Latest news with #StevenCroft
BBC News
6 days ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Anderson confident wins will come for Lancashire
James Anderson is confident that Lancashire can turn their season around if they maintain the positive approach they showed against all-time leading Test wicket-taker captained Lancashire for the first time in the Championship game in Blackpool. 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 Anderson was pleased with how his players took the initiative and hopes they can maintain that against Derbyshire in the next Championship clash 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, external. 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 Keaton Jennings resigned last month before head coach Dale Benkenstein was sacked a fortnight Croft is the interim head coach while Australia batter Marcus Harris has been appointed as the red-ball with Harris back home on paternity leave, Anderson has taken over for the games with Kent and tally of 639-9 dec was Lancashire's highest for 10 years with three players scoring centuries - Luke Wells, Josh Bohannon and Ashton Turner - and they had Kent on the ropes at 116-7 for their second innings only for a stand of 182 between Joey Evison and Grant Stewart to effectively save the game."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 he admits that certain things took him by surprise."Day one, the concentration levels weren't quite there when I was bowling," he said."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."
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
26-03-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Trust in Church will be 'regained slowly'
The Bishop of Oxford says that trust will be "regained very slowly" following recent sexual abuse scandals within the Church of Right Reverend Dr Steven Croft said there was "much more rigorous training" when it came to safeguarding issues within the Church, compared to a decade paid tribute "to hundreds and hundreds of clergy" across the Diocese of Oxford who were "engaged in good safeguarding week in week out".But the bishop also said he had learned from his own "mistakes" when dealing with serious safeguarding concerns. Last year the Archbishop of Canterbury quit his role after a review found that he "could and should" have reported a prolific child abuser to police in Croft himself previously apologised after a review found that he did not act sufficiently when in 2012 Matthew Ineson told him he had been raped. During an interview with Adam Ball on BBC Radio Oxford the bishop said: "I've done all I can to learn from that and to behave differently, and also to bring about a change in safeguarding where I have that responsibility."An independent review last year into the safeguarding work at the Diocese of Oxford praised it as "exceptionally well-led".He said: "We're absolutely not complacent about that and there's still a huge amount of work to do, and in many ways that's the safest place for us to be as a church, knowing that we have a great deal to learn, and that we can still continue to set the voices of survivors at the heart of all we're doing." In a wide-ranging one-hour interview the bishop restated his support for same-sex marriage."From everything that we've learned from listening to LGBT people there's something profound and deep in their identity, which means that those relationships and loves ought to be affirmed by the church," he Croft also said he was opposed to the assisted dying bill, saying his stance was "about the sanctity of human life", "to stress the need for good palliative care everywhere" and "partly the sense that we are crossing an important line as a country if this bill is passed".He added: "For the first time our National Health Service will be proactively involved in ending life not saving life, and that's a really significant thing for the medical and healing professions." You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
