Lancashire looking to end unwanted County Championship record as April is the cruellest month

Lancashire are preparing for their first home game of the 2025 County Championship season as Northamptonshire visit Old Trafford in Round two. 

The Red Rose drew their opening game of the season against Middlesex in dramatic fashion. Chasing 308 on the final day, a potential victory push ended in a backs-to-the-wall rear-guard action.

A flurry of Middlesex wickets meant number 10 batsman Will Williams was forced to bat out the closing overs of the game as the home side chased the two wickets they needed to steal a win.

Sefton-born left-arm seamer Ollie Sutton impressed on his County Championship debut, taking three wickets in the match after signing his first professional contract in the off-season.

Now, Lancashire are preparing to take on Northants as they search for a first win of the season to kick off their promotion push.

However, they will need to overcome an unwanted early-season record to do so.

Lancashire hunt first April win in four seasons

In T.S. Eliot’s the Wasteland, he famously declared that April was the cruellest month and this has proven to be the case for Lancashire in recent years.

The nine-time County Championship winners have fallen foul of the Manchester weather, which has frequently turned the Old Trafford outfield into the dead land invoked in Eliot’s epic poem, disrupting the start of successive seasons.

The Red Rose last won a game in April in 2022, with a run of draws and defeats now extending to seven matches.

Their last April win came against Gloucestershire, as a double century from Luke Wells set up an innings win.

Having been relegated from Division One at the end of last season, Lancashire are one of the pre-season favourites to win promotion in 2025.

With the weather set fair, Dane Benkenstein’s side will be confident of breaking their losing streak to kickstart their promotion charge.

Keaton Jennings hints at rotation after ‘brutal’ opening game

Whilst club captain Keaton Jennings was relieved to escape the opening game with a draw, he hinted there maybe changes to the starting line-up for the second game of the season. 

Speaking to LancsTV after the opener, Jennings admitted that a “brutal” encounter had taken its toll on his side and they could make changes ahead of the game against Northants. 

Jennings said: “You can’t expect guys not to rotate and to go seven games in seven. It’s brutal as a batter, never mind as a bowler.

“Let’s take stock, there’s a couple of sore bodies, it’s been a hard four days. We’ve spent close to 200 overs in the dirt. Batters have spent time on feet.

“So let’s get up home and take stock and see where we are.”

Overseas signing Anderson Phillips could come into contention

Jennings was not able to call on overseas signing Anderson Phillips against Middlesex after his arrival for the new season was delayed by visa issues. 

However, Jennings stated that he remained hopeful that Phillips would be part of the squad to face Northants to boost his stock of pace bowlers. 

England international Saqib Mahmood appears unlikely to feature after being included in the Second XI fixture against Leeds / Bradford UCCE as he continues to build fitness after a lengthy injury layoff. 

Head coach Benkenstein may elect to choose a pace-heavy attack after Northants’ top order was exposed in their opening fixture. They were bowled out for 143 and 114 in a heavy defeat against Kent. 

Predicted Lancashire Starting XI: Keaton Jennings (C), Michael Jones, Josh Bohannon, Marcus Harris, Matty Hurst (WK), Luke Wells, Tom Bailey, Tom Aspinwall, Will Williams, Anderson Phillips.

(Featured image by Robert McHugh)