Preview: Kent v Lancashire LVCC

Lancashire require just five more points to secure promotion back to the first division of the County Championship, as they return to four-day action with a trip to Canterbury.

The Red Rose are hoping to put the issue of promotion to bed following their maiden Twenty20 success at Edgbaston and Ashley Giles' side would ideally want to win Division Two by defeating Surrey later this month. Lancashire were unable to achieve the double over Glamorgan due to several rain delays in their latest Championship fixture at Old Trafford, but they will feel very confident of returning to top-flight action with their second Division Two title in three seasons.

Success in the Natwest T20 Blast came as a welcome reward for the Lightning's efforts in the shortest format of the game on a truly memorable day for the club, although promotion to Division One remains a key target for Giles and club captain, Tom Smith.

It has been an interesting spell for the T20 Champions of late; their victory at Edgbaston on Saturday was their first one-day trophy since 1999 and Lancashire could secure their place back in the first division with two games left to play if they are even able to draw against Kent. Their opponents will be out for revenge after the Spitfires were denied a place at Finals Day on the technicality that they had lost more wickets than Lancashire, after both sides scored 142 in the quarter-final of the Blast.

Paul Horton guided Lancashire to a nine-wicket win in the reverse fixture earlier this season, but it has been announced that the Lancashire opening batsman has no future at the club and England under-19 joint-captain Haseeb Hameed was recently handed a first-team debut against Glamorgan, scoring 28 in Lancashire's first and only innings.

Kent have been unable to revive their Championship campaign and are currently eighth in the second division having won only three matches with the lowest number of batting points in Division Two. The Spitfires made it through to the quarter-finals of the Royal London Cup, but they were edged out by Surrey in a rain-affected clash at the Oval and so pride in red-ball cricket is the only prize at stake for Kent in the latter stages of the season following their exit from the T20 contest at the hands of Lancashire.

Key Players:

Tom Bailey may sound a surprise choice for Lancashire's one-to-watch in this fixture, but the absence of leading wicket-taker, Kyle Jarvis, due to a broken hand means that Bailey is likely to play a key role with the new ball. Jarvis suffered this untimely injury in the build up to Finals Day and his absence will be event given that the Zimbabwean pace bowler has claimed 62 Championship wickets this season.

With Jarvis out for the rest of the campaign, Bailey must step up and play his part. Bailey has a promising record of his own this season having claimed 29 wickets at an average of 29.55 and his usefulness as a lower-order batsman has also come in handy for the Red Rose county. Bailey has scored 200 runs in this four-day campaign and his best figures of the season (5-12) came in one of three innings victories achieved by Lancashire this season against Leicestershire.

Darren Stevens was responsible for inflicting the only defeat suffered by Lancashire in their resounding Division Two triumph in 2013, scoring a double-hundred to help Kent record the highest fourth-innings total against Lancashire. Without his efforts, Kent would have failed to win a four-day game at home for the first time since 1872, but no such record hangs in the balance this season due to Kent's whopping innings and 207-run victory over Essex at Canterbury in July.

Stevens typifies what it means to be a veteran all-rounder and he continues to defy his age by contributing in all three facets of the game. His primary contribution this season has been with the ball; a return of 51 wickets at an average of 20.25 is beaten only by Matt Coles' record of 57 victims in the four-day contest. Stevens has also accumulated 479 runs this season, a fairly modest return for a player who has scored 12,961 first-class runs.

Team News:

Kent squad: TBC

James Faulkner does not feature for Lancashire following a nasty blow in the final of the Natwest T20 Blast, where the Australian all-rounder fractured his finger. He has therefore played his final game for Lancashire. Toby Lester could therefore feature in only his second first-team game for the Red Rose, with veteran Chapple in the squad to help out in the absence of Jarvis.

Lancashire 13-man squad: Steven Croft (c), Tom Bailey, Karl Brown, Glen Chapple, Jordan Clark, Alex Davies (w/k), Haseeb Hameed, Simon Kerrigan, Toby Lester, Arron Lilley, Alviro Petersen, Luke Procter, Ashwell Prince.


Match Information:

Weather and conditions: An earlier start and a fair amount of rain the day before this games starts could force the side who wins the toss to bowl first in order to extract the most out of the pitch. Lancashire would certainly be happy bowling first against the side with the fewest batting points in the division, but without new-ball bowler Jarvis available there are no guarantees. The weather seems to be clear and bright for most of the game and for a full forecast, click here.

Ground: St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury

Start time: 10.30am

Umpires: Neil Bainton, Graham Lloyd

Match odds (SkyBet): Kent 7/4, Lancashire 2/5

Lancashire seize maiden Twenty20 trophy at Edgbaston

Lancashire achieved their first Twenty20 title in the tournaments history with a 13-run win against Northamptonshire at Edgbaston. 

The Lightning secured their first one-day trophy since 1999 and it was a fitting tribute to the side who has won the most matches in the 13-year history of the tournament without ever lifting the trophy. It was Lancashire's sixth visit to Finals Day and their second appearance in the final in as many seasons following a convincing victory over Hampshire in the semi-final, which Ashley Giles' side won by six wickets with more than an over to spare. 

Lancashire made a blistering start to their innings after being put into bat by the Steelbacks, with Alex Davies leading their powerplay efforts with his quickfire approach. The young wicketkeeper-batsman hit 47 from only 26 balls, an innings which included six fours and one six, as he and Ashwell Prince added 77 runs for the opening partnership. 

Prince's knock of 43 off 45 deliveries was much more patient, but it was the perfect compliment to the devil-may-care stance taken by Davies. However, when Davies fell to Josh Cobb (1-16) Lancashire's dominant start took an unpleasant detour. The Lightning, who were playing in their second Twenty20 final in as many years, reached 52/0 at the end of the powerplay, only to be pegged back by the loss of Davies and then Karl Brown in quick succession. 

Cobb struck the first important breakthrough when he bowled Davies for 47 and Brown failed to make good of his form on the day after scoring 45 not out in the semi-final against Hampshire, with the Lancashire batsman being stumped by Ben Duckett off Shahid Afridi without adding to the total. These important wickets restored a degree of balance to proceedings, but Lancashire's big-name players were yet to come. 

Jos Buttler failed to make an outstanding contribution in the second semi-final, scoring just ten runs against Hampshire, but his innings of 27 from 15 balls revitalised the Lancashire innings after a minor setback. Veteran Prince continued to plod along at a run-a-ball, while Ashes winner Buttler took the more offensive approach, hitting the first of two maximums to take Lancashire to 100 in the 13th over. 

He then added his second six to end the following over and was beginning to look in ominous touch, but he fell for 27 when he was caught well in the deep by Cobb, rewarding England and soon-to-be Yorkshire all-rounder Willey with the first of two wickets. Willey, who claimed three wickets in Northamptonshire's win against Birmingham, finished with figures of 2-21, the second breakthrough for the Steelbacks in quick succession with Lancashire progressing to 125/4. 

It proved to be a testing spell for Lancashire, who lost four wickets for seven runs when the Northants bowling attack added the prized scalp of James Faulkner to their collection. The Australian all-rounder played a vital role in Lancashire's semi-final win over Hampshire, hitting two sixes in a row to take the Lightning into the final with more than an over to spare, but on this occasion he was unable to inspire Lancashire out of their mini collapse, as he fell for five when he was caught by Richard Levi off the bowling of Afridi (3-14). 

The Pakistan all-rounder had already claimed the important wicket of Brown and he proceeded to rip through the many dangerous options at Lancashire's disposal, removing Liam Livingstone for a golden duck when he was bowled first ball, with Lancashire stumbling to 130/6 in the 16th over. Two wickets in as many deliveries meant that the match was now firmly in the balance and several setbacks forced captain Steven Croft to play with a calmer approach than he had, perhaps, intended at the death. 

The Lancashire skipper departed for nine when he was ran out backing up too far at the non-strikers end and in the end it was off-spinner Arron Lilley who gave Lancashire the finish they were after. His knock of 22 not out from 17 balls included a six off the final ball of the innings, which gave Lancashire a promising total of 166/7 after Northants had regained a degree of control. 

Lancashire, who were playing part in their sixth appearance at Finals Day, have been beaten twice in the final itself and Northants, who won the competition in 2013, made a similarly promising start to their chase of 167 through Levi and Willey (24). Northants progressed to 25/0 after the first three overs of their run chase and Willey's early six over mid-wicket suggested that he was out to spoil Lancashire's party, but when he attempted to replicate the pull stroke once more he could only find the safe hands of Lilley, the second of two wickets for Faulkner (2-25) who had also accounted for Levi when he was caught comfortably by Davies at mid-off for 16 at 32/1. 

The departure of Willey at 45/2 signalled a massive breakthrough for Lancashire, who made the most of having runs on the board by strangling the opposition through their spinners in trademark fashion. Northants had made it to 48/2 by the end of the six-over powerplay, but once Parry (1-23) and Lilley came into the attack, the run rate started to climb at an unsettling pace. Ben Duckett started brightly before he was pinned in fornt of all three stumps by Parry for 20 and captain Croft claimed the wicket of former Lancashire all-rounder Steven Crook when he was caught in the deep, with Lilley once again on the scene to take the catch.

Northants had now stumbled to 81/4, although the game was far from over as a contest due to the fact that the Steelbacks still had Cobb, one of the best T20 batsman in the country, as well as Pakistan veteran Afridi at their disposal. The deadly duo added 52 for the fifth-wicket stand and threatened to take the game away from Lancashire, who would have been runners-up for the third time in this tournament had the Steelbacks been able to recover the innings. 

Afridi's gigantic blow into the leg-side sank the hearts of the travelling faithful, but not as much as the sight of Faulkner having his finger popped back in after Afridi crunched the ball back at the Aussie all-rounder, who carried on playing after dislocating his finger. 

Finals Day can often forge new heroes and Lancashire's young fast bowler Gavin Griffiths will certainly remember the events that took place on 29th August for the rest of his life. The semi-final against Hampshire was his T20 debut for Lancashire, but the pace bowler was unfazed by the occasion and he added the prized scalp of Afridi to his collection when he was caught by Livingstone on the boundary for 26, the score now reaching 133/5. 

Cobb continued to soldier on, but his task was becoming harder with every perfectly-executed yorker or slower ball that missed the outside edge of his bat. Rory Kleinveldt attempted to relieve some of the pressure, but his attempt to launch Griffiths (2-23) into the stands resulted in a simple grab at long-off for skipper Croft, who showed his uncontainable emotion, sensing that a long-awaited victory was finally heading Lancashire's way. 

Griffiths delivered the remaining deliveries, knowing that only a miracle would prevent him and his teammates from lifting the trophy. Northamptonshire's total of 153/6 handed Lancashire their first T20 success after six visits to Finals Day and their first outright one-day success since 1999. It could be an incredibly successful start to Ashley Giles' tenure as Director of Cricket, as Lancashire appear to be on course to return to Division One, with the possibility of the second division title very much in Lancashire's grasp. 

Lancashire book their place in the T20 Final with victory over Hampshire

James Faulkner hit back-to-back sixes to take Lancashire to the final of the 2015 Natwest T20 Blast with a six-wicket victory over Hampshire at Edgbaston.

Karl Brown's innings of 45 not out led the Lightning to their small target of 116 with seven balls to spare and Faulkner ended the match with two sizeable blows after their bowlers made Hampshire's batsmen look distinctly average.

Lancashire restricted the two-time winners of this tournament to a meager total of 115 all out after Hampshire elected to bat first and it was a disappointing display from all-but one of their batsmen as one-day captain, James Vince, led by example with a determined 69.

Without his contribution Hampshire would very much have been facing a heavy defeat, although credit must be given to a superb effort from the Lancashire bowlers. The spin duo of Stephen Parry (3-21) and Arron Lilley (2-11) did what they are renowned for doing by frustrating the opposition and extracting wickets from economical bowling, while James Faulkner returned brilliantly at the death to also finish with three wickets.

Hampshire made turgid progress inside the first six overs after Northamptonshire had cemented their place in the final with a commanding five-wicket victory against the host side Birmingham Bears.

Youngster Gavin Griffiths delivered only the sixth maiden to be bowled at Finals Day in the second over of the innings, proving that Lancashire have a degree of depth to their bowling options with Zimbabwean Kyle Jarvis absent due to a broken hand suffered this week. While the less experienced Griffiths made a stunning start, the man who was Man of the Match in the 50-over World Cup final, James Faulkner, started with a disappointing over which yielded 15 runs for Vince and opening partner Michael Carberry.

Lancashire had made an economical start without threatening to remove either of the Hampshire openers, that is until George Edwards struck with two wickets in successive deliveries to leave Hampshire on 33/2 in the sixth over. The first of his victims was the crucial wicket of Carberry who failed to strike the ball hard enough to clear Ashwell Prince at mid-on and Adam Wheater edged behind to Jos Buttler for a golden duck.

The Lancashire spinners did a superb job at restricting the flow do runs as the have done time and time again for the Red Rose this season and the wicket of Owais Shah (12) left Hampshire in a less than favourable position when he was bowled by Parry at 63/3. Hampshire had plenty of talent at their disposal but wickets at regular intervals inhibited their ability to progress with any control of the innings. Sean Ervine departed for 4 when Parry struck a second blow with his left-arm spin, trapping the all-rounder lbw with the score progressing to 71/4.

Vince continued to be the only source of joy for the Hampshire faithful as Parry claimed his third scalp, this time removing the in-form Liam Dawson (3) who was also judged lbw to Parry's tricky leg-spin. Having reached 70/3 at the halfway stage, Hampshire were only able to add 14 runs in the next four overs, losing two wickets in the process. Vince progressed to a determined and vital half-century in 47 balls, as the skipper continued to soldier on after the loss of Will Smith (2) who played-on to Faulkner at 88/6.

Parry had certainly played his part and spin partner Lilley then took his turn to do serious damage to any chance of a late revival, claiming two wickets in as many balls to leave Hampshire in deep trouble at 93/8 in the 17th over. Lilley's off-spin first accounted for Chris Wood when he was bowled for 2 and Yasir Arafat was then clean bowled for no score the next ball, a period which enhanced an already commanding position for Lancashire.

Hampshire were able to add enough runs at the death to post a semi-competitive total, although the loss of Vince for 69 signalled an important wicket for Lancashire when he was caught behind by Buttler off Faulkner. The Australian all-rounder wrapped up the innings with his third wicket, finishing with figures of 3-29 as Fidel Edwards (0) chipped the ball back to Faulkner.

Having been bowled out for 115 with one ball remaining in their 20-over allocation, Hampshire had a lot of work to do to make amends for their poor display with the bat and the wicket of Ashwell Prince was just the breakthrough Hampshire needed to swing the game back in their favour. The South-African veteran made a brisk start, scoring 14 from 10 balls before he was bowled by Edwards at 15/1. Alex Davies and Brown made steady progress in the powerplay, knowing that they didn't need to do anything out of the ordinary to take Lancashire into the final, adding 37 runs for the second-wicket stand.

Davies made the most of being dismissed from a no-ball, but was removed off of a legitimate delivery from Danny Briggs when he was trapped lbw for 18 at 52/2. Briggs finished with figures of 2-19 and was comfortably the pick of the Hampshire attack, also claiming the important wicket of Buttler (10) after captain Steven Croft had fallen for 9 when he was caught by Dawson off Ervine.

Hampshire were unable to take wickets regularly like their opponents and Brown demonstrated his pedigree for this format with a superb innings of 45 not out from 43 balls, ably assisted by Faulkner who gave a strong all-round display for the Red Rose. He added 20 runs in 14 balls in his unbeaten 28-run partnership with Brown, thumping Chris Wood for consecutive sixes to win the game and secure a spot in the final alongside Northants with seven balls to spare.

Natwest T20 Finals Day Preview

Lancashire's sixth trip to Finals Day features a repeat of last year's semi-final, as they take on Hampshire in the second semi at Edgbaston in the Natwest T20 Blast. 

If the Red Rose are successful in this fixture and reigning champions Birmingham Bears are able to overcome Northamptonshire Steelbacks, then Lancashire could also face a repeat of the 2014 final, a match which they lost by the agonising margin of just four runs. With the other three sides enjoying some form of success in previous seasons, Lancashire will feel that they have a point to prove after falling at the final or penultimate hurdle in previous seasons. 

Perhaps, after a great deal of fortune, this year is Lancashire's year to lift the trophy. The Lightning scraped through to the knockout stages of the tournament with a marginally better net run rate than Nottinghamshire Outlaws and they secured their spot at Edgbaston with a bizarre and tense win against Kent at Canterbury. 

Lancashire tied the Spitfires' total of 142, only winning the match on the basis that they had lost fewer wickets than the side who topped the South Group. Such luck has often gone against Lancashire in this tournament; a series of narrow defeats threatened to cull them from the Blast at an early stage, but a crucial win against Birmingham and a washout in the final round of matches ensured a quarter-final against Kent. 

Lancashire have a great deal of talent at their disposal, but as they proved against Kent, the knockout stages create a clean slate; anything can happen regardless of form or pedigree. James Faulkner has extended his contract at Lancashire in order to appear at Edgbaston and his dangerous form in this campaign is surely something that the Lightning will be looking to exploit. Ashes winner Jos Buttler has also been made available and after his destructive innings of 53 against Kent, his presence will bring a timely boost to Lancashire's batting options. 

It has been a somewhat tumultuous time at Old Trafford in recent weeks; the news of Faulkner's driving ban and impending departure of opening batsman Paul Horton after 12 years at the club have been hard to take. But a spot at Finals Day and inevitable promotion back to the first division of the County Championship will be the main focus of Ashley Giles and club captain Tom Smith. 

How the other teams have faired:

Northamptonshire Steelbacks:

The 2013 winners continue to demonstrate their pedigree for the shortest format of the game and have been indebted to the incredible talent of all-rounder David Willey. However, the Steelbacks were hit by the somewhat expected news that he is to leave the club in favour of a move to Yorkshire, a loss which will leave David Ripley's side scratching their heads, particularly after his century against Sussex fired Northants to Finals Day. The Steelbacks will be labelled as underdogs, but this is very much a tag that they will enjoy. It was the same attitude people looked at them with two years ago and they stunned everybody with victories against Essex and Surrey to lift the trophy. Northants came third in the North Group with seven wins but the loss of Willey at the end of the current campaign will hit them hard. The left-arm seamer is likely to be their key player after scoring 252 runs at an average of 31.50 and he has also taken ten wickets for the Steelbacks in Twenty20 cricket. 

Birmingham Bears: 

Having won the tournament last year, the Bears will be under immense pressure to defend their title on home soil. The presence of Brendon McCullum gave the reigning champions an x-factor in the group stages, allowing Dougie Brown's side to finish top of the North Group with ten victories. Birmingham then advanced to Finals Day for the second time in as many years with a 29-run win over Essex Eagles. Laurie Evans' half-century in this fixture proved vital and his contribution in the 2014 final against Lancashire went a long way towards securing a tense victory for the Bears. The one-to-watch for the home side on Finals Day will be their economical all-rounder, Rikki Clarke, who continues to baffle oppositions with his variation of pace. His economy rate of only 5.37 and return of 12 wickets represents a tremendous effort from the experienced all-rounder, who has also added 222 runs in 15 matches for his side. 

Hampshire: 

Being the only team to have made it this far from the South Group, Hampshire will be aiming to proudly represent the southern counties on August 29. Hampshire have won the Twenty20 title on two occasions; first in 2010 on home soil and most recently in Cardiff in 2012, but their exit last year against Lancashire proved that they can be beaten despite the many talented players in their ranks. Hampshire are, perhaps, very fortunate to be at Edgbaston this season after squeezing their way through against Worcestershire in controversial circumstances. The players left the field for bad light after seamer Chris Wood was injured trying to take a catch and when the umpires realised that conditions could not be helped by the absence of any floodlights, Hampshire went through to the semi-finals on Duckworth-Lewis. Michael Carberry has proven time and time again that he is one of the best one-day batsman in the country and Danny Briggs ranks highly in his respective field as a tidy left-arm spinner. However, the one player that has stood above all others this campaign is Hampshire's limited overs captain, James Vince. His return of 641 runs includes four fifties and one century, which just so happened to come against Worcester in the quarter-final. Only Gloucestershire's Michael Klinger has managed more runs this summer in T20 cricket.

Lancashire's Key Player:

Steven Croft has had an interesting 24 months to say the least. There was once a time when he was, in truth, struggling to make the four-day squad, but he has become a dependable cricketer in all formats of the game, standing in as captain in the long-term absence of Tom Smith and he has made a strong case to be selected at international level in Twenty20 cricket. His pedigree for this format in particular was exhibited against Birmingham this season when he hit one of five fifties to help Lancashire achieve a pivotal win, before claiming two wickets with his tidy off-spinners including the prized scalp of Kiwi McCullum in the Warwickshire innings. Croft is Lancashire's leading run-scorer in the format this season with 460 runs at an average of 51.11 and only five batsmen in the country can claim to have scored more runs this season. His T20 record of 3,159 runs ranks highly in the English game and croft has appeared in over 100 consecutive matches for Lancashire in this format, with only Suresh Raina competing in more T20 fixtures for his side without absence. 

Team News: 

To be confirmed.

Match Information: 

First Semi-Final - Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs Birmingham Bears - 11.00
Second Semi-Final - Hampshire vs Lancashire Lightning- 14.30
Final - TBC vs TBC - 18.45

Weather: 

The weather is due to be dry for both semi-finals and the majority of the final. The threat of rain looms towards the end of the day.

For the latest BBC forecast click here.

Umpires: 

To be confirmed.

Odds (Sky Bet): 

Semi-Final Match Odds:

Northamptonshire Steelbacks 5/4 vs Birmingham Bears 8/1 

Hampshire 4/5 vs Lancashire Lightning 1/1

Outright Odds:

Northamptonshire Steelbacks - 7/2

Birmingham Bears - 2/1

Hampshire - 5/2

Lancashire Lightning - 3/1

Rain halts Lancashire progress

Only 52 overs were possible on another rain shorten day at Emirates Old Trafford. Leaving Lancashire in control but running out of time to clinch victory over Glamorgan.

Play started on time at 11 am under clear blue skies but the forecast was for torrential rain to arrive in the afternoon. Surrey and Gloucestershire were delayed at Bristol and eventually the rain got the better of day three of their match.

Night watchman Andrew Salter (45) and Glamorgan skipper Jacques Rudolph (22) resumed day three with the overnight score 48/1. Lancashire opted for the pace bowlers first up and opened the bowling with Glen Chapple (2-41) and Kyle Jarvis (0-37). It wasn’t long before Chapple had the first breakthrough of the morning Rudolph nibbled at a ball outside his off stump and nicked the ball behind to Davies.

Colin Ingram (17) joined Salter in the middle but it wasn’t long before change bowler James Faulkner (2-29) had him heading back to the pavilion. Ingram decided to leave a Faulkner delivery that nipped back and uprooted his off-stump.

Lancashire had brought their spinners into the attack on a wicket that was starting to respond to turn. The change paid off just before the lunch break when Simon Kerrigan (1-44) turned a ball past the edge of an advancing Salter, Davies removed his bails in a flash. Leaving the Welsh county 133/4 at the interval.

The weather was starting to turn and with reports of other matches being delayed south of Manchester the players took to the field for the afternoon session.

Chris Cooke (31) and David Lloyd (15) resumed under a cloudy sky with increasing winds.  It wasn’t long before Chapple claimed his second victim, Lloyd attempted to run the ball into the off side but only succeeded in dragging the ball into his stumps. His middle stump left on the floor as he made his way from the field to be replaced by Mark Wallace (20*).

Lancashire’s final wicket of the day was that of Cooke who was trapped leg before to Faulkner in the 67^th over. This wicket gave Lancashire their second bowling point which could prove crucial in decided who goes up as champion from division two.

Only 10 further deliveries were possible when a mixture of bad light and fine drizzle forced the players from the field. Only five minutes later the rain started to fall heavily.

Despite slight breaks in the rain and proposed inspections by the umpires no further play was possible.

Glamorgan will resume on day four trailing by 280 runs with four first innings wickets remaining. Lancashire will hope that they can bowl Glamorgan out quickly and enforce a follow on to stand any chance of a victory.

Brown century puts Lancashire in control

Lancashire resumed day two of their LV County Championship clash with Glamorgan with the score on 161/3. Karl Brown (132) and Steven Croft (67) the not out batsmen.

Both Brown and Croft scored steadily during a morning session that yielded 99-runs without the loss of a wicket. The main event of the morning session was to be the century of Brown. It was only his second for the red rose in first class cricket, the first (114) coming in the innings victory for Lancashire over Sussex at Aigburth in April 2011. The Century was also an important landmark for Brown personally as he had been dismissed in the nineties twice already this season against Leicestershire (96) and Northamptonshire (97). However at the third attempt Brown was able make his way onto three figures. His knock taking 217 deliveries and including 13 boundaries.

Brown celebrating his 217-ball century. 

Glamorgan have spent the large majority of the game with a minus bowling over rate and with the board showing minus two the Glamorgan skipper decided to delay the taking of the new ball. This period of the game would allow Lancashire some time to find the gaps against an ineffective spin duo of Andrew Salter (0-51) and youngster Kieran Bull (0-48).

When the new ball was eventually taken it fell to Craig Meschede (4-101) and Michael Hogan (0-75) to try and get the breakthrough.

Meschede would eventually claim the wicket of Brown but not before the pair had put on 132-runs for the fourth wicket. Brown looking to increase the scoring rate pulled a short ball straight to David Lloyd (2-86) at mid-wicket, leaving Lancashire 274/4 and with ten overs to claim 26 runs for another batting point.

These runs would prove harder to get than most of the watching fans would have liked. Lancashire still required 5 runs from the last over but thanks to a straight boundary from Alex Davies (95) the point was secured. Glamorgan were only able to claim the single bowling point in the allotted overs, a slight improvement on Colwyn Bay.

Shortly after the pair had reached the 300 landmark Glamorgan had another break through. This time Lancs skipper Croft edged a Meschede delivery to keeper Mark Wallace with the score on 307/5. This wicket brought together a Davies and James Faulkner (63) a pairing that have found themselves together frequently during this summer.

The message appeared to have come from the dressing room that Lancashire were to ‘put their foot down‘ and to increase the scoring rate. Davies and Faulkner were only too happy to oblige. The initial assault on the Glamorgan attack prior to the tea interval came from Davies who brought up his fifty in only 57 balls with seven fours and a six.

Lancashire went into the tea interval with a healthy looking 384/5 on the scoreboard, Davies scoring 74 and Faulkner 28.

After the tea interval Faulkner decided to take the lead role and went to fifty from his 61^st delivery the innings including 7 boundaries. Faulkner was really starting to see the ball well when smashed a loose from Meschede for a six towards the practice nets. Only to go in the same over trying to hit another maximum, this time he was only able to find Lloyd diving forward to take a low catch in front of The Point to give Meschede his second scalp.

James Faulkner watching as the ball flies for six.

The partnership of 128 between Davies and Faulkner came from only 22.3 overs and broke the record for the sixth wicket for Lancashire versus Glamorgan. But had more importantly given Lancashire a platform to bat aggressively with the score at 435/6.

Unfortunately Davies fell shortly after Faulkner, narrowly short of his maiden first class century. He attempted to play Colin Ingram (2-9), who had been bought into the attack for his first over, into the off side but mistimed his shot the looped up to Graham Wagg (2-83).

Lancashire then gave license to the incoming batsmen to try and score runs quickly. This allowed Glamorgan to pick up the final three wickets for 28 runs.

Chapple (0) was caught by Lloyd from the bowling of Meschede. Shortly followed by Jarvis (5) caught behind by Wallace again from Meschede. Finally the wicket of Lilley (16), stumped Wallace from Ingram, gave Glamorgan bowlers the chance to put their feet up.

Glamorgan openers Jacques Rudolph (18*) and Will Bragg (26) batted through the first 11 overs of the Glamorgan reply without giving away a chance to the Lancashire opening bowlers Kyle Jarvis (0-21) and Glen Chapple (0-16).

Bragg had played playing some positive shots when he was trapped leg before to Arron Lilley’s (1-4) second delivery. The wicket leaving Glamorgan 40/1 in the twelfth over. Lancashire decided to bowl spin from both ends for the last 5 overs of the day but neither Lilley or Simon Kerrigan (0-7) could make further inroads to the Glamorgan reply.

Glamorgan will resume tomorrow morning the score on 48/1with skipper Rudolph and night watchman Salter (3*) at the crease.