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Subsidence threatens Giles’ rebuilding job
- Updated: September 21, 2016
Warwickshire 219 and 12 for 0 lead Lancashire 152 (Croft 45, Barker 4-30) by 79 runsScorecard
On what is likely to be a pitch of diminishing returns, you would expect Warwickshire’s lead of 67 on first innings to have given them a better than even chance of winning, which they must do if they are to be sure of avoiding relegation for the first time since 2007.
The news for Lancashire is not so good. Lose here and a Hampshire win would send them down.
Intriguingly, Warwickshire were relegated that year at Old Trafford, beaten by nine wickets in what would be Mark Greatbatch’s last match as coach. They bounced straight back, winning the Division Two title under Greatbatch’s successor, Ashley Giles.
Giles, now Lancashire’s coach, will be reasonably confident that his new side will be capable of something similar should they go down, although he has been having trouble convincing some disgruntled Lancastrians that they should share his optimism and enthusiasm.
Three wins in the first five Championship matches led some of them to believe there was a serious chance they could be going toe-to-toe with their rivals from across the Pennines, so no wins in 10 subsequently has come as something of a let-down.
Yet by other measures, Giles can claim an outstanding season, given that his brief was to dismantle an ageing team and restock it with vibrant youth. This season, three of the four young players to whom he has given first-class debuts – Liam Livingstone, Rob Jones, Matthew Parkinson and Saqib Mahmood – have made a first-class century or taken five wickets in an innings. And Haseeb Hameed, introduced only in August last year, is already on the brink of a …
