Croft leads Lancashire innings at Grace Road

Steven Croft made 98 not out as Lancashire closed on 356/9 on the first day of their LV= County Championship match against Leicestershire.

The Lancashire stand-in captain followed his unbeaten 70 from 39 balls in the Natwest T20 Blast against the Foxes, as he lead Lancashire's efforts on a tough first day at Grace Road.

Croft and former Leicestershire bowler Nathan Buck (25) frustrated the hosts with a partnership worth 77 before close of play, as Lancashire batted superbly on a wicket with plenty on offer for the bowlers.

Paul Horton (70) and Ashwell Prince (29) added 93 runs either side of lunch, but the loss of three wickets for no runs in five balls gave Leicestershire the success they deserved after a run of bad luck for Ben Raine.

Lancashire were inserted on a green surface by their hosts and judging by the efforts of his bowlers and potential rewards on offer, this seemed to be a good decision by Mark Cosgrove.

Horton's form with the bat proved to be vitally important as he negated a difficult first hour with his new batting partner, Karl Brown, who was playing in place of Luis Reece due to a broken hand. There were plenty of early lbw appeals for Clint Mckay (2-62), but the prodigious swing worked in Lancashire's favour as the umpires judged the ball to be doing too much in a windy morning session.

McKay's frustration was evident, but his determination paid dividends the very next ball after an enthusiastic lbw shout against Brown (21) when he got a thin edge to an away-swinger, with Lancashire losing their first wicket at 41/1.

This represented a respectable start for the visitors in challenging conditions and the Red Rose began a tremendously fortunate spell as Raine saw three catches dropped off his bowling in the space of 7.1 overs.

The first of which was put down at first slip by captain Cosgrove with Horton on 20, a drop which proved costly given that the Lancashire opener went on to reach a half-century for the visitors. It was a routine catch for Cosgrove, who got both hands to the effort, but this was only the beginning of Raine's agony.

Paul Horton has been in superb form for Lancashire this season.

Alviro Petersen has had a hit and miss start to life at Lancashire with the bat, but after scoring 63 against Gloucestershire last week it appeared as though the South African may be heading in the right direction.

His debut hundred against Derbyshire in the first game of the season promised much for the Red Rose faithful, but since then he has failed to deliver the same quality or substance at the crease and he made another modest impression today when he edged Tom Wells behind for 8.

At 63/2 the morning session had a far more balanced complexion, but an accomplished partnership between Lancashire's two in-form batsmen gave the visitors the edge by the time lunch arrived. Horton and Prince added 93 runs for the third-wicket stand, as Raine's patience continued to be tested by an incompetent slip cordon.

Prince's innings proved to be rather unconvincing with the South-African left-hander being hit on the pads on countless occasions, but it was the edges to the slips which caused Raine's despair. With Horton already being dropped on 20, Prince was offered two lives in quick succession when Rob Taylor dropped him on both occasions at second slip.

Prince - dropped on 6 and 11 - didn't take quiet as much advantage of his luck as Horton, but he did survive the rest of the session as Lancashire entered lunch on 91/2. The Red Rose played with a little more conviction after lunch, but the ball was moving remarkably late on the batsman and Prince continued a fortuitous innings, top-edging Raine for four over the slips.

Horton's knock was much more assured and he hit several boundaries in the afternoon session on his way to a 123-ball half-century. The Lancashire opener had played a patient innings, leaving the ball when necessary and capitalising on anything over-pitched by the Leicestershire attack and he progressed to 70 in next to no time in an innings containing twelve fours.

Given his ability to leave the wider deliveries, it was surprising to see Horton fending at an innocuous delivery from Wells, one which the Lancashire opener edged to Niall O'Brien for his third catch of the innings, as the visitors fell to 156/3.

Shreck took two wickets in the same over as Lancashire lost three wickets in five balls. 

This breakthrough might not have been as damaging if Lancashire had not gone on to lose three wickets in five balls, but Horton's poor shot selection lead to a mini collapse as Leicestershire restored balance in the afternoon session.

Two balls after losing Horton, Prince's luck ran out as he was trapped lbw by Charlie Shreck for 29, a crucial wicket for the home side who were desperate to avoid another monolithic innings from the veteran batsman.

This wicket brought Steven Croft and Alex Davies together and the pair were in good form after their partnership guided Lancashire to a five-wicket victory against Leicestershire in the Natwest T20 Blast on Friday.

On this occasion their partnership added no runs to the Lancashire total, however, as Davies feathered an edge through to O'Brien, handing Shreck (3-92) his second wicket in three balls as the pace bowler struck a double-wicket maiden to put a dent in Lancashire's progression.

Jordan Clark - playing in only his fourth first-class match for Lancashire - played a positive counter-attacking innings as he and Croft added 73 runs for the sixth-wicket partnership before tea. These runs came at a good pace thanks to Clark (44) who hit eight fours in an eye-catching innings for the visitors as Lancashire reached their first batting point before tea.

Having played such a key hand in Lancashire's recovery, it was disappointing to see Clark waft at a wide delivery, the second ball after tea, and a fine yet audible edge gave O'Brien his fifth catch of the innings as the Division Two leaders lost their sixth wicket at 229.

This wicket gave Wells (3-68) career-best first-class figures for Leicestershire, but Lancashire's stand-in captain continued his recent form against the midlands outfit after his match-winning innings in the shortest format of the game two days earlier.

Croft developed a useful partnership worth 25 runs with Tom Bailey (2) who eventually fell to Rob Taylor (1-38) when he played-on with the score at 254/7, but the former Leicestershire man Nathan Buck added another useful stand with Croft as Lancashire's recovery gave them the better of the first day after being asked to bat first.

Australian fast bowler Clint Mckay took two wickets on the first day.

Lancashire may be top of the second division, playing against the side who have not won a Championship match in 36 attempts, but on a green surface Lancashire's skipper Croft played a superb innings, reaching his second half-century of the season in this format in 76 deliveries.

He and Buck played well in the tough conditions and the light eventually caused the players to leave the field at 5.25 with Lancashire on 302/7, the visitors adding 48 runs for the eighth wicket before play was briefly suspended.

No overs were lost to the 15-minute delay and Leicestershire sought to end Croft's defiance as Mckay returned with the new ball in hand. Croft and Buck continued to frustrate the Leicestershire attack, adding an unbeaten partnership worth 77 before bad light once again forced the players to leave the field, with 29 runs being added since the last break in play.

The umpires were determined to get the players back on the field and with eight overs left in the day play resumed once more with Mckay striking with the second ball after the delay. Buck's accomplished innings came to an end when the bustling Australian bowler forced him to edge to Angus Robson, who took a low catch at first slip to remove the former Leicester man for 25.

Croft remained resolute and ended the day unbeaten on 98 although the late loss of Simon Kerrigan (2) gave Leicestershire a third bowling point when he edged to Ned Eckersley at third slip off Shreck, signalling close of play.

Lancashire closed on 355/8 enjoying the better of the first day, although they were aided by wayward bowling, a total of 57 extras including 24 leg byes and 21 byes, an unfair reflection on the superb keeping of O'Brien.