Keaton Jennings steps down as Lancashire red-ball captain

Keaton Jennings has stepped down as Lancashire red-ball captain with immediate effect, with the club sitting bottom of Division Two in the County Championship. Marcus Harris, the club's Australian overseas signing, will take over as interim captain.

Lancashire are winless after five games of the Championship season, having drawn four and lost one. They succumbed to a three-day defeat against Northamptonshire at the weekend, prompting the club's management to issue an apology to supporters on Tuesday morning, in which director of cricket performance, Mark Chilton, described their form as "not acceptable" and said Lancashire would "make necessary changes" to improve the situation.

That has led to Jennings relinquishing the captaincy in Championship cricket, although he will continue to lead the Blast side. Appointed in 2023, he was the team's leading first-class run-scorer last year, with 1006 at 45.72, but couldn't prevent relegation. So far this season, he has made 337 runs at 33.70 with two half-centuries.

"It's been a huge honour to lead Lancashire Cricket in the Championship over the last couple of seasons, a club with rich history that I hold dear to my heart," Jennings said. "This has not been an easy decision, however after reflection and conversations with the management, I believe the team will benefit from a change of captaincy.

"My passion and commitment to serving Lancashire has not and will never change. Our current position in the table is not reflective of our commitment as a team and club to winning. I recognise the best way for me to serve the club is to continue to score big runs at the top of the order and put in match-winning contributions. I feel as though the team will benefit from this change and it will help to drive us forward.

"I will of course provide Marcus with as much support as he wants throughout the rest of the County Championship. I know that the team is focused on our collective goal of getting Lancashire back to winning four-day cricket."

Harris is currently the leading Championship run-scorer in either division with 749 at 83.22, including three hundreds. He will be assisted in charge of the red-ball team by vice-captain, Josh Bohannon, and James Anderson, England's all-time leading Test wicket-taker who is expected to make his first appearance of the season in the next round of games, starting on Friday.

Chilton added: "Keaton has given his total commitment to the captaincy since taking over in 2023 and remains a key figure in the dressing room.

"His experience and professionalism will continue to be invaluable, and I would like to thank Keaton for his service as Lancashire's County Championship captain in recent years. We hope that the change in captaincy will allow him to concentrate fully on his batting and take some weight off his shoulders.

"Marcus will provide an alternative perspective to leadership and, although relatively new to the group, he has worked with Dale [Benkenstein] before, and everyone has seen his impact on the team's performance in the first five games of this season. We are also hopeful that James Anderson can get back on the field adding vast experience and leadership into the side."

Foremost among Lancashire's issues so far this season has been an inability to take wickets at home - in three games at Emirates Old Trafford, they have only bowled the opposition out once. Their next two fixtures are against Derbyshire, at home, and Leicestershire, currently second and first respectively in Division Two.

John Abrahams, chair of the cricket development committee, said the board retained faith in the coaches, led by Dale Benkenstein.

"The Lancashire Cricket Board remains fully behind the coaching group, and we want members to know that the club will do whatever the cricket department needs to effect change quickly," Abrahams said. "We continually look at different ways we can improve the squad, whether that be loan or permanent additions to the squad.

"We are also working closely with the grounds team to look at how we can perform better at Emirates Old Trafford, having experienced the challenging conditions to bowl teams out twice.

"I'd like to thank the members for their continued support of the club, and we all hope to see a change of fortunes for the team in the next couple of weeks in the County Championship, ahead of the Vitality Blast starting at the end of this month."