Croft aims to recapture the spirit of 2011 against Sussex All-rounder references past success ahead of quarter-final
STEVEN Croft has referred to Lancashire’s 2011 quarter-final Blast success against Sussex at Hove as “a great memory” and would love more of the same as Lancashire prepare to face Sussex in the T20 quarter-final today.
The all-rounder captained the side that night in the absence of Glen Chapple
and said: “It’s always nice to recall past successes on away grounds.
“We defended 150ish, and it was a typically Lancs win. We fought and scrapped our way into Finals Day.”
That is the only meeting between the two teams to date but Croft is more than familiar with his opponents, he said:
“We’ve seen a lot of them on television, and I suppose it will be the same for them with us.
“They look a good outfit, but we’re really confident going down there.”
Croft claimed he is not concerned with his side’s recent form and that his team are still ‘flying high’ from earlier successes: “After that double Roses win, we were flying high. But you could say we had a bit of a Roses hangover,” he continued.
“We had the worst of the two pitches [against Durham and Leicestershire], but we should have got those games a lot closer than we did, especially having experience on this ground.
“We had a decent group campaign. It would have been nice to get a home quarter-final. But it was just nice to qualify having not played our best cricket yet.
Croft knows momentum is a vital aspect of the game but believes the solid cricket his team played will stand them in good stead against Sussex:
“It would have been nice to have had the momentum of a couple of wins going into the quarters, but those two Roses wins really stand out.
“We played some good cricket, and I think we’re in a good spot going into the game.
“Everyone’s stuck their hands up at one stage or another. We didn’t have Saqib or Livvy at the start, and Keats has missed a bit, and whoever has come in has put their hand up.
“That means you go into games thinking, ‘Anyone can win it for us.’ It puts your own game at ease and allows you to go out there and play fearless cricket.
“It’s been nice to dust ourselves down over the last week, assess what went wrong and hopefully put it right on Thursday.”
Croft has been in the game since 2006 and on the eve of the big game he’s found himself reflecting on his epic career, he said: “It’s something you don’t really pay attention to when you’re doing it, and it was only in my testimonial year (2018) when I had to write some stuff on paper that you think, ‘I’ve been around a bit’.
“From that year onwards, I’m not taking anything for granted. I’m still contracted for next year, but you never know when your next game is going to be.
“I’ve played with the likes of Kyle Hogg and Tom Smith, whose careers got cut short prematurely similarly with Graham Onions this year.
“It hits home that you may not go out on your terms. I’m taking every game at a time and enjoying it.”
Croft was asked whether he will have any extra motivation in terms of giving departing coach Jason Gillespie an ideal send-off and acknowledged Gillespie’s impact on the game: “Possibly, slightly.
“He’s been a great servant for county cricket in general. Having overseas coaches of that calibre around is good for the game.
“Hopefully it’s not a good sendoff for him, but he’s had a good time in county cricket.”
Today’s quarter final is the county’s 13th in 18 seasons and will be slightly confident of their record of winning seven and losing five.
The game gets under way at Sussex today at 1pm.