Latest news with #DaleBenkenstein
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Anderson confident wins will come for Lancashire
James Anderson is confident Lancashire can turn their season around if they maintain the positive approach they showed against Kent. England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker captained Lancashire for the first time in the Championship game in Blackpool. Advertisement But the Red Rose could not nail down a first red-ball win of the season as Kent batted out the final day for a draw. However, Anderson was pleased with how his players took the initiative and hopes they can maintain that against Derbyshire in the next Championship match in Chesterfield. "The positive approach we had, if we keep that and keep playing well, we have the quality in the group to win some games," he told BBC Radio Lancashire. It has been a terrible start to the Championship for Lancashire this season in Division Two following relegation, with the Red Rose picking up no wins from eight games as they sit sixth. Advertisement Captain Keaton Jennings resigned last month before head coach Dale Benkenstein was sacked a fortnight later. Steven Croft is the interim head coach while Australia batter Marcus Harris has been appointed as the red-ball skipper. But with Harris back home on paternity leave, Anderson has taken over for the games with Kent and Derbyshire. Lancashire's mammoth 639-9 dec was their highest score for 10 years, with three players - Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon and Ashton Turner - scoring centuries. And they had Kent on the ropes at 116-7 in their second innings, only for a stand of 182 between Joey Evison and Grant Stewart to effectively save the game. Advertisement "The way we applied ourselves this week felt different to the rest of the season," said Anderson. "We had a lot of positive energy in the field and then the way we applied ourselves with the bat - we dug in when needed and when the opportunity was there to put the pressure on the opposition, we did that." 'More pressure when decisions are yours' The game in Blackpool was Anderson's first go at leading a side despite his vast experience of 188 Tests and more than 20 years of first-class cricket. And he admits that certain things took him by surprise. "Day one, the concentration levels weren't quite there when I was bowling," he said. Advertisement "I was thinking about other stuff rather than where I was bowling the ball, so it took a little while to get used to that. "For me, it was something very different. Even when I've played and not been captain, I've always thought about the game and tried to help captains out on the field. "But obviously when the decisions are yours, you feel under that little bit more pressure. "But I got used to it as the game went on and thoroughly enjoyed it."
The Guardian
02-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
County cricket: Lancashire, Sussex and Somerset lead way in T20 Blast
When the Nationwide Building Society sponsored the three tiers below the Premier League from 1996 to 2004, research showed strong name recognition from football fans. However, further research showed that people believed 'nationwide' referred to the fact that the clubs were drawn from all over the country and were unaware of the provider of loans to the bright-eyed twentysomethings still 10 years away from hearing the dreaded phrase 'credit crunch'. The Vitality Blast invites a similar misapprehension. Launched just as England gets its international season underway, with an England Lions match and the never-ending IPL also claiming players, who could deny that the county game needs a blast of vitality? Vitality is not just a (very welcome) sponsor. It is also a call to arms for a competition that is critical to county cricket yet is seemingly shunted into whatever gaps are left when the ECB's circus music stops. Lancashire spent the first eight weeks of the season racking up more club statements than wins, last week's offering opening starkly: 'Lancashire Cricket can confirm that Dale Benkenstein has left his position as Men's Head Coach by mutual consent.' Steven Croft has assumed the position of head coach and set about a re-building job, with ex-Championship captain Keaton Jennings leading on the field. It's not as radical a change as some Lanky fans would have wanted, but they are top of the North Group with three wins from three. Jennings has led from the front with scores of 66, 95 and 24 and he was able to watch his coach's old mate, James Anderson, knock the top off Durham's innings with a spell of 3 for 17 in his four overs, which went a long way to rounding off the hat-trick. It's early days, but the clouds around Manchester are lifting. Northamptonshire are the other county in the North Group with a 100% record after wins over Yorkshire and Leicestershire. If 35-year-old captain David Willey (54 off 27 and 3 for 42), was the key figure in the first win, delivering the almost cliched strong performance on returning to an old club, it was a fellow member of the 'Anderson Brigade' who got Northants over the line in the low-scoring second match of the campaign. The 40-year-old Ravi Bopara conceded 16 runs in his three overs and then compiled 46 across 15 overs batting to take the score from 25 for 2 in the fifth to 123 for 5 in the 20th. I guess you learn that sort of nous in the course of 480 T20 matches. Sussex and Somerset top the nascent South Group, having won both of their opening fixtures, with the former nudging ahead on net run rate. Writing this column necessitates quite a lot of the eyeing of scorecards which, in turn, lends itself to certain names hoving into view more often than others. Harry Brook's avalanche of runs just before his selection for England was a case in point, as was Dan Worrall's relentless wicket-taking for Surrey. But the names that crop up most often are the players who make things happen and find ways to affect the game. They can be patronised by some but I've always liked so-called 'bits and pieces merchants'. That's what growing up on a diet of Barry Wood, David Hughes and Flat Jack does for you. That phrase would be damning Sussex's James Coles with the faintest of praise though, because the 21-year-old is enjoying a marvellous season. In at No 4 in the Blast, he opened the campaign with 77 not out and three overs for 21 against Middlesex and backed it up with 43 and 2 for 26 against Gloucestershire. Hard-hitting middle-order bats who can be relied upon for some useful slow left arm after the powerplay is done are extremely valuable assets in white-ball cricket. Coles can expect a lot of work and a lot of mentions this season. On paper, where nothing is won and only fools are made, opening fixtures against Surrey and Essex looked like a rude awakening for Somerset's T20 outfit. No matter – both were won in some comfort. Only Jason Roy, with a remarkable 92 from 146 for 9, was able to resist the Antipodean stranglehold exerted by the Kiwi, Matt Henry (3-21), and the Aussie, Riley Meredith (3-26), as Surrey went down at Taunton. Chelmsford was an illustration of how Twenty20 is played in the 2020s. There was a time when a middling target of 149 would be chased with a middling strategy – attack in the powerplay, then accumulate and accelerate towards the back end with wickets in hand. Not for Will Smeed and the Tom-Tom-Tom club of Lammonby, Kohler-Cadmore and Abell at the other end, who went off hard and kept going, the runs hammered out with 20% of the available deliveries in hand. Somerset won all four of their matches in May and have started June in the same vein. Next up? Sussex on Friday night. Blast games can come thick and fast with little time available to pull yourself out of a bad trot. Take the Birmingham Bears. On Friday night, they were ambushed at Trent Bridge by a superb Nottinghamshire chase that took down 227 with five balls in hand, Joe Clarke and Jack Haynes making 147 off 64 balls between them. A few hours later, they were back at Edgbaston and 4 for 3 against Durham's canny Callum Parkinson and pacy Zakary Foulkes – there was no coming back from there. I can raise an eyebrow (like most of us who remember the days of a Championship match starting on a Saturday, with a John Player Sunday League game in the middle and a Gillette Cup match on the end) when today's players complain of workloads. Nevertheless, scheduling those two matches to be played out in less than 24 hours on two different grounds – no doubt at the behest of TV – is unfair to players and fans. This article is from The 99.94 Cricket Blog
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
T20 Blast begins with wins for Lancs and Sussex
This year's T20 Blast got under way with opening night victories for troubled Lancashire Lightning and last season's semi-finalists Sussex Sharks. A day after the departure of head coach Dale Benkenstein after a bad start to the season, Lancashire secured a tense seven-run victory over Worcestershire Rapids at Emirates Old Trafford. Captain Keaton Jennings led from the front in their North Group encounter as his side posted 176-8 with no Worcestershire batter going past 39 as they only made 169-7. In the South Group, Sussex began with a 16-run win at Lord's over Middlesex aided by a fine 77 not out from James Coles in their 202-4. Despite 51 from Ben Geddes and some lusty hitting from Ryan Higgins, the home side never looked in contention as they ended on 186-7. It has been a dreadful start to the season in the County Championship for Lancashire, who named former T20-winning captain Steven Croft as interim head coach, with no wins from their seven games. Jennings had already resigned as red-ball captain and the club apologised to its members before Benkenstein's exit. Back in charge for the T20 Blast, Jennings brought up his 50 off 30 balls and put on 79 for the first wicket with Luke Wells. But a brilliant catch in the deep from Ethan Brookes removed Jennings and halted Lancashire's progress, and the hosts lost five wickets for 22 runs to keep the target to under nine runs an over. When Kashif Ali smashed 39 off 21 balls, the Rapids were well over the required rate and on course for an away win. But the loss of captain Brett D'Oliveira (30) and Adam Hose (13) to reduce Worcestershire to 93-4 after 10.1 overs changed the complexion of the game. From there, Lancashire turned the screw and with the visitors needing 15 runs off the last over, Tom Aspinwall conceded just seven to deliver a morale-boosting first win of the season in any competition. Middlesex have been perennial strugglers in the South Group, unable to reach the quarter-finals for six years and without a Finals Day appearance since they won the competition in 2008. After winning the toss, they chipped away at Sussex's top order, helped by Tom Helm running out Daniel Hughes at the non-striker's end when the Australian was well set on 38. But Coles' best T20 score from 44 balls held the innings together as he put on an unbroken 88 with Tom Clark (26 not out) to take the score past 200. New Zealand star Kane Williamson, on his Middlesex debut, was spectacularly caught for 14 at deep point by a diving Harrison Ward, who almost lost his trousers in the process. However, they were soon behind the required rate and at 136-5 early in the 17th over, the game looked over. Higgins hit 44 off just 16 balls to give them a glimmer of hope until he was bowled by Ollie Robinson in the last over as the England bowler finished with an impressive 3-27. North Group: Leicester: Leicestershire Foxes v Derbyshire Falcons Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Birmingham Bears Headingley: Yorkshire v Northamptonshire Steelbacks South Group: Taunton: Somerset v Surrey Bristol: Gloucestershire v Kent (19:00) Utilita Bowl: Hampshire Hawks v Essex Eagles (19:00)
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
T20 Blast begins with wins for Lancs and Sussex
This year's T20 Blast got under way with opening night victories for troubled Lancashire Lightning and last season's semi-finalists Sussex Sharks. A day after the departure of head coach Dale Benkenstein after a bad start to the season, Lancashire secured a tense seven-run victory over Worcestershire Rapids at Emirates Old Keaton Jennings led from the front in their North Group encounter as his side posted 176-8 with no Worcestershire batter going past 39 as they only made 169-7. In the South Group, Sussex began with a 16-run win at Lord's over Middlesex aided by a fine 77 not out from James Coles in their 51 from Ben Geddes and some lusty hitting from Ryan Higgins, the home side never looked in contention as they ended on 186-7. Morale booster for Lancs It has been a dreadful start to the season in the County Championship for Lancashire, who named former T20-winning captain Steven Croft as interim head coach, with no wins from their seven had already resigned as red-ball captain and the club apologised to its members before Benkenstein's in charge for the T20 Blast, Jennings brought up his 50 off 30 balls and put on 79 for the first wicket with Luke a brilliant catch in the deep from Ethan Brookes removed Jennings and halted Lancashire's progress, and the hosts lost five wickets for 22 runs to keep the target to under nine runs an Kashif Ali smashed 39 off 21 balls, the Rapids were well over the required rate and on course for an away the loss of captain Brett D'Oliveira (30) and Adam Hose (13) to reduce Worcestershire to 93-4 after 10.1 overs changed the complexion of the there, Lancashire turned the screw and with the visitors needing 15 runs off the last over, Tom Aspinwall conceded just seven to deliver a morale-boosting first win of the season in any competition. Sharks start strongly Middlesex have been perennial strugglers in the South Group, unable to reach the quarter-finals for six years and without a Finals Day appearance since they won the competition in winning the toss, they chipped away at Sussex's top order, helped by Tom Helm running out Daniel Hughes at the non-striker's end when the Australian was well set on Coles' best T20 score from 44 balls held the innings together as he put on an unbroken 88 with Tom Clark (26 not out) to take the score past Zealand star Kane Williamson, on his Middlesex debut, was spectacularly caught for 14 at deep point by a diving Harrison Ward, who almost lost his trousers in the process. However, they were soon behind the required rate and at 136-5 early in the 17th over, the game looked hit 44 off just 16 balls to give them a glimmer of hope until he was bowled by Ollie Robinson in the last over as the England bowler finished with an impressive 3-27. Friday's fixtures (18:30 BST unless stated) North Group:Leicester: Leicestershire Foxes v Derbyshire FalconsTrent Bridge: Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Birmingham BearsHeadingley: Yorkshire v Northamptonshire Steelbacks South Group:Taunton: Somerset v SurreyBristol: Gloucestershire v Kent (19:00)Utilita Bowl: Hampshire Hawks v Essex Eagles (19:00)
BBC News
29-05-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Lancashire batter Harris signs new deal
Lancashire batter Marcus Harris has signed a new deal to remain with the club until the end of the 2027 32-year-old Australia international initially signed as an overseas player for this summer's County Championship and One-Day Cup has had an impressive start to 2025 despite the county's winless season so far and is the leading scorer in the County Championship, with 825 runs and an average of 63."I have loved the start of my time with Lancashire and I am really pleased to extend my contract at Old Trafford by a further two years," he said., external"It was a great honour to be asked to lead the Red Rose in four-day cricket and I hope that I can continue to make positive contributions, both with the bat and as a leader on the field."The start to this season hasn't been what we all would have wanted, but we are determined to put things right in the County Championship when we next take to the field at the end of June."Harris, who has played 14 Tests for Australia, joined having previously played county cricket with Leicestershire and impressive form this term has seen him score three centuries and three half-centuries this season and his contract extension comes after head coach Dale Benkenstein left by mutual consent earlier this week.
