Lancashire begin their 2024 Division One campaign at Old Trafford on Friday, hosting back-to-back winners Surrey in the County Championship.
The County Championship has finally returned and the red roses look to begin their campaign with a win, as current champions Surrey visit Old Trafford in a blockbuster clash.
Finishing their 2023 campaign in modest fifth-place, drawing 10 of their 14 games after being significantly hampered by the weather and the limitations of four-day cricket, Lancashire are hoping for better results from their efforts.
Captain Keaton Jennings had a steady season with the bat, scoring 794 runs at a 52.93 average, but star batsman Josh Bohannon made a whopping 1257 runs at a 59.85 average – the most runs by a single batsman in the competition for four years.
Alongside their batting efforts, Tom Bailey took 50 wickets across the season – seventh most in the competition and allrounder George Balderson had an outstanding breakout season, making 702 runs at an average of 50.14 and taking 23 wickets at an average of 32.08.
After having a relatively tumultuous campaign, during the off-season spinner Tom Hartley made his debut for the England Test cricket team on their tour of India, taking an impressive 22 wickets as England’s most prolific bowler in the series.
With his new-found confidence and backing from the Stokes-McCullum England regime, Hartley will be hoping to be a big difference maker for the Roses this time around before a potentially busy summer for England’s Test side.
To assist Hartley’s development, Lancashire have acquired the services of Australian veteran spinner Nathan Lyon who has 530 Test wickets and 775 first-class wickets to his name.
Although Lyon was initially signed for the entire campaign, Cricket Australia have capped his stay at eight matches in order to limit his workload ahead of a busy winter of Test cricket, but he will be a huge addition to Lancashire’s efforts this year.
New Zealand international batsman Tom Bruce has also been signed by the club and with 5,000 first-class runs at a 50 average in his career to date, he will be sure to add experience and stability to the middle-order.
All in all, Lancashire have plenty of attributes to succeed this season, but there will be no steeper test than Surrey visiting first game of the season.
Hoping to win their third consecutive title and emboldened by the news that their director of cricket Alec Stewart will be leaving at the end of the season after 11 years at the helm, Surrey are firm favourites for the title yet again this year.
Captain Rory Burns will lead the team again, joined at the top of the batting order with Dom Sibley who top scored for the county last year making 746 runs.
Jordan Clark and Daniel Worrall each took 48 wickets as part of a ruthless bowling attack and England Test cricketers Ollie Pope and Ben Foakes each add a wealth of international experience to the Surrey squad.
In terms of overseas additions, Australian allrounder Sean Abbott returns for a second consecutive season and explosive West Indies seamer Kemar Roach is now four years into his stay at the Oval-based county.
Essex’s Dan Lawrence has also been recruited to the side this year, hoping to make an impression in an effort to return to the England Test team, after spending his winter as part of the international squad in India but failing to make an appearance in the series.
While Lancashire and Surrey have featured in pre-season matches, both were significantly rain impacted. However, with many players having rested since the end of the last season in September, both teams will be raring to go on Friday.
The counties battled it out twice in 2023, with last season’s opener against Surrey at Old Trafford ending in a draw – where Lancashire were deserted 197 runs short with 7 wickets in-hand – while proceedings at the Oval resulted in a victory for the red roses by 123 runs.
In order to continue their good form against the division’s leading county, Lancashire will have to overcome to a Surrey side on a mission to create history in Alec Stewart’s final season – a third consecutive title.
But opening their campaign with a statement win would send shockwaves across the championship of some serious title credentials.
👋🔴 @CountyChamp
— Lancashire Cricket (@lancscricket) November 23, 2023
First up we have the roadmap for our 2024 LV= Insurance County Championship campaign! 🏆
Click below for our full fixture list! 📰⤵
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Featured image: William Comish
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