Blackpool: Lancs 2nd XI Vs. MCC universities

Tales from Blackpool.

Lancashire’s second XI have recorded

a comfortable ten-wicket victory over

the MCC Universities, with 15.3 overs

to spare. Openers Andrea Agathangelou

(75*) and Alex Davies (64*) played

confident and entertaining shots in

response to the mediocre target of 147

in this 40-over fixture. The match was

organised yesterday evening, when

Lancashire cruised to a similarly simple

win against the MCC by eight wickets.

The MCC were unable to improve on the poor batting which saw them lose yesterdays game, as they posted a modest total of 146 all out from 39.3 overs. Lancashire’s bowlers shared the MCC wickets evenly with Reece taking 3/29, Hogg 2/15, Keedy 2/17 and Lilley 2/26. The visitors seemed to through a lot of their wickets away, with most of them being caught playing loose shots.

Agathangelou struck 7 fours and 1 six in his 75 not out and was accompanied by keeper-batsmen Davies who hit 5 fours and 2 sixes in his innings of 64 not out, after he led Lancashire to victory in the previous game, scoring an unbeaten 84 in the eight-wicket win. Keedy also replicated good form from the previous game, taking 4-38 yesterday and following-up with 2/17.

Although there was nothing on todays match, yesterdays victory saw the second XI move up to the top of the Championship North Group after trouncing the MCC inside two days. The MCC won the toss in the 3-day fixture and were bowled out for 135, which set the tone for most of their batting performances in their trip to the North-West. Today saw them top this poor effort by a minimal difference as Lancashire’s second XI recorded their second win of the season in the County Champiomship.

Leics Vs Lancs CB40

Prince returns to form as Lancashire dominate hosts Leicestershire.

Lancashire eased to their fifth CB40 victory of the season as the visitors cruised to a six wicket win and double over the unusually poor Leicestershire. Leicestershire are arguably the most prolific one day team in the country, but they have experienced a frustrating limited overs campaign, now 6th in Group A after finishing bottom of the Twenty20 North group. Leicestershire's squad had no real flair and when Lancashire won the toss, there was a sense of resignation from the Foxes from an early stage.

The home team were invited to bat first and after two wides and a four Leicestershire were affectively 6-0 after 1 ball. But Lancashire struck an  early blow when Tom Smith trapped Will Jones LBW for 4 after just three legal deliveries had been bowled. 

                                 

                     

Glen Chapple claimed the first of four wickets when he bowled Greg Smith for 20 and at 29-2 Leicestershire were struggling. West-Indies opener, Ramnaresh Sarwan had played a more controlled innings but he soon edged to Horton at first slip, also for 20, to give Ajmal Shahzad his first breakthrough. Michael Thornely had struggled to time the ball since he came to the crease and Shahzad made him pay when he was cleanly bowled for 11 to put the home side on a dismal 68-4.

A partnership worth 96, between Matthew Boyce (53) and Shiv Thakor's career best (83*) was certainly appropriate, giving the desperate circumstance the Foxes found themselves in. Both batsmen had very different approaches to the situation, with Boyce playing calm and calculated strokes and Thakor taking calculated risks. Both styles combined nicely to give Leicestershire some momentum after a slow start and the regular loss of wickets. Boyce reached his 50 from 60 balls and Thakor took 56, to frustrate Lancashire through the middle overs. Four runs short of the 100 partnership Boyce was disappointingly stumped by Gareth Cross to reward the patience of slow left armer Gary Keedy. At 164-5 Leicestershire had a chance of posting a competitive total, but seemed to be running out of batsmen as Thakor provided the only resistance, in this comfortable victory for the Lightning.

Rob Taylor was Chapple's second victim of four, caught chipping to Steven Croft for a run- a-ball score of 16, with the score 191-6. Thakor continued to successfully resist Lancashire's bowling, but in the closing stages of the Foxes innings, stand in wicket-keeper, Paul Dixey was caught by Tom Smith off Chapple for 2. In the final over Chapple took his fourth and final wicket when Robbie Joseph (1) edged to Ashwell prince, who still had much more to give in this game, as the Foxes finished on 218-8

Stephen Moore (60) and Ashwell Prince (85) got Lancashire most of the required runs in a partnership worth 108. The visitors were looking comfortable at 63-0 after 10 overs, well ahead of the required run rate. Moore decided to take  his usual flamboyant approach and as a result was the first to bring up his 50 from 46 balls. This was his fifth 50 out of Lancashire's seven games, as he continues to be the key man with the bat. Moore was soon caught at short cover for 60 by Greg Smith off Michael Thornely, but the general feeling at Grace Road was that Lancashire had done most of the work already.

Prince brought up his 62-ball 50 in the twenty-third over and started he started to play more aggressive shots as Lancashire closed in on their mediocre target of 219. Sarwan dropped Prince at mid-wicket on 82 and with that any chance Leicestershire had of victory disappeared. Croft contributed nicely with a 49-ball 50, in a second-wicket partnership worth 97, but Prince was finally caught at deep mid-wicket by Jones off Alex Wyatt for an impressive score of 85.

A rare period of fortune for Leicestershire came when Karl Brown was trapped LBW off Taylor for 0 and then Horton was caught by Greg Smith once again off Taylor for no score. Lancashire lost two wickets on 208, but Steven Croft (57*) and Tom Smith (8*) were able to see the Lightning home by 6 wickets with 4.2 overs left to bowl.

This win put Lancashire in a very strong position with three games in hand over group leaders Middlesex, who are just two points ahead of the Lightning. Whilst Lancashire have recorded their fifth win of the campaign, hosts Leicester have now lost five games and may well finish bottom of both limited overs groups this year. 

Day Three: Lancashire vs Worcester LV County Championship

Lancashire treated to a right royal roasting by Worcestershire.

At the start of the third day of this match, Lancashire had expected things to be difficult, but nobody expected the game to be over by 4:30, inside three days. Lancashire were bowled out for a phenomenal score of 63, requiring 269 to win as Worcestershire opened their winning account for this season with a comfortable 205-run victory.

Worcestershire commenced at 9-0 with a lead of 138 runs already to their names. Few people would have predicted that Worcestershire could declare and still win by 75 runs. But they didn’t declare and Daryl Mitchell, accompanied by Phil Hughes sought to extend an already suitable lead. The visitors reached 36 before losing their first wicket when Mitchell was caught behind by Gareth Cross, after edging down the leg side off Glen Chapple for 23. Spin struck its first of 19 wickets today, when Hughes was caught by Tom Smith off Simon Kerrigan as Worcester reached 40-2, leading by 169.  Kerrigan struck once more as Steven Croft caught Moeen Ali, who certainly had more to give to this game taking 6-29 in Lancashire’s second innings, collecting match figures of 12-96.

Steven Croft took the first of six wickets as James Cameron was caught by Aswell Prince at second slip for 2, with Worcestershire at 61-4 but leading comfortably though by 190 runs. Matthew Pardoe was instrumental in Worcestershire’s first innings scoring 55, but fell shortly after Cameron as Croft struck him on the pads for 1. The only real partnership of the day achieved 47 runs between Vikram Solanki (50) and Gareth Andrew (29) who increased the visitors lead to 245, before Andrew was caught by Shahzad at long off, as Croft took his third wicket. Lunch was signalled 2 runs later and Lancashire were facing an impossible situation, despite taking Worcestershire’s first six wickets for just 96 runs in the first innings and 116 second time round.

Lancashire desperately needed to take wickets and struck in the first over after lunch as Ben Scott, who scored 105 in the first innings, was out for a duck after Kerrigan’s spin forced him to edge to Croft. A rare batting highlight saw Solanki reach his 50 from 122 balls as Worcestershire moved to 135-7, leading by 264. Shaaiq Choudry allowed Solanki to hold most of the strike in the 8^th wicket partnership, but on a deadly pitch he was unable to counter the spin of Croft, who made an easy catch off his own bowling to dismiss him for just 6. Solanki followed for the addition of no more runs as Steven Croft took his first ever 5 wicket haul by trapping Solanki LBW. He was then able to finish Worcestershire off when Richard Jones edged to Karl Brown for 8, as Croft took career best figures of 6-41.

An impossible task of 269 runs started in the worst possible way as Lancashire’s highest first innings scorer, Paul Horton, was trapped LBW to Alan Richardson second ball for no score. Two more wickets fell with Lancashire on 13, first Stephen Moore (9) who edged to Andrew as Richardson took his second wicket and the Karl Brown (0) who was caught by Solanki as Moeen Ali took the first of six wickets. Lancashire were certainly up against the spinning conditions, but pace bowler Richardson taking two wickets demonstrated the home sides lack of application to a task that required complete and utter focus.

Steven Croft (16) is primarily considered as a batsman, but it is fair to say he contributed only with the ball in this game, taking match figures of 9-105 but only scoring a combined total of 22 runs. His second innings ended when he was caught behind by Ben Scott, to give Moeen his second wicket. Ashwell Prince mirrored his first innings effort as he scored just one run before he too was out caught behind off Moeen. Lancashire were 22-5 and matters continued to get worse when Tom Smith exited for 3 in the same way as Croft and Prince. The highest partnership of the innings between Cross and Hogg managed just 17 runs, but ended when Cross, who top scored with 20, was caught by Richardson to give Moeen his fifth wicket. Captain Chapple gave Choudry his first wicket when he edged to Worcester captain Mitchell for 9 with Lancashire 61-8. Shahzad was out for successive ducks as he was stumped off Choudry addind no more to Lancashire’s total, with Hogg (6) and Kerrigan (2*) were the only two batsmen left. Hogg was also stumped, this time off Moeen as he took 6-29 and Lancashire were all out for 69.

Lancashire recorded their lowest total on their home ground since being dismissed for 62 by Somerset in 1963 as they lose their fourth game of the season. After the valiant effort by Lancashire last season to win their first outright county championship since 1934, the champions appear to be relegation candidates as Worcestershire pick up their first win of the season and first win in eleven months, when they beat Lancashire at New Road last September, in similarly humiliating fashion by 10 wickets also inside three days.

Lancashire Vs. Worcestershire LV County Championship Day Two.

Moeen Ali records career best figures to send Lancashire into despair.

Lancashire ended day two of this LV County Championship match with little hope of escaping defeat, after Worcestershire spinners Moeen Ali (6-67) and Shaaiq Choudry (4-38) reduced Lancashire to 162 all out after an impressive opening stand of 61. Moeen achieved his career best bowling figures as Lancashire lost 9 wickets for the addition of just 58 runs.

The day started at 11:30 with Lancashire in the ascendancy, with openers Paul Horton (34) and Stephen Moore (26) carrying on from their unbeaten stand last night as they built a partnership worth 61. During this time, a section of the pitch near the bowlers run-up needed to be replaced as it was deemed unfit for play. Moore seemingly gifted his wicket away when he chipped the ball to Choudry at mid-on as Moeen took the first of 6 wickets. Horton shortly followed his partner as he was trapped LBW to Choudry just before lunch, by which time Lancashire had reached 67-2.

Overseas player Ashwell Prince failed to make any kind of impact as he was caught behind by Ben Scott off Moeen just after lunch for 1. Wickets either side of lunch had reduced the impact Lancashire’s opening stand to average at best and the afternoon session continued to get progressively worse for the home side. Moeen picked up the wicket of Karl Brown, who was stumped for 9 as Lancashire stumbled to 86-4.

After Steven Croft experienced a brilliant day of bowling, fielding and international recognition yesterday but was unable to succeed with the bat as he was bowled by Choudry for 16. The next four wickets were all claimed by Moeen inside the hour as Lancashire went from 95-5 to 119-9. The first came when Tom Smith top-edged an attempted sweep to Richard Jones for just 3. Moeen then claimed Gareth Cross (16), Ajmal Shahzad (0) and Glen Chapple (5) who were all caught at short leg by Matthew Pardoe. About the only good thing that happened in the afternoon session for Lancashire was the 10^th wicket partnership between Kyle Hogg (21) and Simon Kerrigan (20) which was worth 43 to reduce the humiliation suffered by the home team, as Worcestershire had a first innings lead of 129 runs.

Daryl Mitchell (8*) and Phil Hughes (1*) commenced the second innings with this emphatic lead and when rain settled in they were 9-0 to advance to a lead of 138. Previous to this match Worcestershire were without a championship victory, but they are certainly expected to finish this July fixture with a win as they take an impressive lead into the third day at Old Trafford.

Lancashire Vs. Worcestershire: Day One - LV County Championship

Twenty 20 call-up inspires Croft’s success on day one at Old Trafford.

Lancashire finished the first day of this LV County Championship match on 13-0, after finally finishing of Worcestershire for 291, despite the visitors stumbling to a miserable effort of 93-6. The heroics of Ben Scott (106) and Matthew Pardoe (55) from mid-afternoon onwards, rescued an otherwise bleak situation to post a more than respectable total under the circumstances.

For most of the morning session, the decision to bat first was proven to be worth wile by Worcestershire, as openers Daryl Mitchell and Phil Hughes were able to see off Lancashire’s pace bowlers with great success. It wasn’t until the introduction of spinner Simon Kerrigan that Lancashire made any sort of breakthrough, but Mitchell’s slow approach was tested to the limit by the 23-year-old, as he was forced to edge to Tom Smith for 12. The hard work of the first hour was reduced quickly to a mediocre start when part time spinner, Steven Croft (3-64), struck Hughes on the pad for 32 to signal lunch at 56-2.

Moeen Ali joined Vikram Solanki after lunch to finish the 27^th over, but he was forced to edge one of Steven Croft’s remaining deliveries to Horton at first slip for 2 as Worcestershire stumbled to 64-3. The impact of Croft’s spin continued when Solanki edged to Ashwell Prince for 15 and he followed this with a catch off of Kerrigan to claim the wicket of James Cameron for 18. It seemed impossible to keep Steven Croft out of this match and upon his selection into England’s 30-man squad for the 2012 Twenty 20 world cup, he flourished taking 3 wickets and 2 catches when he caught Gareth Andrew for a golden duck off Kerrigan. Six wickets had fallen for the addition of just 53 runs and Worcestershire, who are still without a championship victory this season, were in dire need of salvation.

Lancashire have had a lot of success this season when it comes to bowling out top order batsmen but have also struggled to take the remaining wickets, hence they have only recorded one victory this season. The hosts suffered the same fate in this fixture as Pardoe and Scott recorded a partnership worth 127 for the 7^th wicket to steer the visitors back on track. Ben Scott was first to reach his half-century and the hundred partnership signalled the tea interval, in a mixed session for both sides.

Pardoe’s fifty shortly followed the break from 133 balls, but a run out instigated once again by Steven Croft ended the partnership that had frustrated Lancashire for nearly three hours. This left Ben Scott isolated alongside tail-enders, but the last man out was able to help add 71 more runs before the innings end. Shaaiq Choudry’s 33-ball effort of just 2 runs allowed Worcestershire’s star man (Scott) more time, but he was eventually trapped LBW to Lancashire’s captain Glen Chapple. Richard Jones was able to provide a quick cameo worth 15 to assist Ben Scott who reached his century from 163 balls, but he was unable to prevent Tom Smith strapping him on the pad for 15. It was fitting not only for the captain to catch Scott, but for Simon Kerrigan (4-117) to take the vital last wicket of Scott as Worcestershire posted 291 all out, with Alan Richardson 6 not out.

With just four overs to face, Lancashire openers Paul Horton (7*) and Stephen Moore (5*) saw it as their duty to end with all ten wickets intact as they finished the first day on 13-0.

Lightning strike revenge on Panthers in CB40 match.




(c) Daniel Adams 2012
 Man of the match, Stephen Parry (above)
takes 4-21 as Lancashire go second in Group A.

  After a humiliating defeat of 167 runs at Lords in June, Lancashire have responded with a comfortable victory of their own to put them into second place in Group A of the CB40 campaign. The threat of rain that surrounded Old Trafford prior to the start of play certainly influenced Lancashire’s decision to bowl first, in the hope that for once Duckworth Lewis would help the Lightning. Captain, Glen Chapple was as ever adaptable to all formats of the game starting with a maiden that set the tone for a slowly paced innings. Tom Smith likewise made an economical start conceding just four runs and for three more balls at least, Chapple was yet to concede a single run.But this season has been full of rain and this continued  as the sides were only able to muster 15 balls before coming off.

As rain continued to fall the slow start made by the Panthers was becoming more and more regrettable and when play finally resumed in this CB40 match, the game had been reduced to 16 overs per side. Middlesex openers, Joe Denly (11) and David Malan (48) were therefore keen to improve on their slow start, but with little success due to more constricting bowling from Chapple and Ajmal Shahzad. Lancashire were unable to take any early wickets and as confidence built for Middlesex, Malan took responsibility for finding the boundary in an innings with 4 fours and 2 sixes to get the Panthers underway.

The first breakthrough for the Lightning came when Denly’s attempted slog over mid-wicket to spinner, Stephen Parry, resulted in him being stumped by Cross for 11. The fear of Paul Stirling’s capabilities, after scoring 119 in the reverse fixture at Lord’s were certainly present, but he was unable to replicate this contribution after edging behind to Cross off Parry for only 6. Malan continued to be the only source of runs for Middlesex and his batting partners, in contrast, were finding it tough. Malan’s lonely cameo came to an end when an attempted slog off the expensive Shahzad was caught by Ashwell Prince. Matters were made worse when former Lancashire player, Steven Crook, was superbly caught in the deep by Karl Brown off Gary Keedy for 4, with Middlesex on 70-4.

The curious decision not to send out Chris Rogers was confusing to say the least, with very little batting power beyond the Australian one day specialist. Tom Smith’s economical contribution was rewarded when Paul Horton caught Neil Dexter for 8. Lancashire’s stand out bowler, Stephen Parry, who finished with 4-21, claimed the late wickets of Ollie Rayner who was bowled off a slower ball for 12 and John Simpson who was caught by Shahzad for 2. In an attempt to come back for two off the last ball Chris Berg was run out for 4 as Middlesex finished on 97-8. An additional 5 runs were awarded to the Panthers through Duckworth Lewis as Lancashire were set 103 to win from 16 overs.

In response, the home side opened with a 20 over mentality as Stephen Moore and Tom Smith commenced proceedings. But Lancashire’s start was anything but flamboyant, when Moore skied Roland-Jones to sub fielder, Oliver Wilkin, for a 5 ball duck. Lancashire found it hard to make any sort of contact with the ball in the preliminary stages of their reply and when Tom Smith was astoundingly caught by Gareth Berg off Crook for 12 things were looking bleak for the Lightning.   

Steven Croft (45) and Karl Brown (36*) were solely focused on building a partnership that would steer the home side back in the right direction and they did so with great success. Brown was also able to find consecutive boundaries from spinner, Tom Smith, to put the game back in the balance. A minor rain delay resulted in the loss of one more over, revising Lancashire’s target to 97 from 15 overs. After the break Croft and Brown continued to build Lancashire’s response in a partnership worth 79 as the required run rate continued to fall progressively.

The very late dismissal of Steven Croft, who was caught by Stirling off Dexter, had no impact on the end result, with Lancashire on needing just 2 runs from 10 balls. Paul Horton faced two successive wide balls from Dexter ended the match in an anti climactic fashion, but Lancashire will be ecstatic to win a game that takes them to second place, with 3 games in hand over Group A leaders Holland. A man of the match performance from Stephen Parry set the game up nicely for the home side and in the end the scenario of the Duckworth Lewis was not necessary as Croft and Brown easily guided Lancashire to their 4^th CB40 victory this season.

Surrey Vs. Lancashire Day 3 LV County Championship

KP goes nuts to bring Surrey close to Red Rose total.

After Lancashire declared on 485-7 in the morning session of day 3, Surrey had a lot of work to do in order to respond to Lancashire’s highest total of the season. Steven Croft reached a career best of 154* to surpass the efforts of opening batsmen Paul Horton (110) and accompanied by Ajmal Shahzad (12*) they added 60 to Lancashire’s overnight score of 425-7. But by the end of day 3 the home side will feel they have the momentum going into the final day after the efforts of England International Kevin Pietersen (232*) who is just 20 runs short of his career best and Zander de Bruyn (94) in a partnership worth 181.

The day started positively for Lancashire when Croft hit the first ball of the day for four and these continued to go smoothly as they passed 450 in quick time. Croft passed his previous best of 122 and soon reached 150 from 201 balls, striking 18 fours and 1 six. By which stage Lancashire had decided that they would declare on 485-7, which was an imposing total to say the least.

To add insult to injury Rory Burns was bowled by Glen Chapple off the first ball of Surrey’s reply to crush what little spirit was left after Lancashire’s batting onslaught. Zafar Ansari and Zander De Bruyn were able to quell the fears of Surrey’s demise by forming a steady partnership, which unfortunately ended 1 run short of 50. Opener Ansari edged to Tom Smith at second slip off Shahzad for 21, leaving Surrey on 49-2. This brought Kevin Pietersen to the crease and there was certainly a sense of excitement about his presence after the controversy of his One Day International retiremnet.

After lunch, Surrey still had a lot of work to do still trailing Lancashire by 433 runs. Zander De Bruyn and Kevin Pietersen seemingly excelled through the afternoon session as both batsmen passed 50 to take Surrey past 200 as they earned their first batting point. Pietersen’s aggresive batting style saw him pass De Bruyn and reach his 43rd first class century from 93 balls, to renew Surrey’s faith after two tough days in the field. Before De Bruyn could replicate Pietersen he was trapped LBW to Simon Kerrigan falling 6 short of his own century as Lancashire aquired their first bowling point.

Surrey keeper, Steve Davies, assisted the destructive nature of Pietersen nicely, who passed 150 to help them reach 307-3 at tea. Davies played a rather passive role in a partnership worth 72, as Pietersen continued to play a combination of fluent and flamboient shots. But when Davies attempted to replicate Pietersen he was caught behind by Gareth Cross off Smith, leaving Surrey on 302-4.

A further partnership of 89 with Jason Roy (38) saw Surrey close in on Lancashire’s score with Pietersen advancing to 200 from just 170 balls. Roy was unable to stay with Pietersen until the end of day 3 as he was caught pulling to Kerrigan at long-leg off Shahzad as Surrey reached 391-5. Between the fall of the 5th wicket and close of play, Kevin Pietersen was as ruthless as ever and with Gareth Batty (4*) Surrey added an unbeaten partnership of 39 to close on 430-5.

In a game of uncertainties, one thing is clear going into the final day of this LV County Championship fixture. Kevin Pietersen is expected to pass his career best of 254* that he aquired for Nottinghamshire versus Middlesex in 2006 and add to an already impressive boundary count that currently stand at 30 fours and 8 sixes.

Surrey Vs. Lancs Day 2 LV County Championship

Croft mirrors Horton on a frustrating second day.

Despite the visitors advancing to a magnificent score of 425-7, the weather continues to interrupt the fixture between Surrey and Lancashire at Guilford. Yesterrday saw two rain delays and a break for bad light and at 3 o’clock on day 2 the last of the play was seen with just 37 overs added to Lancashire’s first innings.

Ashwell Prince (34) and Steven Croft (104*) resumed day one with the intention of adding to Lancashire’s already sterling effort, but suffered an early stumble when Prince was dismissed by ex-Lancashire spinner Murali Kartik as he was caught by Zander de Bruyn for 34. Adding just 7 runs to their overnight score was not the best of starts and Surrey certainly needed an early breakthrough after taking just 3 wickets on day one.

Tom Smith has had strong success in a dissapointing Twenty20 campaign for Lancashire, but was unable to transfer this form into the longer format, in a short lived stay of just 7, when he was run out. Lancashire keeper, Gareth Cross, estbalished himself as an attacking batsmen when he joined Croftt, hitting 2 consecutive fours, but in attempt to make it three he was caught pulling to Zafar Ansari at square for 13, as Lancashire had somewhat stumbled to 298-6.

But Lancashire captain, Glen Chapple was able to assist Steven Croft nicely in an initial 50 partnership, combining his usual flamboient batting style with sensible rotation of the strike before lunch. During the morning session Croft reached his 26th first class 50 to add to his fine one day form and steer Lancashire back in the right direction as they reached 356-6.  

After lunch things continued to go well for Lancashire, as they claimed four batting points inside 110 overs. The hundred partnership between Lancashire’s stand-in one day captain and full-time captain renewed faith after the loss of three quick wickets in the first session.

Dark clouds filled in overhead and the fear of rain after all of the time lost on day one tolled as both batsmen started to play more agricultural shots.

For a brief period of time it did seem to prove affective as Croft advanced to his 5th century of his first class career and his second of this LV County Championship campaign. However, Chapple was unable to replicate Croft’s attacking success as he was trapped LBW to veteran pace bowler, Jon Lewis, just four runs short of a well deserved 50. An impressive stand of 121 pulled Lancashire back into the imposing position they had aquired at the end of day one but the rain that shortly followed the fall of Lancashire’s 7th wicket would bring the proceedings of the second day to an early close.

The so-called British summer does seem to be taking its toll on this game with a result for either sides looking unlikely. With the game working its way towards a draw, the only way of escaping the misfortune caused by rain could be to forefit innings, but both teams are likely to settle for a draw with the amount of time left in the season allowing plenty of time for a run of wins.

Surrey Vs. Lancs Day One LV County Championship

Horton century puts Lancashire in poll position at Guilford.

On day 1 of the match at Guilford, Lancashire will feel that they have had the better of this rain interrupted fixture, finishing on 245-3. With tough conditions and historically a difficult morning session for batsmen at this ground, the decision to bowl first from Surrey seemed to be the correct one. However, Lancashire openers, Paul Horton (110) and Stephen Moore (24) were able to see off these dangerous conditions for just under an hour before losing their first wicket. Stephen Moore had batted confidently until he was trapped LBW to Stuart Meaker for 24, leaving the visitors 47-1.

Karl Brown assisted Horton well up until lunch unbeaten on 30 where Lancashire reached an impressive 112-1 under the circumstances. Just before the interval opener Horton reached his 50 from 95 balls. After lunch they continued to bat with little resistance from Surrey as Karl Brown brought up the hundred partnership with Horton, with Lancashire on 147-1. As confidence continued to grow in the afternoon session Karl Brown started to attack the spin of veteran Gareth Batty and had better success than when he tried to do so from the previously successful Meaker, who forced Brown to edge behind to Steve Davies one run short of his 50.

Between the fall of Lancashire's second wicket and tea, multiple chances where put down by the Surrey fielders, which would seriously have improved an otherwise desperate situation. As a consequence of this and a brief shower, both batsmen finished unbeaten at tea, Horton (85) and Ashwell Prince (15) with Lancashire on 188-2.

 After tea, the visitors built on their already formidable start as they reached 200 to gain their first bonus point of the game. This was however followed by another rain delay and when they returned play resumed for just one ball before they came off once more, this time for bad light. After all the delays, Horton returned unfazed to bring up his 15th first class century off 219 balls with 14 fours. Shortly afterwards Horton was dismissed for 110, when England pace-bowler, Chris Tremlett, forced Horton to push the ball to Gareth batty at first slip, with Lancashire on 233-3 and 5 overs left.

After the dismissal of Horton, Prince  was able to see through the rest of play accompanied by Steven Croft who was dropped twice before the end of the first days play. Lancashire finished on 245-3 and considering they only faced 81 overs they scored well under tough conditions.

Classic British Summer Upsets Valiant Lightning.

Rain had fallen at Trent Bridge persistently before play and conditions would prove to be difficult. The idea of bowling first on this pitch would be ideal with the ball moving about and so when Nottinghamshire won the toss they did indeed choose to bowl first. Despite conditions proving to favour the bowlers, Lancashire openers, Stephen Moore and Tom Smith, started positively scoring 49-0 after their first 6 overs. A light drizzle was still in the air and as this got worse the umpires deemed it was unfit to continue. Just as the players and officials reached the boundary they decided to resume again and no overs were lost. After this minor delay in play,  Lancashire continued to score well under the circumstances and it was clear that fielding was hard for Notts.

At the half way stage Lancashire had reached 76-0, meaning they had the wickets in hand to post an impressive total. Smith had led Lancashire’s attack from an early stage and he was first to reach his 7^th Twenty20 50 from 39 balls, hitting 6 fours and 1 six. Moore shortly followed, after a missed stumping opportunity, as he reached his 13^th Twenty20 50 from 41 balls with 5 fours. Nottinghamshire finally had some luck as Tom Smith was bowled by Steven Mullaney for 56 with Lancashire poised nicely on 119-1 after 14 overs.

The Lightning continued to excel, scoring 37 in 3 overs, as Stephen Moore took the responsibility for scoring runs. He reached an impressive 80 from 58 balls before he was caught by Harry Gurney off the bowling of Ali Carter. New batsmen, Karl Brown was trapped LBW shortly afterwards for 0 as Lancashire stumbled slightly to 161-3. Wickets continued to fall as Lancs keeper, Gareth Cross, was superbly caught by Adam Voges off the bowling of Darren Pattinson for 3. Lancashire captain Steven Croft had gone under the Nottinghamshire radar during this period and in the last over he scored 13 runs as Lancashire scored an impressive 178-4 from their 20 overs.

When Nottinghamshire came out to start their chase, it was peculiar to say the least as 3 batsmen approached the wicket. James Taylor acted as a runner for Alex Hales at the non-strikers end with Michael Lumb on strike. Rain stopped play after just one over of Nottinghamshire’s innings with the score at 7-0 and this delay was much longer. When play resumed Notts required 42 more runs from 24 balls and with 10 wickets in hand and a 5 star batting line up it didn’t seem like much of an ask.

In the first of 4 overs, Lancashire started better taking the wicket of England opener Alex Hales who was caught by Karl Brown off the bowling of Stephen Parry for 4. The over went for just 9 runs but the following over bowled by Yasir Arafat was hit for 18 runs, which put the game beyond hope for Lancashire. Tom Smith was able to take wicket of Lumb who scored 22 before edging behind to Cross, but the over went for 13 and Notts required just 2 from the final over. A valiant effort from Oliver Newby would never be able to prevent Riki Wessles and Notts captain Adam Voges from scoring these runs and the Outlaws won with 2 balls to spare, winning by 8 wickets on the Duckworth Lewis method.

Lancashire played brilliantly today and need to take the positives out of this game with a massive game against rivals Yorkshire on Friday and Durham on Sunday. After batting superbly under the circumstances Lancashire can only feel that they were unfairly credited with a loss today. To score 178 runs and lose is harsh but if they can bat that well in their remaining two games, you would feel that they stand a strong chance of qualification.