Lancashire bowlers prosper in final tour match.

Simon Kerrigan finished with 3-36 and was the pick
of Lancashire's bowlers on a productive day with the ball.

Lancashire finished the first day of their final game in Dubai on 140-4 from 48 overs, as they made steady progress after a successful day with the ball against Sussex.

In the same amount of overs Sussex posted 188-8, after Lancashire won the toss and invited Michael Yardy's men to bat first.

With the possibility of rain threatening tomorrows play, both teams agreed to make good of the 96 overs and shared the allocation to get even practice ahead of the new season.

Luke Procter (46*) and Tom Smith (25*) ended the first day unbeaten in a partnership worth 53 as Lancashire recovered their innings after a disappointing start with the bat which saw them slip to 87-4.


Lancashire's bowlers enjoyed the conditions in Abu Dhabi, Simon Kerrigan finishing with the best figures (3-36) and fellow England teammate, James Anderson, claimed 2-14, proving to be very economical from his nine overs.

Sussex struggled to make progress after being restricted to 14-2 early on, with Anderson and Kabir Ali claiming early wickets for Lancashire, including Ashar Zaidi (0) and Luke Wells (8).

Matt Machan made a brisk 22 before he was caught behind, giving Wayne White his first breakthrough of the day, as Sussex stumbled to 30-3.

A fourth-wicket stand between Yardy (26) and Rory Hamilton Brown (34) gave Sussex a route back into the match, but the introduction of Kerrigan proved to be vital as he ended this partnership and subsequently removed both batsmen.

Kerrigan struck with the first ball he bowled and Yardy was the first to depart, after he was caught at slip by Paul Horton and Hamilton-Brown soon followed, caught at short-leg by Andrea Agathangelou as Sussex slipped to 101-5.

Anderson returned after the lunchtime interval and removed Ben Brown for 13, giving Alex Davies his third catch of the day and Tom Smith trapped Steffan Piolet LBW for 15 with Sussex struggling on 121-7 after 35 overs.

Will Beer made the highest score of the innings with an unbeaten 37 and Alex Davies finished a successful day with the gloves, stumping James Anyon for eight, completing Kerrigan's impressive haul as he targets a return to the England Test team this summer.

A ninth-wicket stand between Beer and Magoffin (14*) ensured that Sussex would not suffer total embarrassment as they crawled their way to 188-8 after their allocation of 48 overs.

Lancashire's reply certainly lacked urgency, but was good practice for life back in Division One of the Championship against one of the stronger bowling attacks in their division.

A repeat of sussex's innings began to unfold as Lancashire were pinned back to 13-2, with both of Lancashire's openers falling cheaply.

Agathangelou (2) was the first to depart after he was caught at third-slip by Hamilton-Brown, giving Jon Lewis his first and only wicket of the day and Horton soon followed for nine, edging behind off Piolet.

Steven Croft and Karl Brown added 33 for the third-wicket, but Lancashire's progress was once again halted by Piolet who removed Brown for 14.

Luke Procter joined Croft and the pair enjoyed an uninterrupted spell of success, Croft in particular excelled as he approached a half-century, but fell LBW to Zaidi for 40. After 30 overs Lancashire had limped their way to 87-4 and were in need of a noteworthy contribution from somewhere.

Tom Smith joined Procter and they were able to resist the Sussex bowlers for the remainder of play closing on 140-4. Lancashire are expected to continue batting tomorrow, assuming the weather permits play to continue.