipped back to trap him LBW for 46.

Smart thinking from Jack Shutt and quick work from Jonny Tattersall did for Dane Vilas, stumped down the leg-side for 18, with the score 107/5 at that stage.

But Lamb and Balderson came together to see things through to tea and pressed on from there, blunting the Yorkshire bowlers in tricky conditions.

Lamb, 24, grew in confidence as time progressed, as evidenced when dancing down to hit Shutt back over his head for an emphatic boundary, and reached his half-century with a drive to the fence.

Balderson provided able support to his right-handed team-mate, unfurling the cover drive to good effect.

The Red Rose advanced to 223/5 from 86 overs when time was called on the day.

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The Red Rose return to their training base at Chester for their final pre-season warm-up game against a county whom they have many links with on both the playing and coaching staff.

Lancashire enjoyed a very useful, competitive workout against Yorkshire at Emerald Headingley on Friday and Saturday having played an intra-squad game of the same length at Chester last week.

This game was originally scheduled for today and tomorrow, only moved due to a poor weather forecast today.

It will be a midday start and a planned 7pm finish.

Captain Dane Vilas and assistant coach Mark Chilton are planning to give their players most likely to feature in Saturday’s Bob Willis Trophy clash with Leicestershire another workout.



OPPONENTS
This is Derbyshire’s only schedule two-day game against opposition ahead of the start of the competitive four-day matches.

Their playing staff includes ex-Red Rose players Luis Reece and Mattie McKiernan, although the latter did not make his first-team bow for the county. Another all-rounder, Matt Critchley, is Lancashire-born.

Derby’s coaching staff includes former Lancashire batting favourite Mal Loye, while their former head coach Karl Krikken is now on the Red Rose backroom staff.

Derby finished last season’s County Championship Division Two campaign in seventh position, winning four of their 14 games.

Captained by opening batsman Billy Godleman, their batting is underpinned by the excellent and experienced Wayne Madsen. The pair scored 1,008 and 794 Championship runs respectively last year.

Left-arm seamer Reece led the way in terms of four-day wickets, claiming 52, while former West Indies Test quick Ravi Rampaul claimed 44.

While Lancashire cancelled a four-day overseas deal with New Zealand wicketkeeper batsman BJ Watling, Derbyshire did similar with Australian seamer Sean Abbott, although they have agreed a deal with him to play for the county in 2021.

PREVIOUS MEETING
Lancashire completed the Championship double over Derbyshire on the way to last season’s Division Two title, starting with a 10-wicket away win at the County Ground in late-June when Graham Onions claimed his 700th First-Class wicket in a three-day win.

In mid-September, Lancashire won by an innings and 45 runs at Emirates Old Trafford, also in three days, to clinch promotion. And Josh Bohannon was the star!

Derbyshire, having elected to bat, posted 244 in their first innings, with Billy Godleman making 111. Richard Gleeson did the damage, though, with 5-64.

Bohannon’s maiden First-Class century, 174 batting at number three, then underpinned Lancashire’s strong response of 418 before Tom Bailey, Glenn Maxwell and Matthew Parkinson all claimed three wickets to bowl the visitors out for 129 deep into the third day.

The victory confirmed Lancashire’s promotion back to the top-flight.

[themaclad]

Lancashire's First XI squad had another important run out on Day One of the friendly against Derbyshire at Chester Boughton Hall.

Under the pre-arranged format of the match, the Red Rose bowled for the first two sessions of the day before batting in the final 30 overs, with the roles to be reversed tomorrow.

In their 60 overs Derbyshire made 163/2, underpinned by 69 not out from Wayne Madsen and 60 from captain Billy Godleman.

Lancashire finished on 89/1 with Keaton Jennings and Josh Bohannon the unbeaten men.



As they have in previous matches the Red Rose rotated their bowlers in the field, allowing as many opportunities as possible for bowlers to get match-ready ahead of Saturday's Bob Willis Trophy opener.

Nine bowlers delivered spells here on Day One, with the wickets going to Tom Bailey and George Balderson.

The former struck first inside his second over, nicking former Lancashire man Luis Reece off to Alex Davies, who once again took the gloves.

Fellow opening bowler Graham Onions was unlucky not to have added a wicket of his own, passing the bat on several occasions on a pitch that was offering plenty.

Godleman and Madsen, the most experienced pair in Derbyshire's top order, rode out the early storm and played diligently therein to keep things ticking over.

Lunch came at 54/1, less than two runs per over, but the visiting batsmen looked more solid as time progressed.

That was evidenced as they added more than 100 runs in the second set of 30 overs, again as Lancashire shared the bowling to give meaningful spells to a range of bowlers.

Godleman produced the shot of the innings, a straight six off the bowling of Bohannon, but was removed by a smart piece of work from Davies.



Stood up to the bowling of Balderson, the left-hander's nick landed safely in the wicketkeeper's gloves. Madsen continued to the second interval to remain unbeaten, with Leus du Plooy making 21.

Keaton Jennings and Davies continued at the top of the order, and the latter was first man out, bowled by Sam Conners for 10.

But the numbers one and three, who have cemented their places in the top order, saw things through to the close. Jennings was superbly caught in the gully off Ben Aitchison, but the bowler had overstepped.

Bohannon saved the best until last, dismissively striking Michael Cohen through cover for the shot of the day with three overs left in the day.

[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

With Leicester in lockdown, Lancashire will be playing the Leics fixture scheduled for Grace Road at Worcester instead.

[themaclad]

LANCASHIRE v LEICESTERSHIRE NEW ROAD WORCESTER 1/8/2020 TO 4/8/2020

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News to be posted here