Red Rose youngsters can bloom
PAUL Allott believes a year in Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship could help Lancashire promote some of their young players into the first team.
And the Emirates Old Trafford director of cricket says they are looking to recruit a batsman as their overseas player next season as they look to bounce straight back up into the top flight.
The Red Rose were relegated by just a single point last season, with a lack of runs the main reason behind the poor campaign.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Haseeb Hameed both had dreadful seasons, while the loss of Keaton Jennings to England for a large chunk of the schedule hit them hard.
Now Allott and head coach Glen Chapple are keen to promote from within next season, with players such as Rob Jones, Josh Bohannon, Danny Lamb, Brooke Guest, Toby Lester and Saqib Mahmood among those set to be given more of an opportunity.
“Being in Division Two should allow a slightly easier bedding-in period for some of our young talent,” said Allott. “That’s not to say it will be easy. But with a bit of good fortune – and we are only going to have one year in the Second Divison let’s be straight about that – one year of allowing a crop of young players to get first-team experience could be just what we need.”
But Allott says Lancashire are still looking to recruit from outside the club next season, having already signed seamer Richard Gleeson from Northamptonshire.
“We have been looking at batsmen this year, I don’t think it is any secret we were in the hunt for Joe Clark, he chose Nottinghamshire over us, primarily because he thought they were guaranteed First Division cricket next year.
“But overseas players next year are going to be thin on the ground with the World Cup taking place for eight weeks and then an Ashes summer, which precludes any front line Australians.”
Allott, however, believes Lancashire are now well stocked in the bowling department with the addition of Gleeson. Player of the Year Tom Bailey finished as the leading wicket-taker in Division One, with Graham Onions right behind him.
And with leg-spinner Matthew Parkinson improving all the time, Allott believes the bowling line-up is in good shape.