Lancs batting not been good enough admits ace Bailey
TOM Bailey admits Lancashire deserve to be relegated because of their batting problems.
The Red Rose, ironically, won their final match of the season by beating Hampshire at the Ageas Bowl yesterday, just 24 hours after their drop into Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship was confirmed.
With Nottinghamshire losing, it means they have finished the season level on points with the Trent Bridge side, and have gone down because they won one match fewer.
And, agonisingly, they would have stayed up had they scored just 27 runs more in their first innings against Hampshire, which would have secured them an extra batting bonus point.
“To tie with Notts on points is gutting, especially as we were just 27 runs away from another batting point,” said Bailey.
“But if we are being honest, we haven’t played the cricket we would have liked to have played through the season.
“With the way we have batted this season, we have deserved to go down, but it feels like a one-off season.”
Bailey himself has had an outstanding season.
Having been given the job of leading the seam attack in the Championship, he has finished top of the Division One wicket-taking charts with 64, closely followed by team-mate Graham Onions with 57.
That in itself suggests Lancashire’s problems this year have been with the bat.
No Red Rose batsman has posted more than 1,000 runs this season, the closest is Dane Vilas with 792 and Alex Davies on 732.
But the one statistic that speaks volumes is the 709 runs scored by Keaton Jennings, despite missing four matches because of his England call-up. A full season from him may have made the difference.
He made 40 yesterday and Liam Livingstone 48 as Lancashire knocked off the 113 runs they needed for victory in just 13 overs, having bowled Hampshire out for 198 in their second innings.
Bailey was once again the main destroyer with the ball, taking 4-43.
And he has already set his sights on next season.
“I have been very proud of my efforts this season. Hopefully I can do the same next year but also win a trophy,” said Bailey.
Four Lancashire players have been named in the Lions squads for this winter’s tour to the UAE to play Pakistan A. Matt Parkinson and Liam Livingstone make the four-day squad, while Alex Davies and Saqib Mahmood join them for the 50 over and T20 games.