Lancashire claim maximum points to enhance promotion bid

Lancashire took all 24 points with an innings and 157-run victory on the final day of their trip to Colwyn Bay to take a huge step towards achieving promotion to Division One with a resounding win against rivals Glamorgan.

It took just over an hour after a delayed start for the Division Two leaders to claim Glamorgan’s five remaining wickets, although the hosts would have hoped for a better contest after losing these five wickets for 12 runs in only 34 balls, as they were bowled out for 193 in their second innings.

Arron Lilley (3-38) claimed two wickets on the fourth day for ten runs in three overs, while Simon Kerrigan added two more scalps to his tally for as many runs to finish with his best figures of the season (4-28).

Despite the incredible efforts of the Lancashire spin duo, it was James Faulkner (1-29) who opened the door for what turned out to be a monumental collapse. Lancashire would have been understandably nervous this morning with the persistent rain hovering around north Wales and a dank start to the day meant a delayed start.

An early lunch was taken at 12.15 and play started at 1 o’clock with Glamorgan on 146/5, still trailing Lancashire’s mammoth first-innings total by 204 runs. Chris Cooke had played well in the closing stages of the third day and was approaching a very useful half-century when play resumed, while his overnight partner Andrew Salter had looked a promising talent with the bat throughout this match.

Lancashire’s task was therefore not an easy one and the conditions had made the old ball ragged and difficult to control for the seamers. Cooke (56) progressed to a determined fifty in 139 deliveries, with his sixth boundary taking him to this milestone, although his task was far from over with his side still needing a miracle to salvage a draw.

Glamorgan’s determination was admirable, but when they lost their first wicket they fell to pieces. In the first innings the tail-enders had been able to redeem the lack of runs from the more established hitters, but on this occasion they were left helpless by prodigious turn and questionable shot selection.

Cooke guided a fairly harmless ball from Faulkner to Paul Horton at first slip, although he very nearly fumbled this precious chance and required a second opportunity to hold on with the score at 181/6.

The scale of Glamorgan’s capitulation, the loss of three wickets for no runs in the space of 22 balls, meant that Lancashire were not made to sweat for too long, but it was a terribly disappointing end to the match for the home side.

Lilley made an immediate impact on the fourth and final day of this game, striking with only his second delivery to remove Craig Meschede for no score. The Glamorgan all-rounder was pinned on his crease by a ball that kept low and it took the umpire only a fraction of a second to raise his finger.

Two balls later Lilley took his 23rd wicket in his last five Championship matches when he bowled Graham Wagg (0) with a beautiful off-spinner, which worked its way through bat and pad to leave Wagg speechless after his onslaught against Lilley in the first innings.

The demise of Cooke could have been described as frustrating given that he had merely guided the ball to Horton, but Salter’s decision to offer no shot to a delivery from Kerrigan was baffling and the umpire had no hesitation to give him out.

Salter was left perplexed at the decision, but he had favoured leaving the ball several times before this dismissal and so Kerrigan did well to bowl a straighter and flatter delivery to deceive him after a determined innings of 34 which lasted over an hour and a half.

Kerrigan’s breakthrough was the fourth wicket to fall for just two runs and the left-arm spinner struck again to secure victory. Glamorgan’s collapse of five wickets for 12 runs would have been even more pitiful if their top-scorer in the first innings, number eleven Michael Hogan, hadn’t hit a towering six over mid-wicket, but he was the final batsman to fall in a thoroughly disappointing period for Glamorgan.

Hogan (6) attempted to replicate his huge six, but he could only find Kyle Jarvis in the deep to give Kerrigan figures of 4-28. It is the second defeat in succession for Glamorgan after a superb run of wins and Lancashire’s third victory by an innings out of their seven wins this season.

The last time Lancashire won by an innings against Leicestershire, it was also by an innings and 157 runs and this mammoth margin could not have been possible without the efforts of Alviro Petersen and Ashwell Prince, with their combined scores of 547 runs beating Glamorgan’s return from 20 wickets by six runs.