Lancashire: Coach Steven Croft calls on squad to take responsibility

Lancashire were dealt a double blow early in the season when opener Luke Wells suffered a dislocated shoulder in the field during the win at Gloucestershire and fast bowler Ajeet Singh Dale limped off in the same match with a hamstring injury which required surgery.

Regular top order batting problems has meant England international Liam Livingstone has been re-introduced into the four-day side, following his heroics for the white-ball team after Chris Green’s season came to a sudden end because of a broken thumb.

But Livingstone’s reintroduction has been unable to prevent Lancashire suffering heavy back-to-back defeats by Kent and Derbyshire, with the club now on a run of five County Championship matches without a win, picking up just two wins in 11 games in all formats.

“Hopefully, we do take the lessons from this phase because there has been plenty to learn from,” Croft added.

“We had high hopes [at the start of the season] to be up and about in the top few. We started well in those three games but a couple of injuries came along and we’ve not really recovered from it.

“There’s quite a few players that have had a go and no one’s really grasped and held on to that opportunity. Looking back at the numbers, three centuries from the batting unit [this season] is way below par. That should hurt as a Lancashire player.”

Lancashire now turn their attention to the T20 Blast where they are currently bottom of the North Group standings after six games.

With a record-breaking 106-run loss to local rivals Yorkshire still in the back of many fans’ minds, the Red Rose will have to improve quickly if they are to avoid a similarly embarrassing outcome in the return fixture at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday, 10 July.

Croft said: “A couple of good weeks in white-ball cricket will definitely get the place in a buoyant mood.

“Hopefully, we’ve got some players coming back into the squad which is an exciting position to be in. We will give these six games our all because we need to get back up there – it is where we belong.”