Lancashire Vs. Surrey Day Four LV County Championship

Luke Procter takes seven wickets as Lancashire finish season in style.

Lancashire all-rounder Luke Procter

Finished with career best figures of 7-71

from 19.1 overs as Surrey were bowled

out for 367 in their first innings. Procter

then shared an opening stand of 110 with

Tom Smith. Surrey’s star batsman,

Zander De Bruyn, was dismissed for 125,

adding just 20 to his overnight century.

Tom Jewell made 70, his best ever score

for Surrey as they posted a strong total.

Despite the success that Surrey experienced

on the third day, they suffered a heavy collapse, which started with the loss of batting sensation, Zander De

Bruyn, who was trapped LBW to Procter, who would

prove to have a memorable day with the ball. Gareth Batty was out two balls later in exactly the same manner (LBW Procter) with Surrey now on 355-7. Jewell was the only Surrey batsmen who resisted the determination of Procter, but he too was out to the Oldham-born all-rounder, chipping

the ball to Steven Croft, as Procter claimed a five-wicket-haul.

Tim Linley gave Procter his sixth wicket, as he was trapped LBW for 1 and Jon Lewis followed shortly, as he was bowled by Procter for 8, with Dunn not out for no score. Procter finished with career best figures of 7-71 and despite Lancashire being relegated to division two of the county championship, Lancashire coach Peter Moore’s will be confident that his young players showed so much promise in this game both with bat and ball.

The recent opening partnership of Tom Smith and Luke Procter had great success at Lords, as the two made 95 for the opening stand. Today was no different as they shared a partnership worth 110, with Smith scoring 83 and Procter contributing 36 after taking 7 wickets. Smith reached his 50 from 78 balls, scoring 6 fours. It would have been fitting to see these two batsmen end Lancashire’s season, giving that they have been two of the red roses’ top performers, despite both suffering mid-season injuries. This would however not be the case, as Procter was bowled by Dunn for 36.

Tom Smith was perilously close to finishing the Lancashire season unbeaten, but was caught by Gareth Batty off of Tom Jewell for 83, just 5 overs before the sides shook hands. Karl Brown (1*) was responsible for seeing Lancashire over the line last season, when their victory at Taunton saw them win the championship title, but a year later his duties were rendered to two-run partnership with Paul Horton (10*) as Lancashire finished on 142-2.

Giving that Lancashire were relegated before this match, Lancashire fans will desperately try to take the positives out of this game, as they have been forced to do all season. Luke Procter’s performance with bat and ball confirms his potential in the first eleven and he will certainly be a vital part of their attempts to win promotion back to the first division. The new partnership of Smith and Procter at the top of the order seems to be working well and this will likewise be an interesting factor to look out for next season.

Lancashire Vs. Surrey Day Three LV County Championship

Surrey replicate Guilford batting performance at Liverpool.

Despite being without the services of

the man in the spotlight of late (Kevin

Pietersen) Surrey were able to reach

324-5 at the close of play on the third

day. With no play on the first two days

due to heavy rain, which has often been

the case this season, and nothing for either

of the teams to play for this was certainly

a chance for the young talent to have a

chance. Alex Davies and Tom Bailey

made their first appearance in the

Lancashire championship side with

appearances also coming from Andrea

Agathangelou and Oliver Newby.

Surrey openers, Rory Burns and Zafar Ansari, got Surrey off to a strong start, achieving a fifty partnership inside 9 overs. As soon as they reached 50 however, Ansari was bowled by debutant Bailey for 23 bringing Arun Harinath to the crease. In almost an exact replica partnership, Burns and Harinath made 51 runs together before was caught by Paul Horton off of Oliver Newby for 17. After two impressive partnerships it was hard for Zander De Bruyn and Rory Burns to top the previous efforts of the Surrey batsmen, but a third wicket stand worth 59 did just that as Surrey made an impressive start. Burns fell for 73, providing Alex Davies his first caught behind in county championship cricket and Oliver Newby with his first and only wicket of the innings.

At 160-3 and with nothing to play for, Surrey could have succumbed to simply play careless but entreating cricket. Instead De Bruyn continued to score freely in the afternoon session, despite the loss of two quick wickets. Jason Roy was bowled by Luke Procter for 13 and then the Surrey keeper, Steven Davies, was caught behind off Procter for no score, just two balls later. It’s fair to say that Surrey had stumbled to 178-5, especially after three consecutive 50 partnerships, but Tom Jewell and De Bruyn would surpass all of Surrey’s previous efforts, making 177 runs for the sixth wicket.

De Bruyn was the first to reach 50 in 152 balls with 2 fours and 2 sixes and was followed by young batting talent Jewell, who took115 balls striking 4 fours as he did so. Although Lancashire were already relegated, this sort of inability to bowl teams out after being in commanding positions typified their demotion to division two. Zander De Bruyn was able to finish the day in style, reaching a well deserved century from221 balls, in 236 minutes with 6 fours and 2 sixes, as Surrey finished on 324-5, which will have frustrated the already relegated red rose county.

Middlesex Vs. Lancashire County Championship Day Four

Champions relegated at the home of cricket.

Just one year after Lancashire won the

LV County Championship in scintillating

style, they have been relegated to division

two in the penultimate fixture of the season.

Surrey’s victory against Nottinghamshire,

ensured Lancashire’s fate, after Lancashire

failed to force a positive result against a

deserving Middlesex. Rogers (86) and

Malan (95) helped the home side to set

Lancashire 304 for victory, but in pursuit

of an necessary win, Lancashire collapsed

and were subsequently relegated.

Middlesex resumed the final day on 129-2 with Rogers and Malan going strong. In a stand worth 134, Middlesex hurt Lancashire’s chances of success, in a game that the visitors desperately needed to win. Rogers was caught behind by Gareth Cross off of Simon Kerrigan for 86 after the disappointment of scoring a duck in the first innings. Neil Dexter however was unable to replicate a good first innings effort of 125, making 9 in Middlesex’s second innings. At 207-4 Middlesex were coming towards a declaration total, but not before John Simpson helped Malan to boost the Lancashire target. A partnership worth 58 ensured that Lancashire would have a tough chase on their hands, but Malan wont have been happy to be dismissed five short of a well deserved hundred.

Middlesex were only able to add a further 24 runs for the loss of their final five wickets, as they set Lancashire an almost impossible target of 304 runs from just 39 overs. Chapple finished with another five wicket haul (5-47), a rare highlight in a disappointing game for Lancashire. Whether it was needing to score at nearly 8 runs per over in a championship match, or the fact that Lancashire had to win, with Surrey beating Nottinghamshire, Lancashire were under a lot of pressure, pressure that unfortunately took its toll.

Despite the early losses of openers Ashwell Prince and Tom Smith, Lancashire were in touch with the required rate of 7.79 runs per over by reaching 107-2 after 16 overs. Karl Brown (33) and Steven Croft (30) made a respectable effort, to help Lancashire keep up the required rate, but the loss of both batsmen in quick succession saw Lancashire stumble to 112-4. Lancashire would like to have settled for a draw once they realised they were now unlikely to win, but this was not an option and all they could do was keep going.

Gareth Cross was dismissed for a duck, leaving Lancashire 112-5 and all but certain to be relegated. Horton shortly followed, scoring 6 runs after an impressive first innings effort with Lancashire now on 125-6. Kyle Hogg was next to go, scoring 2 before he was bowled by Patel who finished with 4-72. Chapple was the only tail end batsmen who showed any sign of resistance, scoring 19 from 15 balls but he was bowled by Crook, who claimed 5-48 against his former county.

Luke Procter joined the crease at number nine, after his new role as an opening batsman, as Lancashire attempted to draw a game that was now impossible to win. He and Shahzad (26*) made 32 runs for the ninth wicket partnership as Lancashire were attempting to save pride in being relegated. They would unfortunately have no such luck with Procter trapped LBW off of Patel for 26 and Kerrigan (also dismissed by Patel) chipping to Gareth Berg for no score.

Needing 304 runs for what would have been a memorable victory, Lancashire were only able to reach 194 and have subsequently been relegated to division two of the county championship, with one more fixture to play against Surrey at Liverpool, who avoided relegation today at the expense of last years champions.

Middlesex Vs. Lancashire County Championship Day Three

Lancashire keep their hopes of avoiding the drop alive.

Lancashire earned a first innings lead half

way through the third day at Lords, but they

face a tough challenge to pull of a victory as

Middlesex finished on 129-2 with a lead of

127. The relegation-haunted visitors may

need a Middlesex declaration to stand any

chance of winning this match to help avoid

the drop. Karl Brown (78), Ashwell Prince

(71) and Gareth Cross (59) all completed

half-centuries as Lancashire totalled 448,

with spinner Ravi Patel taking 4-126. But

Australian opener Chris Rogers then hit an

unbeaten 57 as Middlesex recovered from

44-2 to close on 129-2.

Lancashire started the third day on 236-3, and Ashwell Prince and Karl Brown added 30 runs to the visitor’s overnight score, before Prince was caught by David Malan off of Roland Jones, for an impressive score of 71. Despite a good late run of form, Steven Croft was dismissed for just 3, bowled comprehensively by Roland Jones. At 270-5 Lancashire were going strong, but looking like falling well short of Middlesex’s score of 466. A partnership worth 77 between Brown and Gareth Cross guided Lancashire back towards the impressive total set by the home side, Brown reaching 50 in 133 balls with 3 fours and Cross making his 50 in 30 balls with 8 fours.

Cross was dismissed for 59, edging behind to Simpson off of Gareth Berg, as Lancashire reached a steady score of 347-6. A moderate collapse from the visitors threatened to give Lancashire a first innings deficit but the collaborative efforts of Brown (78), Hogg (10), Chapple (29), Shahzad (10) and Kerrigan (3*) saw that the visitors gained a first innings lead, albeit of just two runs. Patel finished with figures of 4-126 as Middlesex started a crucial second innings for the away side.  

Lancashire achieved a similar start to the second innings with the ball, as Middlesex reached just 5 before the loss of Sam Robson (3) who was trapped LBW to Glen Chapple. Joe Denly and Chris Rogers re-built the innings but Middlesex lost Denly for 16, with the home side 44-2. But the efforts of Rogers 57* and Malan 37* meant that Middlesex finished on 129/2, with a lead of 127 runs.

Middlesex Vs. Lancashire County Championship Day Two 5th Septmeber

Lancashire fight back on day two of Lords encounter.

Paul Horton led Lancashire’s response to

Middlesex’s score of 446, as the relegation-

threatened visitors fought back on day two

at Lord's. The hosts added 57 to their overnight

 score before being bowled out for 446, as Steven

Crook (66) made a season's best score against
his former county. Fifties from Tom Smith and

Ashwell Prince may prove vital as Lancashire

are still in search of an unlikely victory after

the first innings efforts of the hosts. Lancashire

eased to 236-3 by the close, 210 runs behind

the impressive score of Middlesex.

After the confidence of the evening session of the previous day, Steven Crook continued to excel with the bat, making his fifty in 64 balls with 6 fours and 1 six. Neil Dexter started the day in a much more disappointing style however, adding just 2 more runs to his overnight score of 123*. He was also dismissed softly, edging behind to Gareth Cross off of Glen Chapple, who claimed his third wicket of the innings.

Toby Roland-Jones joined Crook and despite the long tail of the hosts batting line up, they were able to pass 400, easily inside the 110 over limit for bonus points. Crook eventually departed for 66, caught by Paul Horton off of Ajmal Shahzad, with Middlesex 417-8. Roland Jones was shortly bowled by Chapple for 10, as Middlesex reached 427-9. Ravi Patel and Cory Collymore added 19 runs for the final wicket before Patel was bowled for 20, as Chapple finished with figures of 5-86 and Middlesex reached 446 all out.

Lancashire were facing a daunting task in reply to Middlesex’s score and opened with a new combination (Tom Smith and Luke Procter) to make matters even more unsettling. But all fears were soon silenced as both openers started the visitor’s response seemingly unfazed. In an opening stand worth 95 runs, the new opening combination gave Lancashire the exact start that was required if there was any chance of pulling off a miraculous victory. Tom Smith reached his 50 in 86 balls with 8 fours and Luke Procter (30) seemed to be following gin his footsteps, before he was caught by Sam Robson off of Steven Crook.

Typically, and for Lancashire unfortunately the fall of one wicket immediately brought another as Tom Smith (55) played a disappointing shot, resulting in a stumping from Simpson off of Ravi Patel. At 95-2, Lancashire’s efforts had been slightly minimised, but a partnership worth 130 between Paul Horton (64) and Ashwell Prince (57*) would put Lancashire back on course. Prince reached his 50 in 97 balls with 4 fours and also passed 2000 runs in County Championship matches when he reached 13. Horton’s recent form was exemplified by a sturdy 50 that came up in 87 balls with 8 fours, before he was caught behind off of all rounder Steven Crook, who led the way with the ball, finishing day two with 2-51. Karl Brown (5*) joined Prince with the visitors on 225-3, as Lancashire closed on 236-3.

Middlesex Vs. Lancashire Championship Day One 4th September

Neil Dexter century saves hosts on day one.

Neil Dexter scored an impressive 123 not out

after hosts Middlesex had initially stumbled

to 39-3. His efforts have frustrated last seasons

champions Lancashire, who are in need of a win

to avoid relegation to Division Two. Glen

Chapple ended with figures of 2-60 after taking

a wicket with the fifth ball of the day, but like

most Lancashire’s bowler, experienced a

frustrating evening session at the hands of Neil

Dexter and Gareth Berg (83)

The early wicket of Chris Rogers (0), LBW to Chapple with the fifth ball of the day, encouraged visitors Lancashire towards the result that was needed to avoid relegation and they continued to advance in the morning session. Joe Denly shortly followed, scoring just 4 before he edged behind to Gareth Cross, as Chapple struck once more.  The hosts then stuttered to 39-3, with David Malan being cleanly bowled by Ajmal Shahzad for 12.

Sam Robson (49) and Neil Dexter constructed the first frustrating partnership of the day, adding 63 for the fourth wicket. Robson will have been disappointed however as he fell one short of his fifty, trapped LBW to Simon Kerrigan. John Simpson, originally a Lancastrian, would form a similarly strong partnership with Dexter worth 62, to reduce the impact made by the visitors in the morning session. Simpson was eventually out for 29, edging behind off of Kyle Hogg, with the match poised evenly at 164-5. Neil Dexter brought up his 50 from 109 balls, scoring 9 fours, as Lancashire fought back in the afternoon session.

The introduction of Gareth Berg however would promise to hurt Lancashire’s chances of victory, as Middlesex added an impressive 148 runs for the sixth wicket. Dexter reached his hundred from 193 balls in 265 minutes with 14 fours, as Middlesex commanded the game after an imposing start from the relegation candidates. Gareth Berg assisted Dexter nicely and he soon reached his fifty from 81 balls with 3 fours. Berg continued to score freely but fell seventeen short of a century of his own, edging behind off of Kyle Hogg.

With the home side on 312-6, the frustration was far from over for Lancashire, as another former Lancashire player, Steven Crook, contributed to an already daunting first innings total. An unbeaten stand worth 77 included some eye catching shots from Steven Crook, who has his sights set on a fifty. Middlesex closed on 389-6, with Dexter involved his fourth fifty partnership of day one and unbeaten on 123.

Lancs Vs. Warks CB40 Semi Final Sat 1st September

Lightning crash out in semi final of CB40.

Lancashire have fallen in the penultimate fixture of this years CB40 campaign, loosing comfortably to a very strong Warwickshire side. After an unbeaten run of form this year at home, Lancashire will feel disappointed to have chosen the semi final to face defeat for the first time at Old Trafford. After qualifying as the strongest side from all three groups, it is also frustrating to lose to the side who qualified as the weakest of the four semi finalists.

Having won the toss, Warwickshire aimed to set Lancashire a challenging total with what was viewed as a formidable batting line-up. Opening with Will Porterfield and Varun Chopra, Warwickshire achieved a steady power play score of 33-0, which was by no means a daunting score for the home side. However, the openers advanced on the foundations they'd built, with Warwickshire reaching 101-0 after 18 overs and not even looking like loosing a wicket. Porterfield the first to reach his 50 from 46 balls with Chopra soon following from 66 balls. It took Lancashire 22 overs to make the first breakthrough when Stephen Moore took a catch at mid wicket off Gary Keedy to dismiss Porterfield for 67.

After the amount of time the Lightning waited for the first wicket, the next seemed to fall in a shirt space of time, with captain Jim Troughton repeating the fate of opener Will Porterfiled for 11. At 150-2, Warwickshire were still in an incredibly strong position, going into the remaining 13 overs with 8 wickets in hand. Darren Maddy struggled at the crease and was forced to chip the ball to Karl Brown off Ajmal Shahzad for 18. Rikki Clarke played a cameo, scoring 17 off 9 balls, hitting 2 fours and 1 six in the process. In attempt to score more runs, Clarke skied the ball and Stephen Moore made up a lot of ground, taking a superb diving catch off Tom Smith.

Chopra soon reached his 100 from 119 balls, in what would prove to be a match winning innings. Warwickshire's endeavours to score more runs resulted in the loss of 2 wickets on 240. Chris Woakes attempted to scoop Shahzad over the top of keeper, Gareth Cross, but was unable to add to his score of 8. In the next over star batsmen, Varun Chopra, gave Shahzad his third wicket, smashing the ball out to Steven Croft at long on for 110. Paul Best (8*) and Ian Blackwell (2) collected 10 from the final over, as Lancashire were set a formidable target of 251.

The target was by no means out of Lancashire's reach, with even higher targets being chased down earlier in the season and Lancashire scoring an impressive 324-4 from just 37 overs against Worcestershire in their last group game. Stephen Moore and Tom Smith, who both scored centuries against Worcester, would prove to make an unsuccessful start to an already difficult run chase. Smith chipped the ball straight to Jim Troughton off Neil Carter, scoring just 6 after his record breaking century on Monday. Moore (17) was soon caught behind by Richard Johnson (also off Carter) as the absence of Tim Ambrose was not proving to hinder the visitors chances in the slightest.

At 29-2, Lancashire were struggling and in need of a big partnership, similar to the one achieved by Chopra and Portferfield in the Bears' innings. Steven Croft and Ashwell Prince have performed consistently all season for Lancashire, but were only able to reach 50 before the former played on to his own stumps off Chris Wright, making a modest score of 18. Prince was joined by Karl Brown (9), who has also had a promising season with the bat, but the pressure appeared too much, causing Brown to edge to Maddy, giving Wright his second wicket. Prince (26) had batted comfortably but was scoring much slower than was required of him and with Lancashire losing 4 wickets, he was forced in to a big shot off Ian Blackwell, which was subsequently caught by Troughton.

Now 90-5, Paul Horton and Gareth Cross were facing everest, still needing 161 runs with little confidence to take them forward. A steady partnership appeared to regain a shred of hope to Lancashire's case before Cross was given out LBW off Blackwell, on what appeared to be at the very least a dubious decision from Jeremy Lloyds. Horton was joined by Shahzad, who was the pick of Lancashire's bowlers, taking 3-52. But as a tail end batsmen, he struggled with the unreasonable run rate required of him and was out playing a reverse sweep to Ian Blackwell off Paul Best for 10.

Horton remained to be the only hope that Lancashire had in their now futile effort to reach 251, but he certainly got the crowds attention going to 50 from 47 balls and hitting boundaries for fun. An entertaining partnership of 37 runs came to an end when Glen Chapple (13) gave Troughton his third catch of the innings, with Carter claiming another wicket. Lancashire required 60 from the final 5 overs, which may well have been possible had Lancashire had more than 2 wickets left. The hosts battled on, with Parry joining in with some boundaries of his own, but the run rate was too much and when Horton drove Carter to mid off fielder (Troughton) for 78, the game was all but over, with Carter finishing on 4-38.

Parry and Gary Keedy scorecard further 9 runs, before Parry was caught by Best off Wright as Lancashire were bowled out for 227. Lancashire will be disappointed to have lost their first match of the CB40 campaign in the semi final, after qualifying as the strongest side from all divisions and losing to Warwickshire who qualified after finishing second in their group.