RICHARD GIBSON – INSIDE COUNTY CRICKET: Veteran Steven Croft blasts his first T20 century

Steven Croft’s maiden Twenty20 hundred at age 38 came about more through circumstance than design.

Croft’s name was lit up on a star-studded Lancashire scorecard when he made a 52-ball 101 against Northamptonshire last Friday, but he chuckled as he revealed the origin of his attack.

“I got a bit of a minus early in my innings. I just felt my calf slipping a little bit when I went for a two and I thought about whether I should stay there,” he shared Mail sports.

“But Daryl Mitchell said he’d let me strike and I should try to hit every ball and see what happened. Not running too much clearly worked!’

Indeed, Croft only scored 14 runs from his first 16 balls, but then hit 87 of his next 36, seven of them flying for six.

However, his latest career milestone – hitting the runs that took Lancashire to a first outright County Championship title in 77 years in 2011 – came at a cost. The injury kept him out of Lightning’s next two Vitality Blast matches.

Croft’s attempts to take victory at Wantage Road – Northants had reduced the visitors to 25 for three in the power play as New Zealander Mitchell headed for the crease only to find himself on the receiving end of a stand of 146 runs in just 12 overs – failed on 248 days after his 38th birthday make him the oldest player to hit a first T20 hundred. That accolade belongs to Paul Collingwood, who was 41 when he raised his bat at New Road in 2017.

But it’s remarkable how integral a player Croft has become in Lancashire’s short game, given his senior years and the A-list Blasters with whom he shares a dressing room.

Only three players surpassed his streak of 548 runs in his Indian summer of 2022, and having come within a six to hit three figures twice in a 17-year career, he finally stepped over the threshold.

“It was always an ambition to be mainly a batsman, I had come close a few times and so to finally get one in my 235th game was special,” he continued.

“I’m surrounded by some brilliant players and we’re lucky to have Jos Buttler around but if we’re honest the first couple of games when we had Jos, Phil Salt and Liam Livingstone all available nobody really took possession of the game .

“Nobody took the responsibility of going big, and it felt like we kind of looked around hoping someone else would come off.

“We lost some games and that showed that you can’t just put a few big names on paper, you still have to perform. There are some shrewd sides in T20 right now and the away games can be tricky. You can’t just show up.’

Croft’s initial white ball training took place while closely observing internationals Mal Loye and Stuart Law, so “to have stayed with the game and still contribute is a nice feeling.”

He continued, “If you’re open-minded and willing to learn, I think you can get better with age and I know it’s a different format, but someone like Jimmy Anderson has shown a willingness to develop.

“Obviously he was very good 10-15 years ago, but he’s kept up with the times, added new balls to his repertoire and if your body can withstand the stress of what you’re going through, you can draw on the experience that you have built. to get to that point.

“I definitely feel like I’m a better player than I was in my twenties. You have to be versatile, of course, but I’ve found a place in the top four that suits my game: to make the most of fielding restrictions early, build partnerships in the middle of the innings. We obviously have a very good batting team and there is no rest, no more knock-up period, you have to go hard to the end.’

Given the strength of his recent performances, it is no surprise that Croft is looking to continue playing beyond September when his current 12-month contract with Lancashire expires.

Despite Durham trying to lure him in with an offer to combine playing with more coaching a few years ago, he has remained a one-club man and is expected to stay at Emirates Old Trafford.

“I still have a passion to play, and although I can’t give a number on the number of seasons,

I have always tried to put in performances to help the team win. We’ve only won the Blast once so far, but hopefully I can add that last column before I finish.”

Parkinson joins Kent

One player who has no long-term future at Lancashire is Matt Parkinson, the 26-year-old leg spinner from England who will move to Kent for three years from 2024.

Parkinson has taken 151 first-class wickets at an average of 25.92, but he has made just one appearance for Lancashire in the County Championship so far this season and needed to double his appearances with a loan spell for Durham.

The loss of another homegrown talent, following the departures of Haseeb Hameed and Alex Davies in recent seasons, will be a frustration for the club’s supporters, but a reduction in first-team opportunities for a player who has only two years ago Adam Rossington bowled a delivery that mimicked Shane Warne’s century ball of the century to Mike Gatting made departure inevitable.

Smith next in line

England’s great wicketkeeper debate will take another intriguing turn in the event of injuries to one of the top seven this summer, as Mail Sport understands Ben Foakes’ deputy gloveman at Surrey, Jamie Smith, is the next batsman to be considered for selection.

As in the case of Harry Brook last year, England’s selectors are focusing on an individual’s qualities rather than batting position when considering future picks – and the 22-year-old’s ability to take pressure and return turning to opponents has attracted attention.

Not least the 77-ball 114 that launched an astonishing 501 chase earlier this month from the county champs in Kent.

Masood to miss more time

Yorkshire will face further disruption to their season when captain Shan Masood misses Pakistan Test duty for most of July.

Since being identified as one of the club’s foreign players last year, Masood has pushed back into his country’s plans, making appearances in all three formats.

International duty delayed the 33-year-old’s arrival, limiting him to two LV= County Championship appearances so far – a close game against Durham that ended in an embarrassing one wicket defeat and the similarly tense encounter at Chesterfield when his efforts with the bat resulted in a successful three-wicket chase against former club Derbyshire, Yorkshire’s first win in the league for 14 months.