Lancs on brink ofSport Championship drop
GLEN Chapple believes Lancashire are on the verge of relegation from Division One of the County Championship because too many of his good players have had poor seasons.
The Red Rose suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of rivals Yorkshire at Headingley, leaving them almost certain to be playing Division Two cricket next year.
It is a poor display from a team tipped by many to win the title this season.
The loss of Keaton Jennings to England, and dramatic drop in form of Haseeb Hameed and overseas player Shivnarine Chanderpaul has hit what looked like an impressive top order at the start of the campaign.
And runs have been the major problem, with Lancashire boasting the two leading wickettakers in Division One this season in Graham Onions and Tom Bailey.
And Chapple, who saw his side bowled out for 134 on the final morning at Headingley to lose a game they dominated on day one by 95 runs, admits everyone at the club – including himself – have to look at themselves.
“I understand people are disappointed. The lads in the dressing room are devastated. As a coach you have to look at yourself to see what you can do to make the team improve,” said Chapple, who is in his second full season in charge of the club.
“We will address areas for players to improve their games, but it’s our job to examine everything we do and see if there is a reason to change things.
“Everybody has to look to themselves. The players have to look to themselves, but it is the coach’s responsibility to do everything he can to help.
“Last season, whenever we lost early wickets, we had big partnerships to get us up to big scores. We haven’t done that this year. As a batting unit, we haven’t scored enough runs. The work ethic has been there, and we’ve got good players. But too many have had poor seasons.”
And Chapple admits with a division as cut-throat as this, you can’t afford to lose early games, as Lancashire did.
“Twenty-five per cent of the teams get relegated. It’s the same every season, five or six teams are at risk with only a few games to go. It is a very difficult division and if you don’t get off to a good start you begin worrying about the other end of the table. While it is incredibly disappointing to be where we are, we have seen big teams go down year after year.
“We have to pick ourselves up and work out how to improve and get back into Division One.”
Lancashire are in the second relegation spot with just one game remaining and 14 points behind Yorkshire, who are a place above but, crucially, have two games left – as do bottom club Worcestershire, who are 16 behind the Red Rose.
Chapple’s men must dust themselves down quickly as they face Worcestershire tomorrow at Vitality Blast Finals Day.