Young Lancashire all-rounder George Balderson has high hopes for the young players coming through the ranks, and believes the team “can play as good if not better cricket” than County Championship leaders Surrey next season.
In an interview with BBC Radio Lancashire, Balderson took some time to talk about his development, Lancashire’s season so far and prospects for the future.
Lancashire had a particularly frustrating season this year, losing in the quarter-finals of both the Vitality T20 Blast and the Royal London One-Day Cup, while sitting safely mid-table of Division One of the County Championship.
However, Balderson is confident that next year they can compete with set to be champions Surrey, claiming: “We know we can play as good if not better cricket than them – it is about putting it together over a 14 game season.”
It has not always been easy for the young all-rounder, not being picked for certain games, but this hasn’t got him down: “Obviously, you’re very disappointed, you are gutted that you’re not playing, but I think we do it very well here as a club that it’s a team first sort of attitude.”
In order to work on his game and become a better player, George spent last winter playing grade cricket in Australia, a decision he believes was “the best thing I could have done”.
Having gradually improved in form across the season, he noted: “I feel like I’ve sort of cemented my spot in the side for now.” He scored his debut century earlier in the season against Warwickshire, backed up by his second hundred just earlier this month.
At 22 years old, Balderson is a young player in this Lancashire team, but he leads a culture of youth increasingly breaking into the side: “There’s a lot of very good performances from a lot of different people putting in match-winning performances that haven’t had the opportunity to do that before.”
One particular example of this is 24-year-old Lancashire spinner Tom Hartley, who was recently added to the England ODI squad to face Ireland this week.
🏴 pic.twitter.com/yIPYHiLtbB
— Tom Hartley (@tomhartley100) September 19, 2023
Hartley is more of a bowling all-rounder, causing Balderson to reflect on his bowling and express his ambitions: “To keep improving my bowling and try and become a genuine third seamer in the side… [and to] keep trying to put in match-winning performances [with the bat].”
Particularly considering the rain delays of Lancashire’s current fixture against Nottinghamshire, playing in Manchester certainly has its difficulties. But Balderson says: “Hopefully next year we can continue putting in these performances, get a little bit more luck, trying to improve a bit and see if we can be up there challenging.”
With talents such as Balderson under the captaincy of Keaton Jennings, there’s plenty to expect from Lancashire in these last couple of games and in next year’s cricket season.
Feature image: George Balderson celebrates taking a wicket. Credit: Barry Mitchell
