Law's out to make Oval date
Source -
manchesteronline.co.uk
Stuart Law will know in the next 24 hours whether he has won his battle to get fit in time for the Lancashire Lightning's Twenty20 Cup bid on Saturday.
Stuart Law will know in the next 24 hours whether he has won his battle to get fit in time for the Lancashire Lightning's Twenty20 Cup bid on Saturday.
The 34-year-old run machine missed the championship clash with Essex last week because of a trapped nerve in his neck, but has improved over the last couple of days and will take on Surrey in the first semi at the Brit Oval if he comes through a practice session at Old Trafford today.
Manager Mike Watkinson said: "He is doing OK. He will have some throwdowns to see how he responds, but he seems to have improved a lot."
Lancashire also need to test one of their overseas players, Marcus North, who was also sidelined for the Essex match because of a thigh strain.
But Law, who has been in brilliant form in the competition, is the biggest worry as Watkinson and captain Mark Chilton finalise their squad for the Oval showpiece.
Law hammered 92 not out against Nottinghamshire, a century against Yorkshire and 67 at Derby as Lancashire marched through the qualifying stage. And he has formed a formidable opening partnership with Mal Loye, which fully exploits the fielding restrictions in the first six overs.
When Law hasn't scored runs, Loye has - at a remarkable rate - and Lancashire are preparing for Saturday confident of avenging their semi-final defeat at the hands of Surrey last year.
If they are at full strength, Watkinson and Chilton will have to decide who makes way for Andy Flintoff, who returns to county action after his batting failures with England in the first Test at Lord's.
Freddie's presence certainly boosts the Red Rose side, but it means changing the side that accounted for Derbyshire in the quarter-final 10 days ago.
And it is almost impossible to guess which way they will go, as Flintoff's strengths as an all-rounder gives them all sorts of options.
Lancashire could even ditch their plan of using three spinners. In the qualifiers, they tied sides up with Muttiah Muralitharan, Brad Hodge and Gary Keedy, and even when the Sri Lankan and Aussie stars left for international duties, they maintained the strategy, with Andrew Symonds and Andrew Crook joining Keedy.
But the `spin to win' format has been successful for other teams as well, and so Lancashire are unlikely to abandon it now. The fitness of Law and North is the key, and they will be taken through their paces today.
Lancashire are also aware of the problems of a long day of cricket where niggles could be aggravated or new injuries could crop up in the semis, forcing them to switch players for the final six hours later.
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