Latest news with #KeatonJennings
The Guardian
a day ago
- 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
BBC News
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Lancs thump Notts and Durham win Blast opener
Keaton Jennings made 95 from just 49 balls as Lancashire thumped Nottinghamshire by 47 runs to make it two wins from two in the T20 T20 captain led from the front as his side posted 216-3 having won the toss at Old Trafford, with Luke Wells striking a career-best 87 from 50 balls in a record opening stand of Henriques briefly threatened a chase, making 60 from 32, but it was a lone hand as Notts were bowled out for 169 in the final over. Elsewhere, Ollie Robinson led Durham to victory in their opening game of the competition as they beat Birmingham by three wickets with two overs to spare. Beleaguered Lancashire found succour in their first T20 game of the year with a home win against Worcestershire and they backed it up with a dominant display against struck eight fours and six sixes in running up his second-best T20 score and Wells posted a new highest score, featuring seven boundaries and six stand of 177 in 15.4 overs was the highest T20 partnership for any wicket for Lancashire and put them out of lost openers Lyndon James and Joe Clarke cheaply in the powerplay and tumbled away, with 20-year-old Charlie Barnard taking 3-23 on his debut and Tom Aspinwall 3-26. At Edgbaston, Durham won the toss and took three wickets in the opening 17 balls of the game to set up a comfortable Hain was the only batsman to show for the Bears, making 45 in 28 balls, but New Zealand's Jimmy Neesham took 3-34 as the hosts were bowled out for Clark provided the ideal start to the chase with 40 from 23 deliveries, including five fours and a six, before Robinson took up the mantle, eventually out for 45 from departure, and the wicket soon after of Kasey Aldridge, took some gloss off the victory margin, but it was still achieved with 17 balls in hand.
BBC News
5 days ago
- 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)
The Independent
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Keaton Jennings helps Lancashire to first victory of season
Lancashire finally registered their first win of a torrid season, kicking off this year's Vitality Blast with a seven-run victory over Worcestershire at Emirates Old Trafford. Just a day after their dire form in the Rothesay County Championship cost head coach Dale Benkenstein his job, the Red Rose took the chance of a morale-boosting shift to the 20-over format. Captain Keaton Jennings, back in charge after relinquishing the red-ball job earlier this month, hit 66 in 38 balls to usher his side to a competitive 176 for eight. Kashif Ali's 39 was the best the Pears could manage but contributions throughout the top seven kept them in touch until the closing stages. James Anderson was overlooked as he looks to make his first T20 appearance since 2014, but England quick Luke Wood topped and tailed the innings with two wickets and a run-out before Tom Aspinwall allowed just seven off the 20th to wrap things up. England's forgotten man Ollie Robinson closed out victory for Sussex as they kicked off their campaign with a 16-run win over Middlesex at Lord's. Robinson's international days appear to be behind him for now but he stood tall for last year's semi-finalists to take the heat out of what could have been a nervy finish. Defending 20 off the final over with Ryan Higgins and Ben Geddes flying, Robinson dismissed both set batters and allowed just four runs. He finished with handy figures of three for 27 in an high-scoring game that saw Sussex pile on 202 for four in the first innings. England Lions all-rounder James Coles did most of the hard work, hitting five sixes and five fours as he made an unbeaten 77 in 44 balls. Middlesex's marquee signing Kane Williamson was dismissed for 14 by Scotland international Brad Currie but Geddes' 51 and a furious 44 in 16 balls from Higgins gave the visitors a run for their money.
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
Lancashire are tearing themselves apart on and off the pitch
The crisis enveloping Lancashire has deepened, as Dale Benkenstein left the club 'by mutual consent' on Wednesday, just a day before an AGM that promises to be explosive. Lancashire are enduring a desperate season on the field. Relegated from Division One of the County Championship last season, they are winless and a single point off bottom place in the second tier as the competition takes its mid-point break for the Vitality T20 Blast. Promotion, for which they were widely tipped, is slipping beyond their reach. Coach and captain step down A fortnight ago, Lancashire issued an unprecedented apology to members for the 'disappointing start' to the season, bemoaning the flat pitches at Old Trafford, but crucially backing Benkenstein and his coaching team. That statement was issued at 11.25am, but a little over three hours later in a move reminiscent of a scene from The Thick of It, another missive followed saying Keaton Jennings was resigning as captain of the County Championship team with in-form Australian Marcus Harris taking over. After a draw against Derbyshire and a thumping defeat at leaders Leicestershire in Harris's two games in charge, Benkenstein has now followed Jennings in leaving his post. Steven Croft, the 40-year-old who retired from playing last season, has been placed in interim charge. The messy, muddled triptych of statements act as an emblem for the club's start to a season in which Lancashire have been so bad that barely anyone noticed Yorkshire's slide to the lower reaches of Division One. South African Benkenstein, who enjoyed a fine career as a player, arrived from Gloucestershire, who finished bottom of Division Two in his last season in 2023 and had won just two Championship matches in two years. At Lancashire, he managed just three red-ball wins, all of them in a relegation campaign last year, out of 21 matches. It leaves the club at a low ebb; a far cry from 2022, when they finished second in all three county competitions. To compete on all three fronts is a fine achievement. All the while, a host of Lancashire products thrive elsewhere, such as Nottinghamshire captain Haseeb Hameed, Warwickshire captain Alex Davies, and Surrey's lynchpin Jordan Clark. It is unusual for a county coach to depart mid-season, but this one was greeted with little surprise and few complaints. Now, attention among a restless, angry support base will turn to those who hired him just 18 months ago with such a modest record: Mark Chilton, the director of cricket, Daniel Gidney, the chief executive, and Andy Anson, the chairman. Members in revolt They may feel that the departure of Benkenstein will slightly quieten the music they face at the annual general meeting at 4pm on Thursday, but that seems optimistic. Many will see the coach leaving as mere window dressing. Lancashire are as busy as any county cricket club. On the cricket side, they host men's and women's internationals, a Hundred franchise (which they are partnering with Indian Premier League side Lucknow Super Giants), a men's county team, and a tier-one women's team. They are also developing a playing and training base away from Old Trafford at Farington near Preston. Off the field, at their headquarters they have two hotels, a successful conferencing and events business, and have hosted major concerts. This makes them, and Surrey, the envy of other counties in terms of year-round non-cricket business. The two sides of the business should be able to coexist, but the sense among those close to the club is that the building of the off-field business has contributed to a loss of focus on cricket. 'There is a feeling that cricket isn't the priority' Club legend David 'Bumble' Lloyd used his column in the Daily Mail last week to opine on the club's demise. 'There is a feeling, from both within and outside the club, that cricket isn't the main priority,' he wrote. 'Rather the balance sheet is. That is a real concern. We must get back to being a cricket club.' Lloyd described Anson, who is also CEO of the British Olympic Association, as a 'thoroughly decent bloke who is very busy doing lots of other things, so he can't be hands-on', adding that the well-respected board member John Abrahams is the 'only one with any cricket knowledge at senior level'. For context, Lloyd's lifetime in and around the club has led to him becoming one of 29 vice-presidents at Lancashire, and he still works for the club in commentary and commercial roles. He knows the place like the back of his hand, and his words carry weight. Lloyd's words would chime with many of Lancashire's members, who have been vocal in their dissent for some years. As one says: 'Lancashire and Old Trafford have become an events business attached to an inconvenient cricket team, and an even more inconvenient membership alongside that.' The members have a fraught relationship with the club's leaders. Anson has been in charge since 2020, and Gidney was appointed CEO in 2012, making him one of the longest-serving officials in county cricket. He has helped transform Lancashire off the field, has been innovative in his courting of the lucrative Indian market, and has been a great champion of women's cricket. It should be noted that Lancashire won the inaugural Vitality Women's County Cup on Monday, so it has not all been bad on the field at the start of the season. But he has also had a way of angering cricket fans, not least when he told a Lancashire members' forum that some non-host counties were like 'heroin addicts' in their reliance on the England and Wales Cricket Board. This matter is understood to have been raised at meeting of county leaders. On the more extreme fringe of the Red Rose membership was the Lancashire Action Group, which was founded in 2014 and replaced by Lancashire CC Members Group last year. Earlier this month, their leader Alan Higham wrote an open letter looking ahead to the AGM, saying 'the club is struggling – both on the pitch, financially and for the continued support of loyal fans'. They laid out a series of complaints, including the failure of the club to allow members to be represented on the board, and the stifling of dissent. Some of these issues can be expected to dominate proceedings at the AGM on Thursday. But chief among their complaints was 'a loss of focus on Lancashire CCC'. They accuse the club of failing to encourage attendances at Lancashire matches. In 2019, the last season before the pandemic and the inaugural Hundred, Lancashire's Blast attendances averaged more than 10,000. In 2024, not helped by a washed-out Roses match, that dropped to under 5,500. The highest attendance was still the Yorkshire fixture, at 7,699, with the lowest just 3,768. Blast numbers have been declining across the country since the Hundred (and will continue to do so this year, with advanced sales very poor), but Lancashire's is an extreme example. Membership figures have been dropping, too; in 2006, Lancashire had more than 12,000 members. Now they have just 1,400 full annual members, along with a few thousand others in lower categories that allow access to international tickets. This group clearly fluctuates year-on-year; there were a total of 8,604 members for the Ashes year of 2023, but that dropped to 5,022 in 2024. Perilous finances Members are always likely to grumble when a team perform as poorly as Lancashire are now. But for all that the off-field business is well set up, the club's finances are in a tight spot. When their last accounts (for 2023) were published, Lancashire had £32.2 million of debt, which is expensive to service. The club's finances are tied to the England calendar, and are vulnerable to the whims of the weather. In 2023, they hosted an Ashes Test, but two days were badly affected by rain, costing them revenue. Last year, their Test against Sri Lanka was a low-key affair, while the Roses match and T20 international against Australia were both rained off – bad luck, and brutal for the balance sheet. Next year, Old Trafford does not host a Test match of any sort, denying the club income from advance ticket sales, and in 2027 they are due to host a Test, but not in the Ashes. Last summer, concern about the club's cash flow rose among the playing group when there was a delay in their expenses being paid, affecting some players' personal financial position. When contacted by Telegraph Sport about this last year, the club accepted that one payment was delayed, putting it down to a change of system. Concerts, like Test matches, have been a sure-fire money-spinner for Lancashire in recent decades. There are currently no concerts in the diary, which the club say is because they are focusing on cricket. But reports in local and national media earlier this year revealed that Trafford Council, the local authority, had taken Lancashire CCC and mega-promoter Live Nation to court over an incident in which a member of the public was injured at a Red Hot Chili Peppers concert three years ago. The trial will not happen until March 2027, and Lancashire are still able to host concerts while this happens, although it could be that the opening of the Co-Op Live arena in Manchester affects who performs there. Later this year, Lancashire will be offered a route out of their financial difficulties by the Hundred sale. Gidney, Anson and former board member James Sheridan deserve credit for their work on this, which secured them the IPL partner they so desperately sought, Lucknow's billionaire owner Sanjiv Goenka, and a good overall value of £116 million. Lancashire were gifted 51 per cent of the franchise by the ECB, and chose to sell 21 per cent and keep 30 per cent of it, meaning Goenka is buying 70 per cent overall. When the deal is eventually done – and it is not Lancashire or their partners dragging their feet – the club could receive upwards of £40 million and an opportunity to write off some of that debt and build the business further.
