England spell to boost Red Rose says Chapple
CRICKET
GLEN Chapple is confident his short spell as England’s fast bowling coach will benefit Lancashire.
The Red Rose boss worked with the Test side for the series against the West Indies through July, spending more than a month in the bio-secure bubbles at the Ageas Bowl and Emirates Old Trafford.
“Professionally, it’s been superb over that period of time,” said Chapple, who is now back with the Lancashire squad.
“Whilst I’ve got a brilliant job at Lancashire, it’s also been a great experience to go and work with other players in a different environment and just gain a different perspective really.
“The chance to work with England’s best players is fantastic. I enjoyed seeing them go about their business.
“They are the best England have, and you can see why in the way they prepare to play and the way they train.
“That being said, our (Lancashire) players train really well as well.
“But if there’s anything I’ve learnt there that I can pass on here, it’s good.”
Former seamer Chapple, 46, had a similar specialist coaching experience with the England Lions on their tour of the West Indies in early 2018.
“It just freshens you up,” he said.
“You can get set in your ways a little bit, and it’s nice to see other coaches and how they operate.
“Most of it reinforces how you think is the way to go, but there might be some edges of things you might want to address.”
When asked about his future ambitions should a more full-time role with England crop up, he played a straight bat.
“As a coach, you should just want to be the best coach you can be,” he said.
“That’s regardless of who you’re working with and what job you have. I enjoy both specialist coaching and head coaching.
“The ambition should be just to help the players you’re working with as much as you can.”
Chapple is now back with Lancashire for the remainder of the shortened domestic summer and has admitted it’s frustrating Lancashire can’t play their home Bob Willis Cup matches at Emirates Old Trafford.
However, the Red Rose head coach is just delighted the county are just about to play cricket in what is the most unusual of seasons.
Lancashire started their third match of the campaign against Nottinghamshire at the weekend, but even though it was a home tie, they were playing it at Trent Bridge as Emirates Old Trafford remains a bio-secure bubble ahead of more international cricket to come this summer.
They played their last home game - against Leicestershire - at a neutral venue as they lost at Worcestershire’s Blackfinch New Road.
And Chapple admits, it would be helpful if he could have a hand in the type of wicket needed to suit his side.
“It’s slightly frustrating that we can’t have control of the pitch, but we’ll just have to crack on,” said Chapple.
“I’m sure we’re entitled to ask, but we’ll see how that goes!
“It’s more about getting on the park and enjoying playing your cricket.”
A win, a draw and a defeat means Lancashire may need to win their final two matches if they have any chance of topping the North Group and securing their place in the Lord’s final next month.
“Realistically, we might have to win all (of our remaining games) because only the two best winners of the groups get through,” said Chapple.
“But we just want to play good cricket and keep winning games.
“It’s going to be a tough thing to achieve this season, but we just want to keep winning games.”