Lancashire Cricket head coach leaves after poor run of results
Dale Benkenstein leaves the club with just three wins in the last 21 gam
Dale Benkenstein has left his role as Lancashire's head coach, paying the price for a dire run of form for the Red Rose.
The club were relegated from Division One of the Rothesay County Championship last season and have continued their slump in the second tier, sitting second bottom as the only one of the 18 first-class counties without a win after seven rounds.
In all they have won just three times in their last 21 championship games.
Benkenstein's removal comes just a fortnight after Keaton Jennings stood down as red-ball captain, leaving Lancashire in apparent disarray.
Former captain Steven Croft has stepped in as interim head coach and will lead the team in the Vitality Blast, starting with Thursday's game against Worcestershire, and will be assisted by Will Porterfield, Karl Krikken and Craig White.
Hopes were high at Emirates Old Trafford for a promotion push, fuelled by James Anderson's comeback and rising stars such as Andrew Flintoff's son Rocky.
But Anderson has managed just one game thus far after injuring his calf on the eve of the season, and Flintoff has yet to manage a first-team game due to back problems.
Director of cricket performance Mark Chilton said: "Following a difficult start to the season, we feel that now is the right time to make a change, as we look to improve our on-field performances.
"After relegation at the end of last season, results have not improved so far this year and after much consideration, both Dale and I feel the team will benefit from a change in direction."
On Croft, a championship title winner in 2011 and a Blast-winning skipper four years later, Chilton added: "Steven is a Lancashire legend, highly respected in the dressing room and has been working incredibly hard on his coaching career for several years.
"I'd like to thank Steven, along with the other coaches, for stepping into the role at short notice ahead of the Vitality Blast opener (on Thursday) evening."