Lancashire seamer Toby Lester joins Warwickshire on loan

The left-armer impressed in last year’s T20 Blast, taking 15 wickets for Lancashire. However, he has not appeared yet this season

Lancashire seamer Toby Lester has joined Warwickshire on a month-long loan deal.

The 26-year-old, who will be available for four rounds of County Championship fixtures, signed a new two-year agreement with the Red Rose county at the start of 2019.

The left-armer impressed in last year’s T20 Blast, taking 15 wickets for Lancashire. However, he has not appeared yet this season.

He will go straight into the reckoning for Warwickshire, who lost Keith Barker – the consistent left-arm swing bowler – to Hampshire at the end of the 2018 season. Warwickhire face Surrey on Sunday at The Oval.

Lester said: “Obviously, I’m hungry to be playing first eleven cricket and currently opportunities are limited here at Lancashire with the bowling group we’ve got playing in the County Championship. They are all in really good form so it’s been difficult to force a way into the side.

“When the opportunity to play first team Championship cricket at Warwickshire came about, I felt it was a great chance for me to go and show what I can do. After this month-long loan period, I will return to Emirates Old Trafford and I look forward to contributing to winning games for Lancashire.”

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Lancashire’s director of cricket, Paul Allott said: “It’s a good opportunity for Toby to get some games under his belt over the next few weeks with Warwickshire, which will give him invaluable first eleven bowling experience which is currently unavailable to him at Lancashire.

“If the situation changes with regards to injuries, we can recall Toby from the loan at any time. We will track his progress and look forward to having him back ahead of the Vitality Blast campaign, which starts in a month’s time.”

Lester will likely be a key member of Lancashire’s 20-over plans after his performances in 2018. He has, though, struggled to break his way into a red-ball attack containing James Anderson, Graham Onions, Richard Gleeson and the in-form Saqib Mahmood.

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