Date-stamped : 27 May94 - 14:24 Lancashire prodigals must start reeling in the years Focus on a promising side suffering greatly with growing pains Clive Ellis at Canterbury writes that the pressure is on Mike Watkinson's shell-shocked team to mature fast The cricket season may already be a month old but as far as Lan- cashire are concerned it has barely begun. They are still scratching their heads in disbelief at the Dominic Cork-inspired defeat by Derbyshire in the Benson and Hedges Cup two weeks ago, and are playing only their second championship match while other counties are into their fourth round of games. A blank day at Canterbury not only greatly improved Lancashire's chances of avoiding defeat tomorrow but gave a much needed opportunity for coach David Lloyd, new captain Mike Watkinson, and a team with an average age of only 24 to take stock. No one who saw a combina- tion of ragged bowling and glaring lapses in the field on the first day and a half, as Kent made 556, could doubt that Lan- cashire are suffering severe growing pains. Lloyd, whose playing days with Lancashire were chock full of honours in the one-day competitions, is not one to hide behind the knowledge that this is a side rich in batting potential, even if the bowling pros- pects are less rosy. "People say it looks good on paper, but I want to see it on grass," he said, immediately underlining the point by bemoaning the dismissals of Jason Gallian and John Craw- ley on Friday, when both were leg before to slow left-armer Min Patel playing no shot. "Those who pay to watch us will have to be very patient," said Lloyd. "Players like Gallian and Crawley are in a very hot environment." In the same breath he poured contempt on the theory of Rodney Marsh, the former Australian wicket- keeper, that English Counties employ pie-throwers as bowlers. The Lancashire attack will automatically carry more threat today when Wasim Akram returns for the Sunday League match after a hamstring injury, though Lloyd admitted that he was still only 85 per cent fit. Lancashire know they will be without Wasim for the last two months of the season, when Pakistan are touring Sri Lanka, and the onus for success will rest with the same bowlers who have under-performed here. Lloyd admitted: "We've got all the classic traits of an inexperienced attack. It's no good bowling dot balls and one four ball." They could hardly have better-qualified teachers. Paul Allott, the former Lancashire seamer, and West In- dian Malcolm Marshall work with the quicker bowlers, and the spin tuition is provided by Peter Sleep, the former Australian Test player. Alex Barnett, who left Middlesex three years ago with little prospect of usurping Phil Tufnell, exemplifies the prob- lems of converting promise into achievement. He is only 23, and may yet make the major breakthrough, but only if he adds the con- trol and concentration which are crucial parts of the orthodox spinner's armoury. In his favour are the ability to give the ball a considerable tweak and to deceive the batsman in flight. Lloyd insists that Old Trafford is the picture of stability these days, not withstanding the blood letting which has seemed almost endem- ic over the past few years. Alan Ormrod was rewarded for one bad season after five good years by being sacked as manager in 1992. David Hughes lasted just a year in the same job and Neil Fair- brother, out for the foreseeable future with a hamstring injury, resigned last season after two anxious years as captain. Lan- cashire, who rely as heavily as ever on Watkinson's two bowling styles and no-nonsense batting, have now entrusted him with ac- celerating the learning curve of the county's promising appren- tices. "We won't win the championship," Lloyd conceded. Not that Lancashire have made a habit of doing that. They last won the ti- tle outright in 1934. (Thanks : Sunday Telegraph) Contributed by Vicky (VIGNESWA@*umass.edu)