Remarkable Red Rose turn it round
Paul Edwards watches a scarcely believable turn of events as Lancashire continue their good start
May is not yet here but Emirates Old Trafford may have already seen its game of the season. Lancastrian joy was unconfined on Monday evening after stand-in skipper Liam Livingstone’s team had managed to concede a first-innings lead of 169 and still beat Somerset by 164 runs.
No photograph summed up their ecstasy better than that of Jimmy Anderson after he had dismissed Marcus Trescothick on the final afternoon, but the smile on Glen Chapple’s face after the game said an awful lot, too.
“After the first innings the remainder of the game was been a sustained effort of determination, quality cricket and a team unit sticking together,” said Lancashire’s head coach.
“Victory came a lot faster than we expected and we thought it would go down to the last few overs, but it is great to get over the line early.”
Chapple could have praised almost every member of his team but it was perhaps inevitable that he should concentrate on the 245-run stand between the centurions, Alex Davies and Liam Livingstone, even though that stand only gave Lancashire a hope of saving the game.
“The partnership between Alex and Liam was of high quality,” he said. “It was what was needed if we were going to have any chance. The level of application they showed was a fantastic effort and a hint at what can be achieved if you are determined enough.
“Everyone can see that Liam is a big occasion player and he seems really driven and determined to do well for Lancashire.
“Obviously he is now a talking point for further honours but I’m not sure how quickly they will come.”
Davies and Livingstone came together second time round after Craig Overton had helped to knock them over cheaply in the first innings.
For his part, Somerset’s skipper Tom Abell rightly identified the skill of Dean Elgar’s century in the first innings and the pivotal importance of Anderson’s superb seven-over spell on Monday.
“Dean’s knock was as good an innings in tough conditions as you’re going to get and, backed up by the tail, it gave us a massive shout in the game,” he said.
“But having worked so hard to get ourselves in a good position, to lose as we have done is massively disappointing.”