Most of the times I have seen them, they have looked an ordinary side.
Stephen Parry continues to be effective, and Tom Smith bowled well against Northants on Thursday, but I’m convinced they are two batters light.
I wouldn’t have a bet on this competition because a team can qualify having virtually lost half of their 16 group matches.
Still, it’s no bad thing to be off the pace at this stage of the competition. You have just got to do enough to get through to the quarter-finals, and then it’s all about putting in a performance on the day.
When Pakistan won the World Twenty20 a couple of years ago, they scraped through their group by the skin of their teeth before coming good in the semi-finals and the final.
Lancashire could do that, but I’d have to put the stiffeners on them at this stage because they’ve looked awful at times.
Not only is it a blow for them to not get a home draw in the quarter-finals because their record at Old Trafford is such a good one, but also from a financial point of view.
There are a number of counties struggling financially, and they’re all in the same boat. A big home crowd for a tie like that would have really boosted the coffers.
Next week’s Championship match between Lancashire and Durham looks set to be a cracker.
I tipped Durham to win it at the start of the season, and since then they have had a few injuries and internal problems. But they don’t think they’re out of the running by any means.
Lancashire are above them in the table, but now is the time to go on that winning run.
I heard a great line from the Open golf. ‘You can’t win it on day one, but you can certainly lose it’. You have to do your best work on days two, three and four.
Now, equating that to Championship terms, we’re at about day two or three.
Having Shivnarine Chanderpaul available is a massive thing for Peter Moores and Glen Chapple because he’s a wonderful player. He’s the type of player who bats big. If you don’t get him early, watch out!
Jimmy Anderson will play in that game, and he will be feeling vulnerable in the England side after being left out against Bangladesh last week.
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The t20 is entertaining in its way but is scarcely worthy of serious comment. For bowlers, it is certainly a case of hit-and-miss. They can sometimes get four wickets when people mis-time their slogs; other times they can go to the boundary several times off the edge of the bat and their figures can look awful. (The same thing, more-or-less happens with the batting.) Lancashire are as likely to win this competition as anyone else.
The real test of cricketing ability remains the Championship, and the players themselves know this. Here, Lancashire's chances of success seem to me to be much more remote, despite their current position. For years now the batting has been under-strength. Several of the county's top six have averages in the twenties and thirties. Were it not for Prince (sadly gone), Croft and the later order we would be in big trouble. Now, surely, is the time to try Brown and, possibly, Procter. After all, the coach suggested that the younger players have made great progress during the last few months!