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HORTON LOOKING FORWARD TO SEASON WITH NEW LOOK LANCASHIRE

Date: 12th April 2015

HORTON LOOKING FORWARD TO SEASON WITH NEW LOOK LANCASHIRE

A Paul Edwards copyright exclusive for L&DCC Official Website.

Opener hopes to make his experience count

It has been an autumn and winter of change at Lancashire but opener Paul Horton has fixed his attention on helping Tom Smith’s team achieve success in all forms of the game in 2015.
 
Ashley Giles has replaced Mike Watkinson as Director of Cricket and has also taken on the Head Coach’s role; Glen Chapple has joined the coaching staff but has not retired from playing; Gary Yates has replaced John Stanworth as Academy Director; and Nathan Buck, George Edwards and Alviro Petersen have joined the Old Trafford playing staff, as have overseas stars Peter Siddle and James Faulkner, albeit that the latter two cricketers will spend briefer spells with the club.
 
Perhaps, therefore, it is not too surprising that Horton is now focused on his role as as opener and on his responsibilities as one of the more experienced cricketers on the staff.
 
“I think everybody’s looking forward to the new season, myself included,” he said. “Everything that happened in the last year is put behind us and you look to a fresh new start with a new captain, a new vice-captain and new coach. It’s nice to have a few new faces in the squad and we’re looking to have a good year.
 
“Changes are made and as a club we’ve moved on in a few ways. A lot of people have come and gone in playing and coaching staff and a few people in the offices as well. You have to get used to the changes and we are all looking forward to the new season and to playing some good cricket and getting back to Division One.
 
“Whenever you get new coaches coming in, you get new ideas and a new way of doing things and a freshen up all around the place and I think you’ll see a different style of leader than we’ve had in the place.”
 
However, Horton believes he can have a significant part in the new regime as Lancashire look to achieve promotion and go one better in the Nat West T20 Blast than they did in 2014 when they lost to Warwickshire in the final.
 
“I have a really good role to play,” he insisted. “We have a big squad but we also have a very young squad and those players can therefore be a little bit inexperienced at times. Within the group I have a big role in improving people both as people and as cricketers and that’s part of my double role for Lancashire.
 
“I think I’ll be opening the batting and that’s the best position for me. If I do well, I can really help the side. It’s important to have a strong opening partnership to set the innings up and I imagine I’ll be opening with Luis Reece. If you play well for yourself, you play well for the team.”
 
Horton’s grooved technique against the new ball will come under scrutiny for the first time in the County Championship at Derby on Sunday April 19 and he believes the early games will also mark another important stage in the development of his probable opening partner Reece.
 
“As a first-class batsman you have different experiences and you’re exposed to different things,” he said. “It’s all a bit of a learning curve and Luis found April and May tougher than he’d come across in previous seasons. He’ll be better for the experience as we all are and he’s still only played a limited number of games as an opener. He’s nowhere near the finished article but he’ll get better and better with age.”
 
And Horton conceded that his ambitions are by no means confined to four-day cricket.
 
“I’d be disappointed if I wasn’t playing a role in the other formats,” he admitted. “To be dropped from the T20 side would be upsetting for me because if you take my performances in short form cricket they were probably the best I’ve had for a long time. It was the best cricket I played last year. My role is to score runs for the team and the club and given the opportunity I believe I can do that in all forms of the game. 
 
 
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