Lancashire Men’s Vitality Blast side return to Stanley Park tomorrow,
Sunday 7 June, with a fixture against Glamorgan. Lancashire are
unbeaten in the competition at the ground having won three and had one
game ending in no result at the venue.
However, the 2026 campaign has so far produced just one victory
as against three defeats so Lancashire will be looking to improve on this
start against Glamorgan and move away from the foot of their six-team
group.
The campaign began with a 59-run defeat at The Oval against
Surrey where Jason Roy gave the home side a blistering start with 45
from 19 balls with five fours and three sixes and Tom Curran wrapped
the innings up with a 20-ball 49 with five fours and four sixes in their total
of 213-6. Lancashire’s reply began disastrously as Roy took a
magnificent first-ball slip catch to dismiss Keaton Jennings and it was
only some late resistance by Paul Coughlin, 37, and Chris Green, 35,
that enabled Lancashire to reach their all-out 154.
Fortunes were revived in the second game when Nottinghamshire
were defeated by 39 runs at Old Trafford. Ben McDermott was the top
scorer with 63 not out from 27 balls with six fours and four sixes in the
total of 208-4 to which Matty Hurst contributed a fine 40-ball 57 with four
fours and four sixes. Nottinghamshire got off to a steady start but after
an opening partnership of 58, wickets fell regularly with only George
Munsey and number 10 Dillon Pennington, both with 37, the only
batsmen to pass 30. Tom Hartley with 4-20 was the star with the ball.
Unfortunately, this success was followed by a second defeat
against Leicestershire where Lancashire’s 145-9 was never enough to
achieve victory as Leicestershire’s 146-8 arrived with eight balls to
spare. Rishi Patel’s 40 with four fours and two sixes led the way while
Saqib Mahmood took 3-22. The only bright spot for Lancashire was the
impressive 55 from 39 balls with four fours and three sixes from 17-year-
old Joe Moores.
The Roses battle was Lancashire’s fourth game but Yorkshire’s
213-7, Jonny Bairstow 73, Tom Aspinwall 3-32, was far too many for
Lancashire’s disappointing 107 all out, Liam Livingstone was the only
real contributor with 44, while the evergreen Moeen Ali took 3-16 and
Safar Chohan 4-17.
As for Glamorgan they have won two of their five games, ironically
both against Somerset and they sit in fourth place in their six-team
group. They began with a narrow three-run defeat by Northamptonshire,
who scored 165-8, Justin Broad 38, and replied with 162-8, Dan

Douthwaite 51 not out. A second defeat by two wickets against
Gloucestershire followed; debutant Henry Hurle with 46 top scoring in a
total of 157-8 with Gloucestershire replying with 158-8, the winning run
coming from the final ball after a dramatic unbroken 37-run ninth-wicket
stand.
There were then back-to-back home and away games against
Somerset, both of which were won. The first game at Cardiff saw
Somerset get off to a flyer to reach 100-2 after 10 overs but then they
subsided somewhat to total 171-9 with Tom Banton making 59 and
Nathan McAndrew taking a parsimonious 4-15. Kiran Carlson very
quickly put the result beyond doubt with a splendid 109 from 45 balls
with 13 fours and six sixes as Glamorgan raced to 175-3 from just 13.4
overs. The return was just six days later at Taunton and Somerset, with
54 from Louis Gregory and 41 from Tom Abell, made 202-6 but it was
still not enough. Former Somerset player Sean Dickson led the reply
with 63 and Asa Tribe made 48 in Glamorgan’s victorious 203-6.
In their fifth game Glamorgan could only muster 141, Carlson 35,
Sikandar Raza 4-17, in reply to Worcestershire’s 168-8 with Adam Hose
making his 24 th Vitality Blast half-century with 50.
Weather permitting, tomorrow’s game is vital to both team’s desire
to press for a place for final’s day… so don’t miss it. It is the first of six
Lancashire games in various competitions at Stanley Park over the next
21 days.

Gerry Wolstenholme