A nightmare season so far. But crisis club? Not on your life

So often you hear coaches banging the drum for first-innings runs. But not once have the Red Rose totalled 400 or more in the 2026 Rothesay County Championship.

It is not the sole reason why Lancashire’s promotion bid has hit an iceberg. They were completely out-bowled by Kent at Blackpool the round before last and against Derbyshire at Chesterfield over the weekend just gone, for example, But, by heck, it’s a big one.

Marcus Harris, with two, is the only specialist batter to have posted a century. Seam-bowling all-rounder Paul Coughlin, one of the season’s shining lights, has the other.

Despite the fact the bowlers haven’t been at their best during the last fortnight, Lancashire have actually got more bowling bonus points - 23 - than any other team in the country, let alone in Division One.

In exceptional Sir James Anderson with 38 wickets, they also have one of the leading bowlers in the country.

Now, to the other reasons which have contributed to Lancashire sitting sixth in Division Two - 27 points off second-placed Northamptonshire.

One which is undeniable. Injuries. Teams up and down the land will point to player unavailability, but surely none can have been affected quite like Steven Croft and co have.

Ajeet Singh Dale and Luke Wells both out for the season three games in with hamstring and shoulder problems, young up and comer Arav Shetty sidelined for a lot of the campaign four games in and talismanic overseas all-rounder Chris Green ruled out for the rest of his stay after only a few weeks of cricket. Both of those have suffered broken digits.

And we shouldn’t forget that less than a week before the start of the season, Mitch Perry was ruled out of his overseas stint because of a back stress fracture.

Never mind EOT, it’s been more like soddin’ A&E!

Now to the elephant in the room, and this is a difficult one to say with any certainty. Some will say, ‘Yes, absolutely’ to my next question, while others will say, ‘Don’t be daft, no chance’

But has all the off-field drama had an impact?

Countless SGMs, etc, etc. You know the script.

The reason I pose the question is that I’m erring on the side of, ‘Yes’ in an answer to my own question.

Mostly, though, performances - and performers - just haven’t been good enough on the field, like at Queen’s Park, where Derbyshire were just better thanks largely to one of the in-form players in the country, the seamer Ben Aitchison, who took seven wickets in the match, including a second-innings 5-49 and added a first-innings 75 down the order.

I have heard and read phrases used such as ‘club in crisis’ in recent weeks.

I’m sorry, but not on your life. There are clearly things which need sorting at the club, of course. But that’s such a lazy, cliched label. A tabloid headline if there ever was one.

After all, this season is by no means done, and the off-field stuff will sort itself out.

There’s a recent example of a county not too far from here who will tell you all about a crisis.

So, where to from here…

Well, in the Blast, Lancashire need to be almost perfect across their final six North Group games to qualify for the quarter-finals given they have only won two of six games to date. 

They can of course make an impression on the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, which is not too far down the road, and their squad for that competition looks set to have more experience than the last two campaigns.

In the Championship, which now hibernates until August 20, they are going to have to win at least three of their last six games to have a shot at second place, maybe even four.

It’s a tough ask, of course, but far from an impossible one.

And you’d think they will have to look at an overseas batter for the Championship run-in, especially considering Harris may go home early to start preparing for the Australian domestic summer.

This piece hasn’t exactly been a barrel of laughs so far, has it. So, come on, let’s end on a positive note. Joe Moores!

Seventeen-years-old, the England Under 19s wicketkeeper-batter has broken through with gusto. He looks like he’s going to be one hell of a cricketer.

Added to his second-innings 57 with six fours and four sixes yesterday, he kept impressively as well. He was up to the stumps quite a bit, including to captain Anderson.

There has been a lot to warrant criticism since April, but there are positives.

Well played, young man!