MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire v Durham, Metro Bank One-Day Cup

MATCH PREVIEW: Lancashire v Durham, Metro Bank One-Day Cup

Lancashire will be hoping to make it a third time lucky in the One-Day Cup this season.

Lancashire v Durham
Metro Bank One-Day Cup, Group A
Wednesday, July 24, 2024, 11:00 AM
Sedbergh School

In 2022, the Red Rose County missed out on silverware when they were beaten in the final by Kent at Trent Bridge. Last season, they were ironically beaten by Dale Benkenstein's Gloucestershire as quarter-finalists.

It is clear that they have been a presence in this competition for the past few years. Now, however, Lancashire players and supporters will be desperate to take that final step and rekindle memories of the Kings of One-Day Cricket era.

This format has long been special to our region, following its continued success in the 1980s and 1990s, which is why a prize at the end of September was as cherished as success in the Championship or the Blast.

This opening match is a confrontation between two former finalists.

In 2021, Durham were defeated by Glamorgan at Trent Bridge in the highlight of the season.

These are also two countries that qualified for the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast last week by finishing in the top four of the North Groups.

Lancashire prepared for this match with a friendly win over Cumbria at Sedbergh on Sunday, with Harry Singh making a splash with 76 as an opening batsman and two wickets with his spinners.

Opposition:

Durham are missing six players for the Hundred, including England Test captain Ben Stokes.

The 2021 finalists have missed out on knockout cricket in each of the last two seasons, but they are confident things will be different this season under the captaincy of opening batsman Alex Lees. Ryan Campbell is their coach.

They will miss their leading run-scorer and leading wicket-taker from last year, David Bedingham and Liam Trevaskis. But not because of the Hundred.

Bedingham has been called up to South Africa's Test squad for a tour of the West Indies, which starts next week, while Trevaskis has signed for Leicestershire.

They still have a lot of experience with players like the Dutch international Colin Ackerman and the speedy thrower Ben Raine.

Ben McKinney, England Under-19 captain at the World Cup in South Africa last winter, is likely to be among the young players given the chance to shine.

Opponent to watch:

Dutch all-rounder Bas de Leede has 81 caps to his name in both white-ball formats, including 43 in one-day matches.

The 24-year-old is in his second season of county cricket, and this will be his first full Metro Bank One-Day Cup, having played in last year’s Hundred with Northern Superchargers. He has made just one appearance for Durham in the competition, in 2023.

De Leede is a dynamic middle-order batsman (he batted as a three-man in Sunday's National Counties win over Northumberland) and bowls skillfully with medium pace.

He can win a match with both bat and ball.

De Leede has been more of a booster than a standout for Durham since joining last year, with best scores of 103 and 4-76 in County Championship cricket.

With a number of key players missing for the Hundred, this would be a good time for an experienced international to really get going.

He scored a remarkable 3-27 from 10 overs in Durham's friendly win over Northumberland on Sunday.

Previous meeting:

Durham defeated Lancashire by 87 runs at Gosforth in the group stage of this 2021 competition.

Sean Dickson, now departed for other places, was the top scorer with a middle order of 103 from 76 balls in Durham's 327-6, including two wickets for Jack Morley.

Josh Bohannon responded by scoring 52 points at the top of the order, while Rob Jones also made 65.

Unfortunately, Lancashire lost wickets all too often and were reduced to 240 all out, with wicket-taker Luke Doneathy scoring four times for the home side, who reached the final that season.

Like Dickson, Doneathy has since left Riverside.

What they said:

Dale Benkenstein wants to win a trophy for Lancashire at the upcoming Metro Bank One-Day Cup and he is backing the region's youngsters to help them achieve it.

Coach Benkenstein, a semi-finalist with Gloucestershire last year, is looking forward to combining youth and experience in the coming weeks.

He knows it will not be an easy task and calls the Lancashires group strong.

Derbyshire, Durham, Hampshire, Kent, Middlesex, Northamptonshire, Somerset and Worcestershire also compete in Group A.

But the former South Africa international, who starts against former compatriot Durham, believes he has the qualities to go all the way to Trent Bridge on September 22.

We tried to win everything we could, he said.

It's not a very long competition, so you have to start well. And if you look at the teams we're up against, there are some really strong ones.

The eight games we have are not easy games, we will have to play well.

Harry Singh, who starred against Cumbria, and current England Under 19 duo Charlie Barnard and Rocky Flintoff are among the young players who will have the chance to shine in the coming weeks.

I really hope they get some chances, Benkenstein added.

It will be nice to see them win some games for Lancs. It's just been a nice four or five weeks. It feels good about this competition.

How are you?

On 19 August 2007, Dale Benkenstein led Durham to their first major trophy, a win in the Friends Provident Trophy against Hampshire at Lords. The match was postponed until the second day, due to rain.

Benkenstein scored an unbeaten 61 in the final and will now be hoping to dent his former county's hopes of another 50-over success.