Spin heavy approach for Lancashire Thunder as they enter KSL under new management

KSL TEAM GUIDE: Thunder have slow left-arm orthodox bowlers Sophie Ecclestone and Alex Hartley, legbreak bowler and new addition to the squad Sophia Dunkley, and South Africa’s spin sensation Sune Luus

Overseas players: Harmanpreet Kaur (India), Sune Luus (South Africa), Tahlia McGrath (Australia)

Titles: 0 

Finals Days: 0 

Coach: Mark McInnes stepped up from his assistant role to take over the head coach position this week after former Australia captain Alex Blackwell took up a job offer from a Sydney hospital. The changeover should be seamless with McInnes and Blackwell having worked together extensively for New South Wales and Sydney Thunder.

Captain: England fast bowler Kate Cross takes over from Danielle Hazell, who has retired and will coach arch-rivals Yorkshire Diamonds this summer. Talisman Cross, 27, is closing in on 40 appearances for England across all formats. A regular for the Thunder since the Kia Super League’s inception in 2016.

Past performances

Lancashire Thunder had a disappointing start to the KSL in 2016 as they finished bottom of the table, only registering one win from their five matches.

In 2017, Lancashire Thunder again came bottom of the table and lost all five of their group-stage matches, but they showed great signs of improvement in 2018. They won five of the 10 matches which gave them fourth place, thus narrowly missing out on a Finals Day spot.

^{Harmanpreet Kaur}

Players to watch

England’s Sophie Ecclestone and India’s Harmanpreet Kaur.

Ecclestone has become one of the world’s best young spin bowlers and one of England’s most reliable bowlers. Known for her impressive economy and ability to take wickets at key moments, Ecclestone will be a huge threat in this year’s KSL.

She has quickly made her way up the ICC T20I bowling rankings and currently sits 20th - and will only continue to rise. At just 20 years old, Ecclestone has already played 20 T20Is and taken 25 wickets, with best figures of 4-18. Some of her stand-out performances in the KSL 2018 include 3-11 in Thunder’s victory over the Yorkshire Diamonds and 4-20 in Thunder’s victory over the Southern Vipers.

Kaur has come to represent the new-age of Indian cricket. She became the first Indian cricketer – male or female – to secure a Big Bash contract when she signed with Sydney Thunder. Kaur has been in excellent T20 form recently and has scored 98 runs in her last three T20 matches going into the KSL.

In her 96 T20Is she has scored almost 2,000 runs with a high score of 103. Her stand-out performances in last year’s KSL were 74 off 44 balls in Thunder’s win over the Yorkshire Diamonds and 44 not out off 20 balls in Thunder’s win over the Southern Vipers. 

Strengths

Lancashire Thunder’s key strength is their spin bowling options. Thunder have slow left-arm orthodox bowlers Sophie Ecclestone and Alex Hartley, legbreak bowler and new addition to the squad Sophia Dunkley, and South Africa’s spin sensation Sune Luus.

Although Dunkley has less international experience than Ecclestone and Hartley, she is vastly experienced in county cricket and has performed very well for Surrey Stars in the KSL previously.

Both Hartley and Ecclestone have shown they can deliver in high-pressure games, with Hartley playing a key role in England’s World Cup win in 2017 and Ecclestone becoming England’s front line spinner. Luus is a very experienced international cricketer, having played 63 T20Is for South Africa with best figures of 5-8.

^{Sophie Ecclestone}

Weaknesses

A notable weakness of the Thunder team is their lack of batting depth.

Although they have quality batters in Harmanpreet Kaur and Dunkley, they lack the middle order required to give their batting line-up a cutting edge.

They have more experience and strength in their bowling, which could lead to a challenge in setting competitive totals and chasing down big scores.

Chances

Despite an improved 2018 KSL campaign compared to 2016 and 2017, it is unlikely that Lancashire Thunder will make it to Finals Day.

Did you know?

Lancashire have conceded the most amount of runs in a KSL innings – 185/4 from Western Storm. 

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