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Lancashire’s batsmen were full-on toss last year. Pretty much the sole exception was Paul Horton.
Paul Horton is an opening batsman and that’s a position where Lancashire have been short of class for a while now. He’s also 26, which is pretty reassuring in a side which has had a mild-drinking, slipper-wearing batting line-up in recent years.
Last year Paul Horton hit a hundred that stood out like a sore thumb in a mini skirt at a black tie event for undamaged fingers. No other player got going in the whole match. Maybe that’s not what’s needed in Test cricket these days. Maybe you need batsmen who consistently cash in on flat pitches.
We reckon Horton could do that too. He averages 47 in first-class cricket and in our eyes he’s a very real contender for an England place. However, a one-day average of 18 and a Twenty20 average half that seem to block his most likely avenues.
Sod avenues, Paul. Walk right down the middle of the main road. Ignore the horns. Ignore the glares. Ignore the fat man shouting ‘get off the road, you dickhead’. You take your own route, regardless of any possible intervention from a police officer.
England #3, perhaps (see Ian Bell discussion).
lancs weren’t as bobbins as surrey last year.
at least you’ve got that on your side.