Stuart Law backs Lancashire to win silverware (From The Bolton News)

Stuart Law backs Lancashire to win silverware

3:40am Thursday 25th June 2009 in

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FORMER captain Stuart Law believes Lancashire are primed to end their 10-year trophy drought sooner rather than later.

The 40-year-old Australian batsman was the club’s captain last season, but was released in September along with Dominic Cork.

He is now closing out his 22-year professional career at Derbyshire, where he currently has a contract to play one-day cricket. He will almost certainly line up against Lancashire for the final time in the Twenty20 Cup tonight.

A win for the Lightning would guarantee their passage through to the quarter-finals of the competition, while they have already confirmed their place in the last four of the Friends Provident Trophy.

“Lancs have always had that pressure on them. At the start of each year, they pencil in four trophies,” said Law, who scored just short of 12,000 runs for the county in seven seasons.

“They won't be able to win all of them but they are playing well, and there is a chance of one or two at least. They have to be consistent for as long as they can be.”

The Red Rose side were well placed in the County Championship, but two defeats in their last two games have put the skids under their title challenge. They will have to do something special to topple reigning champions Durham.

Law said: “Batsmen, instead of scoring 1,000 runs have got to get 1,500-2,000 in the Championship to nail down the trophy. In the one-day competitions you have got to be scoring 70 plus every game.

“They have got the bowling. Chappie is brilliant, and Sajid Mahmood looks like he has improved out of sight. He looks like a happier spirit floating around these days.”

He also says England should be looking at left-arm spinner Gary Keedy for their Ashes squad: “He has been overlooked for too long,” he said.

Law admitted he had settled on continuing as Lancashire’s captain for a second year before the decision was taken out of his hands.

“I was told I had another year by the powers-that-be,” he said. “For whatever reason that all turned before I took off for India (for the ICL).

“The way we finished the year I was told 'you have captained the team well. It would be great to move forward with you and the young guys’. I thought 'brilliant'. 13 days later I was out of a contract.”