If it was not redemption, coaching Lancashire to their first T20 Cup win was unquestionably a special moment, acknowledged Ashley Giles.
The former England one-day coach, who lost his job last year after having been initially regarded as his country’s head coach in the making, was understandably content after Lancashire made it sixth time lucky at T20 Finals day on Saturday night. A comfortable win over Hampshire in the semi-finals was followed by a harder-fought victory over a gritty Northamptonshire side which had beaten favourites Birmingham to reach the final.
“There was a lot of stuff going on, what with Lancashire coming back after losing the final last year, but for me, to come back to Edgbaston with this team is obviously pretty special,” said Giles, the former England left-arm spinner who also spent five years as Warwickshire’s director of cricket.
“It is sweet. What happened with England happened, and I’ve been lucky to get a fantastic job with Lancashire. I’m a bit of an outsider, slightly a midlander and a lot of a southerner, but they’ve welcomed me in Manchester. They came very close in the past, so we’re just delighted to get over the line this time”
Given the county need only three more points to secure promotion back to Division One, and are favourites to end the season as Division Two champions, it may not be long before Giles is awarded the status of honorary Lancastrian, though as he pointed out, many expected nothing less.
“Someone tweeted me yesterday: ‘If you don’t win the final, you can eff off’. I thought we’d had quite a good year! Perhaps if we don’t win the championship I can ‘eff off!’ It’s a tough school at times, you just have to get on with it.”
After his experience with England, however, Giles said he has become better at coping with a demand for instant results. “I quite like long-term planning, but maybe I had to get better at ‘winning tomorrow’, that’s what England is about a lot of the time, getting the job done, and I showed here I could do that and hopefully we’ll build on that now”
What was vindicated was a decision to include the young seam bowlers Gavin Griffiths and George Edwards, with Griffiths, on debut, bowling the final over after overseas player James Faulkner dislocated a finger.
“It was a big call, but we had a couple of days’ practice at Old Trafford and Gav consistently got his skills right, yorkers, slower balls, and before even the semi, when the team was read out, you saw a lot of the Hampshire guys wondering who they were, and I think that helps,” said Giles.
“We have some really good youngsters. I thought Alex Davies played beautifully in the final, and Liam Livingstone has huge ability, but the older guys have been outstanding too. [Left-arm spinner] Stephen Parry finished as top wicket-taker in the competition, and [acting captain] Steven Croft has had a fantastic tournament. One thing we can’t do now is sit back. Hopefully we’ll get promoted and then we need to stay in Division One”
