Prince and Croft break records as Lancs take charge.

Prince (left) and Croft (right) shared a fourth-wicket partnership worth 323 runs.

Ashwell Prince and Steven Croft both made their highest ever scores for Lancashire, sharing a record-breaking fourth-wicket partnership worth 323, as Lancashire closed on 384-4 against Northamptonshire.

The pair came together with the hosts struggling after they had fallen to 33-3, but Prince (161*) and Croft (156) set a new record for the highest fourth-wicket partnership at Old Trafford, registering Lancashire’s biggest partnership in over a decade.

It was also the highest partnership Lancashire have made in their entire history against Northants, who were largely frustrated after a positive start to their visit to Manchester.

Glen Chapple’s decision to bat first was not entirely vindicated after Lancashire lost three wickets in 12 balls, losing Alex Davies, Paul Horton and Usman Khwaja early on in the day.

Davies (14) fell to former Lancastrian, Steven Crook, who dismissed both of Lancashire’s opening batsmen. He soon forced an edge from Horton (10) after Muhammad Azharullah (1-68) had claimed the prized wicket of Khawaja (1).

But Croft and Prince re-built the innings before the lunch interval, scoring at a steady pace too. After the interval, the pair continued to hit boundaries for fun and both batsmen soon reached fifties, with Croft the first to do so

Prince soon followed his partner by reaching fifty in 71 deliveries and the pair continued to accelerate, reaching the hundred partnership in 148 balls. After adding a further 50 runs to their tally, Prince and Croft had accumulated Lancashire’s highest partnership of the season so far.

Records continued to tumble as the duo broke an 80-year-old record by registering a new best fourth-wicket partnership against Northants, as the visitors continued to toil in the afternoon session.

Croft was the first to reach hundred, his eighth first-class century, in 152 balls and this was also his second century in three games after his unbeaten 104 against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.

Despite being beaten to three figures, Prince took slightly less deliveries than Croft, as the South-African made his second century of the season in 141 balls. Having reached tea on 256-3, Lancashire had already added 223 runs since the third wicket had fallen and the hosts continued to excel in the Manchester sunshine.

Both Prince and Croft surpassed their previous best scores at Old Trafford as they registered the highest fourth-wicket partnership for Lancashire at home, beating Stuart Law and Carl Hooper’s stand from 2003.

The pair then went on to make their best ever scores for Lancashire on any ground as they each reached 150 to take the partnership beyond 300. Croft had been the first to reach fifty and his century and continued this trend by reaching 150 in 226 balls.

Prince followed suit and was once again quicker to reach the same milestone by reaching his 150 in 206 deliveries, as the pair made the third highest partnership ever to be seen in the history of Old Trafford.

With the score at 365-4 and both batsmen starting to fell fatigued, Croft feathered an edge to James Middlebrook at first slip to end a superb innings of 156, beating his previous best score for Lancashire of 154 against Somerset in 2012.

Having scored a century in Lancashire’s previous match, Jos Buttler (13*) supported Prince through till the close of play, with the South-African unbeaten on 161.