Lancashire’s Horton eyes up joining Lions party

Jul 24 2008 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

AS befits a cricketer who seems supremely calm and self-possessed – both on and off the field – Paul Horton is laying stress on controlling the controllables.

Tuesday’s innings of 66 against Hampshire brought the Lancashire batsman’s tally of runs to an impressive 727 in the County Championship and 848 in all first-class matches. With only eight out of 16 Division One games completed, he is therefore well in line to beat last year’s totals of 1,034 and 1,116 respectively.

So, since his name appears among the leading run-scorers in the country, it is no surprise that it has also been mentioned in connection with a place in the England Lions winter touring party. The player himself acknowledges the speculation but knows that all he can do is carry on scoring runs.

“I’d be lying if I said I haven’t thought about it,” he admitted. “I think everybody considers the next level and how to get there. Getting a place in the Academy or playing for England Lions is the next step for me, but who knows whether that’ll happen this year or ever?

“What I can control is scoring runs for Lancashire and if they think my performances merit a call up, then that’s great.”

But Horton’s relatively relaxed approach to the prospect of an international call-up should not be taken as a sign that he is completely contented with his form. Despite reaching 50 in seven of his 14 Championship innings this season, he has scored only two centuries. That not good enough for him.

“I think I’m disappointed whenever I don’t get a hundred.” he said. “I don’t really want to be happy just plugging away and getting thirties and forties. I think if I get to 50, I need to be going on and scoring big hundreds. That’s great for me and good for the team. It’s what Stuart Law does and it’s the reason why he averages over 50 in first-class cricket. It’s what I want to emulate.”

And having established himself as one of the first names on Mike Watkinson’s team sheet for Championship games, Horton now wants to get more one-day outings for Lancashire.

“I’ve never really been given an opportunity to play one-day cricket, so who knows if my style is suited to it,” he said, in a reference to the reason sometimes put forward for his omission from shorter forms of the game.

“I played four Pro40 games last year and shared in two hundred partnerships,” he pointed out. “I think I can play at that level. I’d love to adapt and not have to grind out the new ball. I’d love to have some fun.”