Head coach Benkenstein leaves struggling Lancashire

After a disappointing first two months of the County Championship season, Lancashire parted ways with men’s head coach Dale Benkenstein.

After being demoted from the top flight last season, the South African, 50, moves to Lancashire seventh in Division Two.

The only club in either division to have lost a championship game this summer is them.

In a club statement, Lancashire’s director of cricket performance, Mark Chilton, said, “We feel this is the right time to make a change.”

Will Porterfield, Craig White, and Karl Krikken serve as the interim men’s head coaches, replacing former Red Rose pitcher Steven Croft.

For the first time since 2019, Lancashire, the nine-time champions, are playing second-tier cricket after finishing ninth last season in Division One.

However, they started poorly, and Leicestershire, who are Division Two leaders, lost by an innings and three runs in three days.

At the halfway point of the Championship campaign, the Red Rose were 73 points adrift of the East Midlands county.

In Benkenstein’s nearly 18-month tenure, Lancashire lost by an innings in the fifth time.

After the Grace Road game, Benkenstein said there was a discrepancy within the organization about whether giving young players time to develop or winning. In his final interview with BBC Radio Lancashire, Benkenstein stated that there was no clarity about this.

He also acknowledged that the team had glaring flaws, though.

Lancashire “mutually consented” to Benkenstein’s departure on Wednesday in line with expectations that the club should be attempting to challenge for immediate promotion, as has happened on numerous occasions where they have previously been relegated.

Glen Chapple, who had left the club at the end of the 2023 season, was replaced by Benkenstein as the club’s surprise replacement.

Benkenstein’s side finished second in Division One before Division Two after two seasons as head coach of Gloucestershire.

When he took over Lancashire, which had last year struggled against the best counties, he inherited a team that was in transition.

However, they have performed a division below average.

The club apologised to its members just two weeks prior for the way the season had begun, and captain Keaton Jennings resigned from his four-day role to take the place of Australian batter Marcus Harris.