Anderson: Lancs can win the title
BIG WIN OVER HAMPSHIRE LEAVES RED ROSE SECOND IN TABLE
JIMMY Anderson believes Lancashire have the quality and strength in depth to win the Specsavers County Championship.
The Red Rose shot up to second in the table at the half-way stage with a convincing innings and 30-run win over Hampshire at Emirates Old Trafford yesterday.
A maximum 24-point haul yesterday leaves them 14 behind leaders Essex with seven games to go, and they did it without Liam Livingstone - who is on England duty – and Haseeb Hameed, who is with the Lions.
Both could be available for the next Championship match - the floodlight clash with Warwickshire at Edgbaston - and Lancashire will also have Anderson and Buttler available.
This time last year, they were top of the table, but failed to win another game and in the end faced a fight against relegation.
And Anderson believes not only have they have learnt from that slump, but they have more quality in the side.
“Yes, we can definitely win the title,” said Anderson, who claimed 4-20 to help dismiss Hampshire for 168 yesterday.
“We have what happened last year in our minds, but we are better equipped to deal with it this year.
“We have all basis covered. We have a strong batting line-up – we won this game without Livingstone and Hameed which shows we have the strength in depth to do it and the quality to do it.
“And we still have guys who haven’t really shown us what they can do this summer. Steven Croft, for instance, will be expecting more runs from himself.
“A lot of people wouldn’t have expected Essex and Lancashire to be first and second in the table after seven games.
“We are in a great position, a strong position. Confidence is high in the group, a lot of players are playing well and we have a lot of competition for places too, which is healthy.
“But we are not going to get carried away.
“We have a big game starting on Monday and if we can get a result there that will put us in a great position for the second half of the summer.
“Beating Hampshire was a really good performance, but there are still areas where we can improve.”
Lancashire will lose Anderson to the Test side after the Edgbaston clash, but beat Middlesex without him last week and could be boosted by the return of Buttler for at least the next four games if - as expected - he doesn’t get picked in the Test team.
With overcast conditions and with Hampshire resuming on 50-5 in their second innings yesterday - still 148 behind - a quick finish looked on the cards, especially when Anderson had nightwatchman Matt Salisbury caught at slip off the fifth ball of the day.
But a short rain interruption and some dogged resistance from first Lewis McManus and then Gareth Berg (49) delayed the inevitable until 3pm.
Lancashire players then spent an hour netting in the middle using a pink ball, which will be used for the first time for the next round of Championship matches with every game being played under floodlights ahead of the first day/ night Test in England later this summer.