‘Below par’ Lancs fight it out for draw with Notts
KEATON Jennings admits Lancashire were ‘below par’ in their draw with Nottinghamshire, but believes the fight they showed to avoid defeat will give them confidence in their final two Bob Willis Trophy games.
The Red Rose were deep in trouble on the final day as they were forced to follow on at Trent Bridge having been bowled out for 173 in reply to the home side’s 472.
However, Jennings (37no) and Alex Davies (69no) led Lancashire to 120-0 to force the draw.
But the opener says there is no shying away from the fact they were second best in the match. He said: “It was good to come out of a game in which we’ve not played well with a draw. It gives guys confidence that we will fight back from games in which we are not in a great position.
“Hopefully we can start better with bat and ball because we feel we were below par in both regards this week.
“We pride ourselves on being a side that is tough to beat. We didn’t play our best cricket for the first three days so we had to stand up and face the music.
“Thankfully it was one of those days in which myself and Alex were able to pull the side through to a really positive draw.”
Lancashire have just two games left, starting against Yorkshire on Saturday at Headingley followed by the visit of Derbyshire to Aigburth from September 6.
Meanwhile, Lancashire’s Saqib Mahmood has been named in the 14-strong England squad for the three-match T20 series against Pakistan which will be played at Emirates Old Trafford on August 28, 30 and September 1.
Liam Livingstone has been named as reserve while, due to him being in the bio-secure Test bubble, Jos Buttler isn’t available.
National Selector Ed Smith, said: “In this crowded international summer, players who are currently in the Test match bio-secure bubble for the Pakistan Test series are not included in this squad.
“We want to give multi-format players some opportunity to rest and refresh, while still selecting strong squads for every series. We will announce the squad for the Australia T20 series at a later date.”