Faulkner out to be a T20 blockbuster
JAMES Faulkner is ready to end three weeks of boredom and fire Lancashire to their second Vitality Blast title.
As their T20 overseas player, the Australian isn’t registered to play in the County Championship, so has been catching up on box sets in the time since Lightning beat Kent in the quarter-finals to secure a place at today’s Finals Day at Edgbaston.
“It’s been three weeks between the quarter-final and Edgbaston,” he told M.E.N. Sport. “I have never been in that situation before - and I don’t think anyone else has either where you have such a gap.
“I have been able to train and use the gym facilites at Old Trafford, but I have to admit it has been quite boring, sitting in the hotel watching Netflix!”
The World Cup winner has happy memories of Finals Day, having helped Lancashire win their first T20 title there during his previous stint at the club in 2015.
That season, he was the club’s joint leading wicket-taker, but this year’s campaign has been slightly different, with Lancashire’s emphasis even more in spin than in previous years.
But Faulkner - a veteran of Big Bash and IPL campaigns believes they have a game plan that is working as they head into their semi-final against Worcestershire and a seventh Finals Day.
“There was one game I didn’t bowl at all, which was quite surprising. There has been a lot of spin throughout the whole tournament, not just with us,” he said. “It is no surprise, it’s happening in all tournaments around the world at the moment.
“We are going into Finals Day on a run of good victories.
“Fourteen games of cricket in the group is a hell of a lot. There were games we should have won that we lost, and some we should have lost that we won, but that’s the nature of the beast. But the big factor this season has been how well we have started at the top of the order with the bat.
“We can look back and say we have done half the job in getting to Finals Day, now we have to finish it off.
“Playing on these big occasions, you need to play with freedom. There is no point going out there second-guessing yourself. We have to go out and express ourselves and show our skills and ability.
“Winning that quarter-final against Kent on an average wicket will give us a lot of confidence because that was a great run chase by us. So that shows we should back ourselves to chase anything.”
Faulkner came into this campaign on the back of an injury-hit few seasons and plenty of question marks over his fitness after suffering with knee problems.
He wasn’t picked up in the IPL auction, and has now ruled out a return to four-day cricket and any chance of playing in next year’s Ashes in England.
“I have had a tough couple of years,” he said. “Just being able to play cricket again, to enjoy it without being in pain, has been brilliant.
“I will get back home after Finals Day and start playing 50-over cricket again. At the end of the day I want to be available and playing good cricket for the World Cup next year. I can only control that with the performances I put in.
“Playing four-day cricket would be a risk for me.
“I don’t feel it is the time to start risking things, especially with a big summer ahead of the World Cup next year.
“I want to play in the BBL and perform well in it again. So for me the Ashes next year is not an option.”