Lancashire 2012 season news/articles

Am I the only Lanky fan over here?

Anyways this is the thread where we shall discuss everything about Lanky

Have you got an all time great Lancs team?

any news on whether Glen Chapple will still be playing next season or gonna bow out on a high?....

Glen chapple and the lancashire team, are back in training 5 months before the season starts.

thought you were from London

who?

me or shanky?

shanky, i know you're from essex cf

ah right lol.

yes I am but I support Lanky.

Surprised to see nothing on here, or on the BBC website, of Roy Tattersall's death. One of your best ever players.

Would undoubtedly be in a proper "best ever Lancs team".

Before even my time but clear from contemporary reports and career stats that Ray Tattersall was a very fine cricketer. Unfortunate for much of the time to be in the shadow of Jim Laker which restricted his England career. Nonetheless, he still managed to take 58 wickets from 16 tests for a highly creditable average of 26 each. Well over 1,300 first class wickets for Lancs at 18 each.

Kwinigolfer - unfortunately, this particular thread is far from 606 v2 Cricket's finest hour. It would be good to see you posting more on the cricket board. Anyone who lists Barry Richards as his favourite player clearly knows something!

Guildford & Kwini - As per my comment some posts above I'd be very interested to see a greatest ever Lancs team. But I'm struggling!

Team could well include Statham (got to be first name on the team sheet), Washbrook, Briggs, one or more of the numerous Tyldesleys, Higgs, Engineer, C Lloyd, Murali, Wasim Akram (if you count those two as having played enough ) , Peter Lever, ?Atherton.....Pilling etc. Would there be a place for Flintoff?

Hoping someone will be able to construct a team with balance.

Happy to give it a go, Corporal.

Out with Mrs Bat tonight but will certainly give it some thought.

Some 'off the top of my head' thoughts as to other possible players - Cyril Wasbrook, Eddie Paynter, Geoff Pullar, Barry Wood, David Lloyd and Ken Shuttleworth.

Bit short of bowlers - ah yes, Schofield?

Two others I should have mentioned who certainly warrant squad places at least - Neil Fairbrother and Patrick Patterson.

Tony Murphy is now one of Surrey's executives and was an occasional seamer for Surrey and Lancs during the 1980s. He spoke at a members' forum last season (when he stood in for Adams who had forgotten about it and gone out for dinner! ) about the number of overseas playing here in that decade and referred to Patterson's 'frightening speed'.

guildford,
Unfortunately (for following cricket anyway) I've lived in the US for most of the past 35 yrs and the greatest game is extraordinarily difficult to follow from 3,000 miles away. Don't even try, except to follow Ashes business. And obits of childhood heroes!!
Barry Richards certainly was my fave sportsman; never knew him but never saw anyone make a sport look so easy - I mentioned to an avid Hampshire fan on the Golf Board that only Fred Couples comes close!
Doesn't make them the best of course, but compelling to watch.

Not good enough to make an all-time Lancs team but Tommy Greenhough could offer a little leg spin in the post Tattersall/Malcolm Hilton era.

Guildford - I rather fear that the legendary Surrey and Lancs bowler - and footballer - Jimmy Cumbes wouldn't make the team....

I see there is now an obit for Roy Tattersall at the front of the cricket page on the BBC

Evening again Corporal,

I suspect Jimmy Cumbes will have to sit this one out. I remember him best as a goalie for West Brom and the Villa.

Good that the BBC have paid tribute to Roy Tattersall even if belatedly.

guildfordbat wrote:Bit short of bowlers - ah yes, Schofield?

A "schoe in" for the team?!

Corporal - without resorting to career stats etc, here's an attempt at a balanced best Lancs XI. I've left out Murali and Sydney Barnes as I don't consider they played enough and all present day players like Jimmy Anderson.

1. Cyril Washbrook
2. Mike Atherton
3. Eddie Paynter
4. Neil Fairbrother
5. Clive Lloyd (capt)
6. Andrew Flintoff
7. Farokh Engineer (wkt)
8. Wasim Akram
9. Peter Lever
10. Brian Statham
11. Roy Tattersall

12th man: Barry Wood

Apologies to all overlooked!

Guildford - thanks that's a strong and balanced line up. Not least on the fast bowling front. We'd need a Lancs expert to advise on whether/where to slot in a Tyldesley or two, and Briggs. They've certainly got the career stats to be up there.

One other who deserves a mention, though not I fear a place, is Frank Hayes, who did make it into the England team for a few matches, but for some long while was spoken about as a prospect in the way people today, including me, refer to Taylor....

Thanks, Corporal.

With hindsight, might have been better off playing Briggs rather than Lever. Don't know enough about the Tyldesleys.

Agree that Frank Hayes merits a mention. However, he under delivered at the top level and so wouldn't be in my best XI.

You guys know him much better than I do, but surprised you have omitted Anderson, perhaps in favour of Lever who was really a super county-level bowler, but stock fast medium at Test level rather than a real quickie strike bowler.
And Geoff Pullar must have been very close - agree about Frank Hayes, if Test selection had been based on actual results instead of promise and potential, he might never have played for England.
Who would you all pick as the back up keeper?

Any "Team" including players from the pre-WWII era is a bit iffy isn't it, only a few on here around in the 20's and 30's!

I think Anderson has only been omitted due to his still playing, Kwini.

Otherwise, he would of course be a shoe in.

Kwinigolfer - I appreciate that being US based for the last thirty-five odd years, you're probably more currently versed in the form and players of the Brooklyn Dodgers (or some other team equally ghastly! ). However, you certainly know your cricket of yesteryear.

Geoff Pullar was a strong contender for my team but narrowly lost out to Fairbrother's quick scoring rate (when needed) and athleticism in the field.

Fists is right about why Anderson was omitted. Generally, we tend not to consider current players for ''best ever'' teams; the thinking being that their careers can only be properly assessed once they are over. I agree though that Anderson will in time surely replace Lever in my team.

The back up keeper is an interesting one. I suspect quite a few would immediately go for Warren Hegg. I though would choose the relatively unknown John Stanworth. He was on Lancs' books for about ten years from the early 1980s. By common consent, he was an extremely fine keeper but no batsman at all. His lack of batting ability restricted him to just over 40 first class appearances when in an earler age his keeping alone would have guaranteed him a longer career and many more games. I'm hoping that the superior batting in my team would mean his weakness with the willow would not be a significant factor.

I do appreciate, Kwinigolfer, that you can't follow much of the modern game nowadays. However, it would still be very good to have you posting more. Our regular ''top ten of all time'' threads and the ''Hall of Fame'' would certainly benefit from you being able to lend a voice in favour of some from earlier years.

Best. Guildford.

Ah ha!

guildford,
Is that your very kind equivalent on youth being wasted on the young??!!
Unfortunately all my old Wisden collection gathered mildew and went off to the dump. Research not as good as it once was. But strange we can't think of a top Lancashire stumper - even Farokh wasn't that much of an expert w/k, very much a swashbucling batsman first.

Fists - you're right about Anderson.

I think Ernest Tydesley should take one of the batting slots, possibly ahead of Fairbrother. A few extracts from the pen picture on crickinfo....

"... Although he eventually scored more runs than his brother-indeed, at a better average, too - Ernest suffered somewhat by comparison with "J.T.", who had, of course, already performed heroically in the "Golden Age" before Ernest gained a regular place in county cricket. He made his debut for Lancashire in 1909 and progressed but modestly until the First World War, but on the resumption of cricket in 1919 he advanced to the head of the Lancashire averages and began to show that consistent reliability that was to characterise his many seasons in the game. Not always happy at the commencement of an innings, his patience and the soundness of his defence often brought their reward in big scores. Seven times he made a double-century for Lancashire and twice scored a hundred in each innings of a match. On six occasions - the last time in his forty-sixth year - he passed 2,000 runs in the season, and in 1928 he amassed 3,024 runs at an average of 79.57: that summer he hit ten centuries, which he had also done in 1926, no Lancastrian either before or since having twice achieved that target.
He played in fourteen Tests for England, in fact, it was not often that he failed in Tests, scoring in all 990 runs at an average of 55." [Edit: Why was he dropped? ]

"Of the many batting feats that stand to his name, the most remarkable was his seven centuries in seven successive matches (four of them in consecutive innings) in 1926, when Lancashire regained the championship after twenty-two years. In 1928, when Lancashire were champions for the third successive year, he shared with F. Watson a partnership of 371 for the second wicket against Surrey at Old Trafford, which remains the highest stand ever made in first-class cricket on that ground and the record stand for any Lancashire wicket. When he retired in 1936 he had scored 38,874 runs at 45.46 and hit 102 centuries, the highest being 256 not out against Warwickshire at Old Trafford in 1930."

IMO it shouldnt matter if he is still playing..If jimmy is one of Lanky's best then he should be in the side.

kwinigolfer wrote:Ah ha!

guildford,
Is that your very kind equivalent on youth being wasted on the young??!!
Unfortunately all my old Wisden collection gathered mildew and went off to the dump. Research not as good as it once was. But strange we can't think of a top Lancashire stumper - even Farokh wasn't that much of an expert w/k, very much a swashbucling batsman first.

Thanks, Kwini.

I'm well into my fifties now and feel able to say with complete confidence that youth is wasted on the young!

Still would be excellent to have you contributing where you can. For example, on ''The 606 v2 Cricket Hall of Fame sticky'' Lance Gibbs could currently do with a further word being said in his favour.

Agree with you about Engineer being a swashbuckler. I remember in the early 1970s there used to be a prize each season for the fastest fifty in a televised John Player League match. Engineer made a very quick forty odd and then got run out. He cursed all the way back to the pavilion!

Would say that Lance Gibbs was the best off-spinner of his late 50's to mid-70's era, arguably better than Jim Laker, albeit Laker's remarkable 1956.
If his numbers didn't always reflect his contribution, that might have been due to the remarkable battery of fast bowlers who took more than their share of wickets, plus a certain Mr.Sobers.
Not much of a contributor with the bat though, but one hopes that wouldn't detract too much from his overall value.

I'll have a look!

Kwini - cracking response!

Your initial comments about Gibbs very much reflect my own thoughts and those of the highly esteemed poster CorporalHumblebucket.

Promote him from Corporal to Sergeant!
Really, what more can anyone be than the best of their era, especially when it covers 15 years at the the top?
Can't think of anyone I'd rather have than Gibbs slow-bowling in my time of following cricket closely, from say early/mid fifties to early eighties. Probably just have an edge over Laker and Underwood though others might disagree.

Thanks again, Kwini.

I'm not sure if Sergeant would be seen as a promotion but I'm not one qualified to comment on military matters.

Your comments about Gibbs would, I'm sure, be of considerable interest on the 606 Cricket Hall of Fame sticky. Not too many tend to look in on the county threads (other than Surrey in the summer! )

kwinigolfer wrote:Promote him from Corporal to Sergeant!

Apart from his inexplicable interest in Mrs Pike and his upper crust background, I have quite a lot in common with Sergeant Wilson - especially when it comes to disciplinary matters (Excuse me, would you mind awfully standing to attention....)

Kwini - even better, your comments about Lance Gibbs - we are sorely in need of them on the current HoF thread where the fate of Gibbs hangs in the balance....

ever since shanky created this thread he hasnt been on here lol.

cricketfan90 wrote:ever since shanky created this thread he hasnt been on here lol.

You know why.I mostly post on another forum.I will post more over here when my exams get over.

Anyone seen this magoffin guy before?

Might be worth reviving this thread, are there any more Lancs fans about?

Awful, awful start to the season - our paper thin batting line up looks like it could well be exposed this season. I do worry when I see a middle order containing the likes of Brown, Croft & Procter and I can't see the likes of Hogg (who had the season of his life last year - no one saw that coming) and Chapple (creaking bones) rescuing us like they did last year.

I'm not going to get all 'doom and gloom' and predict relagation or anything like that, however I can see this seasons CC being a real struggle, with no title challenge unfortunately.

Personally I can see us finishing around 6th, I was just wondering what everyone else's expectations for Lancs season is?