Lilley delighted with Lancashire progress

Arron Lilley has made a superb impact in the Lancashire first-eleven this season and he is confident that the Red Rose can beat Northamptonshire to achieve their seventh Championship win of 2015.

A return of 122 runs at an average of 61.00, as well as vital contributions against Derbyshire at Southport and latterly Leicestershire at Old Trafford, have made Lilley one of Lancashire’s most important contributors of late and he is happy to have the opportunity to prove what he is capable of doing with bat and ball.

He said: “It is good to get a chance in the Twenty20 and four-day format. Hopefully it continues for a long time and we can keep winning as a team.”

“I play like anybody else. I like to play my shots and finding the boundary. When I come into bat it is eight or nine so I arrive with 400 runs already on the board, so there is less pressure than the lads going in at the top. Anybody likes playing their shots and scoring runs, but I do like playing aggressively.”

When asked if he was pushing to be considered Lancashire’s frontline spinner, he said: “There’s no point in me getting ahead of myself.”

“Me, Pazza [Stephen Parry] and Kegs [Simon Kerrigan] work together really well as a trio and help each other out. I think Kegsy is still one of the best spinners in the country, so hopefully we keep working together as a unit.”

Lancashire have responded well to Norhamptonshire’s score of 438, posting 257/4 by close of play on Day Two and Lilley believes that his side have every chance of winning this game, although he admits that there is a lot of hard work ahead.

Lilley said: “As a team we think we can still win the game, but I think it is a long way off. We need to get another 150 runs to be level with them so if we can do that tomorrow and bat on and get a lead, hopefully the wicket will deteriorate a bit and hopefully spin the game to victory.”

“We are a bit disappointed that we lost the two late wickets of Ashy [Ashwell Prince] and Browny [Karl Brown], but I feel that we have consolidated really well.

“We are still behind so hopefully tomorrow morning Crofty [Steven Croft] and Jim [James Faulkner] can get us up and close to their score and crack on from there,” he added.

Karl Brown made 97 to take his tally to 306 runs in his last four innings, recording half-centuries in all four of these knocks, although he was understandably gutted to miss out on a century for the second time in as many matches in the Championship.

Lilley said: “It is a big milestone for him to get a hundred and we are disappointed as much as he is for himself. But he has done a really good job for us. Obviously it would have been nice to go on and score 100 and been not out at the close but these things happen. He deserves a lot of credit for the last two games to score 96 and 97.

Brown shared hundred-partnerships with Alex Davies and Ashwell Prince to leave the match evenly poised, with the latter reaching 18,000 first-class runs in his innings of 83, becoming the first player in the country to reach 1,000 runs this summer.

Lilley said: “Obviously all the lads really want him to stay. We are not one-hundred per cent sure at the minute. His family and kids are an important part of his decision, so I think it is just a matter of waiting and seeing what happens. None of the lads know at the minute. Hopefully he stays, but you never know.

“He is so professional in what he does, even in the morning when he is practicing. His intent is of the highest class and when he is batting he makes it look effortless,” he added.

Brown: "I feel like I have been playing well all season."

Karl Brown will no doubt be disappointed to have missed out on his first century since 2011 for the second time in as many games at Old Trafford, but his form has been a revelation for the Red Rose in four-day cricket.

The Bolton-born batsman has scored four fifties in succession in the County Championship and his innings of 97 was his highest score of the season so far.

In his last four innings he has scored 306 runs at an average of 76.50 and to perform with the consistency that he has demonstrated will be a pleasing sight for Ashley Giles after Luis Reece suffered a broken hand earlier this season.

Brown said: “I felt really good today. After the new ball goes it is a nice pitch to bat on and it was nice to set it up again for Lancashire. Hopefully we can carry on the good start tomorrow morning.

“I feel like I have been playing well all season and I was disappointed not to get a big score in the first couple of games that I played in. But to make it count now, I feel in great touch and hopefully I can continue to score as many runs as possible and help Lancashire win games,” he added.

A run of four fifties in as many matches has seen Brown contribute towards important victories against Gloucestershire and most recently Leicestershire where he made 96 before he was trapped lbw by Ben Raine.

In Lancashire’s victory at Bristol, Brown recorded scores of 56 and 57 on a difficult pitch, a responsible contribution which guided the Red Rose to a 91-run win to strengthen their position at the top of the second division.

The opening batsman shared century partnerships with Alex Davies and Ashwell Prince on the second day of their Championship encounter with Northamptonshire today and Brown believes that his side can still win the game after reaching 257/4 at close of play in reply to the visitor’s total of 438.

He said: “We definitely think we can still win. There is a lot of hard work to come before that though, we have got to try and get past the follow-on and then get as close to their score as possible and if we can get a lead then even better. But we feel that on a deteriorating pitch in the last two days that we can force a result.“

Brown was Lancashire’s One-Day Player of the Year for 2014 and he understands that his pedigree in Twenty20 cricket makes him a key asset for the Lightning, who are hoping to grab a place in the knockout stages of the campaign.

He said:” Everyone is responsible, but I think I am definitely one of the people who can step up and help us qualify for the quarter-finals. I am sure that all the other lads want to contribute with match-winning performances as well.” 

Prince reaches 1,000 runs for Lancashire against Northants

Ashwell Prince reached 18,000 first-class career runs and 1,000 runs for the 2015 season in his innings of 83 against Northamptonshire at Emirates Old Trafford.

The South-African batsman shared a 116-run partnership with Karl Brown (97) who missed out on his first century since 2011 for the second game in succession, but his efforts ensured that Lancashire closed on 257/4 by the end of Day Two.

Brown shared a 109-run stand with Alex Davies (51) earlier in the Manchester sunshine to get Lancashire off to a strong start after the early loss of Paul Horton for no score.

Lancashire needed to make a good start with the ball after Northants had posted 388/6 on the first day and they went on to claim four wickets for the addition of 50 runs, with James Faulkner collecting 4-63 – his best figures for the Red Rose thus far.

Kyle Jarvis claimed the early wicket of overnight batsman Andrew Rossington when he was trapped lbw for 89 with the score at 407/7. Wickets have tended to fall in batches in this game and Northants lost their second wicket in six deliveries when Graeme White edged a Faulkner delivery to Horton at first slip.

Olly Stone made a brisk contribution of eight runs before he feel to Jarvis, who collected figures of 3-122 to add to his tally, which currently stands at 58 wickets in Championship cricket this season.

Both sides collected maximum bonus points from the first innings of the match before Steven Crook skied a delivery from Tom Bailey (1-61) to Jordan Clark as the former Lancashire all-rounder fell for 34, giving the visitors a brilliant total of 438 all out.

Northants lost a wicket with the eleventh ball of their innings yesterday and Lancashire could only do one ball better than this as Horton was bowled comprehensively by Stone for a duck, shouldering arms to the final ball of the second over.

Lancashire responded well to this early setback as Brown and Davies added 50 runs for the second wicket in the 18th over of the innings. Brown posted his fourth consecutive half-century in 111 balls to lead Lancashire’s response, although Davies followed with a fifty of his own soon afterwards in 105 deliveries.

Brown swept White for his sixth boundary to take him to fifty and in doing so he also brought up the century partnership for the second-wicket stand. But, five balls after reaching his fifth fifty of the summer, Davies edged to Rossington down the leg-side off Keogh.

Prince came to the crease with two milestones in his sights – he needed 55 more runs to reach 18,000 first-class runs in his career and six more runs on top of that would mean that he was the first player in the country to reach 1,000 runs this summer.

The South-African veteran has scored more runs than any batsman since the start of last season and he made another effortless contribution today with his eighth half-century of the summer.

He and Brown added 50 runs in just 78 balls to consolidate Lancashire’s sturdy start, before Prince moved to his half-century in 75 deliveries, hitting seven fours and one six on his way to a milestone he has reached 89 times in first-class cricket.

Lancashire progressed to their first batting point in the 61st over with Brown approaching his first century since 2011. Brown fell for 96 against Leicestershire in the last four-day game at Old Trafford and scores of 57 and 56 against Gloucestershire before that have all-but confirmed Brown’s safety at the top of the order on a long-term basis.

But with just three more runs required for that allusive hundred, Brown edged to Stone at first slip off White (1-44) to deny the Lancashire opener a thoroughly deserved century on home soil.

Prince departed in identical fashion not long after the demise of Brown, this time edging Keogh (2-93) to Stone at slip, preventing Prince from reaching what would have been his fifth century in 14 innings this season.

Lancashire closed on 257/4 with Steven Croft (13*) and James Faulkner (5*) guiding the home side to close of play without the loss of anymore wickets, although the Red Rose will be disappointed to have lost both Brown and Prince towards the end of the day, particularly as both batsmen had centuries in their sights.

Photos: Lancashire v Northamptonshire LVCC - Day Two - Evening Session

Photos: Lancashire v Northamptonshire LVCC - Day Two - Afternoon Session