Here, M.E.N. Sport’s cricket writer Chris Ostick looks at the key factors which will decide whether that elusive pennant will be hanging proudly again at Old Trafford in September.

Bowling Attack

Lancashire have probably just faced the strongest bowling attack in the country with Durham fielding Steve Harmison, Graham Onions and Callum Thorp – with
former England paceman Liam Plunkett not even able to get in the side.
But the Red Rose artillery is not far behind.

Sajid Mahmood is probably bowling as well as he ever has done – even better than when he was called up for England – while the same could be said for the resurgent Kyle Hogg.

The duo basically bowled defending champions Nottinghamshire out twice at Trent Bridge and were praised to the rafters by ex-England skipper Paul Collingwood at Aigburth last week. Then there is the

talismanic Glen Chapple, who is set to return for the clash with Yorkshire starting on July 20. He is, without doubt, regarded on the county circuit as the best current bowler never to have played for England. No-one relishes facing him with a new ball in his hand.

Gary Keedy is just getting better with age. He already has 35 Championship wickets and spinners don’t normally come into their own until the second half of the season.

And waiting in the wings to form what would be a potent twin spin attack is youngster Simon Kerrigan, who would probably be a regular in most other county sides.

In Farveez Maharoof and Junaid Khan, Lancashire have the pick of two international bowlers, and they were boosted yesterday by the news Maharoof is set to stay for the rest of the season after the Sri Lankan Premier League was cancelled.

Tom Smith is a proven performer, while youngster Luke Procter’s unusual action has caused plenty of batsmen problems this season, and Oliver Newby has plenty of Championship experience but can’t break into what is a very strong seam attack.

“The way Saj and Hoggy bowled against Durham is very exciting because it comes on the back of some other good performances from them,” said coach Peter Moores.

“You put Chapple back in with them and our bowling unit starts to look very strong when you also have the likes of Keedy, Kerrigan, Maharoof and Junaid.

“Our bowling resources are starting to look stronger, which we are going to need in the second half of the season.”

With so much cricket to play, strength in depth in the squad is key and Lancashire certainly have that in the bowling department.

Openers

After two seasons of experimenting with opening partnerships, Moores finally has a settled duo at the top of the order.

Paul Horton and Stephen Moore are starting to gel and this season have been able to give the side the platform they have lacked over recent campaigns.

Horton has had a couple of mediocre years by his standards since passing 1,000 runs in 2007.

After a winter spent working with Dave Houghton in Zimbabwe, he has rediscovered that form. But having been out three times in the 90s this season, he needs to make sure he turns half-centuries into big hundreds.

Moore was just finding his feet last season when an horrific shoulder injury during the T20 quarter-final at Essex ended his campaign.

But he is starting to return to something like the form which made him an England Lions regular, as his 124 against Nottinghamshire showed.

If they continue to give the side a solid start with the bat, Lancashire can post the big totals they need to win games.

“The opening partnership is looking very solid and getting better and better. That is a key component,” said Moores.

Outgrounds

In recent times Lancashire have struggled to win matches at Old Trafford.

Good batting tracks have resulted in too many drawn games for the team to realistically mount a Championship challenge.

But this season has been different.

With the square having been turned over the winter, the club have decamped to their outgrounds for Championship home games.

And so far it has paid dividends. Liverpool tends to always produce results and it has done in all four games there this year, with Lancashire winning three and losing just one. They have one more match left at Aigburth, when they take on Warwickshire at the start of August.

But they also have games at Blackpool and Southport, both of which have been off their regular calendar recently so will be unknown quantities.

Southport usually takes spin, which will have Keedy and Kerrigan licking their lips when Notts visit at the end of this month.

Lancashire’s final home game of the campaign is at Old Trafford against Hampshire and they will be hoping their traditional base doesn’t throw a spanner in the works if the title is still up for grabs then.

Durham

The league leaders have shown in the two games against Lancashire that they are a class side. They have quality throughout the squad, and have been boosted by having Paul Collingwood back in the ranks.

And in Dale Benkenstein they have one of the in-form batsmen in the country. He has plundered 280 runs in the three innings he has played against the Red Rose this
season and has passed 1,000 for the campaign already.

They have been there and done it before, having won the title in 2008 and 2009, and Lancashire need other teams to take points off them in the run-in. While Lancashire are fielding a largely young, homegrown side, the Durham team is littered with overseas-born stars like Michael DiVenuto, Benkenstein and Thorp.

Oh. . . And the weather

Lancashire's traditional old enemy! Amazingly, with it being such a poor summer so far, the Red Rose have managed to stay away from the bulk of the showers and even when matches have been affected, they have still battled on to win them.

It is to be hoped it doesn’t play a key role in the rest of the campaign!

What do you think? Have your say.

Tweet