Siddle Ashes recall leaves Lancashire short

Peter Siddle was named among a 17-man squad for Australia's Ashes contest this summer, a recall which will force Lancashire to search for a replacement. 

Siddle was initially due to be with Lancashire until the end of July playing predominantly in Lancashire's four-day campaign, but will now only be available for a maximum of four matches if Cricket Australia consent to this.

Lancashire's Head Coach, Ashley Giles, said: "When you sign an international bowler of his calibre there is always a possibility that this will happen but we are still hopeful that Peter will be available for the start of our LV= County Championship campaign."

The Ashes-winning bowler represented Nottinghamshire last year claiming 37 wickets in just 11 matches at an average of 31.48. He was due to start the 2015 season with Lancashire in the club's opening fixture at Derbyshire, but Lancashire will have to obtain the consent of Cricket Australia if they hope to have him in the team.

Siddle playing against Lancashire for Nottinghamshire last season.

Siddle had fallen out of favour with Australia despite claiming 192 wickets in 56 Tests at an average of 30.45, but his form in Sheffield Shield cricket forced the international selectors to take notice and give him an opportunity.

A return of 28 wickets in seven matches at an average of 20.25, caught the eye of the selectors  including career-best figures of 8/54 against South Australia earlier this month.

"It is great news for Peter to be back in that squad. But it is a surprise, because we thought we would have had him for most of the summer, so it is disappointing," continued Giles.

"It is not ideal and it is a bit of a nightmare to be honest, but at least in the short term if we can start the season with him it gives us some breathing space to find someone else."

Update from Sri Lanka: Lancashire v Sri Lankan State Services Day Two

Luis Reece and Liam Livingstone leave the field after the match ended in a draw.

The Sri Lankan State Services enjoyed the better of the final day of Lancashire’s tour of Sri Lanka as the game ended in a draw.

The hosts finally declared on 347/8 declared after Lancashire had toiled in the heat and struggled to take wickets on a surface which had become terribly flat and Diyathana (103) went on to make a fluent century to frustrate the visitors further.

Lancashire batted for a further 15 overs reaching 80/0 before the match ended in a draw, after the visitors had overturned a first-innings lead of 77 runs.

Glen Chapple, Ashley Giles and Mark Chilton.

It proved to be a frustrating first session for the tourists who remained wicketless throughout the morning as their hosts piled on the runs. Heshan played with a degree of fortune as he avoided an LBW appeal and an attempted catch from Steven Croft, but he was otherwise fluent as he helped the Sri Lankan Service to pass 100.

Heshan (63) went on to reach his half-century with four boundaries as the introduction of spin in the form of Stephen Parry and Simon Kerrigan did nothing to aid Lancashire’s search for a breakthrough. Prior to this fixture, Heshan had scored 764 runs this season and was  regarded as a respectable opponent for Lancashire on a surface which offered little assistance.  

His partner, Diyantha, then reached a fifty of his own with seven fours as the pair made 108 runs for the third-wicket partnership, taking the hosts to 177/2 at lunch. 

Lancashire had next to no luck in the morning session, but were rewarded for their persistence when play resumed. At 183/3 Heshan was caught by Alex Davies, with Luis Reece claiming his wicket as he encouraged a thin edge through to Davies who took a good low catch.

That was only Reece’s second ball after lunch and he continued to make headway when he bowled Gebrival (11) giving Reece then figures of 2 for 12. Diyantha became the main threat in the Sri Lankan line-up and he remained untroubled for most of the afternoon session as he worked his may towards a deserved century.

Arron Lilley’s introduction made him Lancashire’s 13^th player to take part in the game and Reece’s spell finally came to an end after he had beaten the outside edge on countless occasions in his eight-over stint.

Lancashire had become a greater threat with the ball after lunch and soon claimed their fifth wicket when Hemakantha (14) was removed by Luke Procter. The Sri Lankan batsman was caught playing on the back-foot and pinned in front of all three stumps. 

Diyantha then moved to three figures with a four through deep-backward square leg, the twelfth of his innings, and although he had struggled slightly through the nineties he showed control to reach a century that irritated the visitors.

Lancashire entered the field this morning with their hosts on 75/2.

However, the very next ball Diyantha played the pull shot to Kerrigan into the leg side and Gavin Griffiths snapped up a smart head-high catch at mid- wicket, eventually falling for 103. Tea was taken immediately with the hosts now on 263/6 and they excelled past Lancashire’s total of 270/8 after the interval.

The scoring rate did not suffer after Diyantha was removed as Priyadarshana hit Kerrigan for consecutive sixes over the long on boundary, as the score moved swiftly to 285/6.

Lancashire took the new ball as soon as it became available and this signaled the start of a spell of success for the tourists when Priyadarshana was run out for 44. He pushed Lilley into a vacant leg side field, but Lilley swooped quickly and through to the keepers end where Davies whipped off the bails.

Lilley was then involved in another wicket soon after at 336/8, as Rathnapriva was trapped LBW for 35, shuffling across his stumps as he attempted to turn the ball into the leg side.

The hosts declared with a slender lead of 77 runs and all that was left was for some of Lancashire’s batsmen to make the most of the chance to practice against what turned out to be a worthy opponent.

Toby Lester was unable to bowl due to a side strain and Lancashire captain Tom Smith was carrying a slight shoulder injury, although both injuries were relatively minor.

Lancashire's bowling figures are as follows: Lester 1/20, Edwards 0/31, Kerrigan 2/60, Clark 0/66, Parry 0/25, Croft 0/9, Lilley 1/44, Reece 2/25, Griffiths 0/43, Procter 1/10.

Reece (29) and Ashwell Prince opened the innings once more and the latter made a good start, hitting first ball of the innings for four. Prince started to accelerate and retired on 40 to allow Liam Livingstone (10*) the chance to have some time in the middle. 

As the sunshine was replaced by increasing cloud cover, the match drifted and the players eventually shook hands, bringing Lancashire’s pre-season tour of Sri Lanka to a close.

Match information and photographs courtesy of Neil Adams. Scorecard information courtesy of Mike Moore and Phil Clark.

Update from Sri Lanka: Lancashire v Sri Lankan State Services

Luis Reece and Ashwell Prince preparing to start Lancashire's innings. 

Lancashire made steady progress on the first day of their two-day match at the Police Park Cricket Ground against the Sri Lankan State Services.

The visitors were made to bat first and achieved a first-innings total of 270/8 declared, as Steven Croft, Luke Procter and Jordan Clark all made half-centuries.

Their Sri Lankan opponents had initially decided to bat first, but then changed their mind, but when it was their turn to bat later in the day they recovered to 75/2 after they had lost a wicket with only the third ball of their innings.

Lancashire had been pegged back by an eye-catching knock from Dishan (49) who smashed his way towards fifty before he fell to the final delivery of the day to Simon Kerrigan.

The hosts made an early breakthrough when Luis Reece was caught behind by Hemakantha off Wijethilaka for 11, with the score at 21/1. Ashwell Prince (17) soon followed when he was bowled behind his legs by Sandaruwan in the 13^th over.

A rocky start continued for Lancashire when Liam Livingstone (14) was caught and bowled, as Sandaruwan (2-23) collected his second wicket of the innings at 46/3. 

The hosts were bowling and fielding very well and, although the standard of the opposition may not have been any higher than the navy team Lancashire had been playing, the heat and sticky wicket made perfect practice for playing in tough conditions.

Jordan Clark before he made an important fifty.

Lancashire recovered to 85/3 at lunch and after the interval Croft (57) and Procter (68) continued to rebuild the innings, accumulating 113 runs for the fourth-wicket partnership.

The visitors passed 100 when Procter smashed a six, as the partnership for the fourth wicket passed 50. The Lancashire duo batted with intent as they raced towards half-centuries. Procter was marginally more aggressive, hitting two sixes and four boundaries to reach fifty.

Croft hit just three fours, but soon followed with a half-century of his own taking their partnership beyond 100 runs, before the Blackpool-born all-rounder was caught at first slip off the bowling spin bowler, Diyanthaoff.   

One wicket brought another as Procter was then caught at backward point, attempting to play a cut shot, to give spinner Priyadarshana his first wicket.

Lancashire reached 187/5 at tea and were neither in trouble, nor in command of proceedings, but two more impressive knocks ensured that the visitors posted a respectable total.

Jordan Clark went on the assault after the interval and hit three sixes on his way to an eye-catching half-century, hitting a huge six in to the leg side to reach this milestone.

Clark’s innings was halted by a smart catch from wicketkeeper Hemakantha as Wijethilaka removed the Lancashire all-rounder for 56. Clark and Alex Davies had added 87 for the sixth-wicket stand and the latter continued an impressive knock, now joined by Stephen Parry (3*).

The scoreboard after Lancashire had declared.

Wijethilaka was the pick of the Sri Lankan bowlers, finishing with figures of 3 for 63 and his third wicket was a big one as he dismissed Davies for 42, although the Lancashire wicketkeeper was hitting out at the time he was caught in the covers.

A Lancashire declaration beckoned and when George Edwards (0) was trapped LBW by Rathnapriva, the visitors declared immediately on 270/8.

The visitors made the perfect start to their response when youngster Toby Lester trapped Ponnamperuma leg before wicket with the third ball of the innings before the hosts had been able to register a run.

Edwards shared the new ball but remained wicketless, but was the victim of Dishan’s early intent and was hit for a huge six as he helped the Sri Lankan hosts to recover to 50/1 after just nine overs.

Although Kerrigan was responsible claiming the wicket of Dishan, a lot of credit must go to Gavin Griffiths, who took a superb catch running around at long-on, as the hosts ended the first day on 75/2.

Lancashire team: Reece, Prince, Livingstone, Croft, Procter, Clark, Davies, Parry, Kerrigan, Edwards, Lester, Griffiths.

The close of play scoreboard.

Match information courtesy of Neil Adams. Scorecard information courtesy of Mike Moore and Phil Clark.

Update from Sri Lanka: Twenty20 match

Brown made 44 as Lancs reached 202/8 in their twenty overs.

Lancashire claimed a 77-run victory against a Sri Lankan Navy side after they had achieved a three-wicket victory earlier in the day.

Liam Livingstone and Karl Brown gave Lancashire a good start as they thumped 79 runs from the first six overs of the match to help take Lancashire towards 202/8.

In reply their hosts could only manage 125, as Steven Croft, Toby Lester and George Edwards claimed two wickets apiece.

Lancashire batted first on this occasion and raced to a powerplay score of  79/0 as Livingstone and Brown went on the assault. But once the powerplay had finished both of these batsmen were removed, the first was Brown out for 44 and then Livingstone followed for 35.

Paul Horton was yet to register a significant score in Lancashire pre-season tour and fell for just 8 when he was run out attempting a second run with the score at 100/3.

Steven Croft made a brisk 24 before he was caught on boundary as Lancashire continued to score quickly, reaching 152/5-16. Alex Davies was the next batsman to depart when he was caught on the deep backward square leg boundary by Sandamal for 28 and Jordan Clark soon followed for 9.

Karl Brown receives treatment before Lancashire's innings.

Lancashire’s captain Tom Smith scored 26 runs from the penultimate over smashing three sixes to help him towards 35 before he fell with four balls left in the innings. Stephen Parry (3) was also removed in the last over of the match, but Arron Lilley hit the penultimate delivery for six as Lancashire finished on 202/8.

The Sri Lankan Navy’s start was comparatively disappointing, reaching a powerplay total of 26/4 as Toby Lester claimed two early wickets. However, it was Kyle Jarvis who made the early breakthrough, removing Jayakody (5) in the second over when he was caught by Smith at mid off.

Sandamal (6) soon followed when Lester encouraged an edge through to with the score at 14/2. Lester then claimed his second wicket in quick succession to dismiss Silva (5), who lost his middle stump with the first ball of the fifth over.

The hosts then slumped to 22/4 when Smith caught Hasaranga as George Edwards collected his first wicket of the match. Smith took a great catch running back from mid off toward long off, before Eranda hit two sixes off Parry to help the Sri Lankan’s to redeem some pride.

But Eranda (19) soon followed when he was caught by Brown, supplying Edwards with his second scalp of the match. Steven Croft enjoyed success on his introduction with the ball as he dismissed Pieris for 7, with Davies performing well behind the stumps as he whipped off the bails to make the score 66/6.

Parry removed Paranavithana (21) with the first ball of the 14th over and Weerasooriya (17) provided Lilley with his first and only wicket as the hosts reached 99/8.

A second wicket for Parry and another stumping for Davies removed Auwardi for 3 and Croft brought the innings to a close when Madushanka was caught by Lester for 29.

Information courtesy of Neil Adams, scorecard information courtesy of Michael Moore and Phil Clarke. 

Update from Sri Lanka: One-day match

Smith and Livingstone going out to bat, the latter seen wearing Griffith's shirt.

Lancashire made hard work of their 50-over match against a Sri Lankan Navy team but the visitors wrapped-up a three-wicket victory thanks to Tom Smith (35) and Liam Livingstone (31) who played crucial roles at the top of the order.

Jordan Clark claimed 4 for 18 as Lancashire reduced the Sri Lankan Navy team to 136 all out inside 37 overs in Colombo and the visitors finished on 137-7 as Arron Lilley and Stephen Parry scored the winning runs.

The visitors won the toss and elected to field first as their Sri Lankan opponents made a promising start, progressing to 30 for no loss after 5 overs.

The young duo of Gavin Griffiths and Toby Lester opened the bowling for Lancashire and despite a wicketless start to their spells they were soon rewarded with important breakthroughs.

Gurusinghe was caught by Lancashire skipper Tom Smith at mid-on for 20, with the score at 32 for 1 as Griffiths claimed the first wicket of the innings.

Lancashire’s left-arm fast bowler, Blackpool-born Lester, then followed with a wicket of his own to remove Silva LBW for 16, with the hosts now on 48 for 2 from 10 overs.

This brought the hosting captain to the crease, Hasaranga, but he had a very short stay in the middle and was the first of four wickets to be claimed by Clark when he was caught by Karl Brown for 10, the score now 68 for 3 from 15 overs.

Clark then claimed two wickets with the score at 75 as he removed Jayakody (15) to an edge through to Alex Davies and Eranda followed soon after when he was caught by Smith at second slip.

Clark’s figures now made impressive reading at 3 for 18 runs from 5 overs and, having been reduced to 75 for 5, the hosts were now in danger of posting a nominal total.

There was no respite from Clark’s onslaught as he then bowled Leelarathna for 10, as the hosts found themselves 81 for 6 in the 19th over (Clark 4 for 18). Smith took another catch as Arron Lilley removed Paranavithana for no score, giving the Sri Lankan Navy team a score of 87 for 7.

Like Clark before him, Lilley made life even more difficult for the hosts as he dismissed Silva (3) LBW, with the score now 90 for 8 in the 24th over.

Kyle Jarvis enjoyed the opportunity to bowl at the tail enders as he compounded the opposition’s misery with Lancashire’s ninth wicket, encouraging an edge off the glove of Sandamal (9) through to Davies from a bouncing delivery.

Having capitulated to 105/9 the threat of posting an embarrassing total was becoming a reality but the final pairing of Madushanka (21) and Malan (16*) added 31 to give the hosts a score of 136 all out.

The former was the final batsman to fall when he was also caught by Davies as Griffiths finished with figures of 2-19.

Bowling figures: Griffiths 2 for 19. Lester 1 for 31. Clark 4 for 18. Parry 0 for 18. Lilley 2 for 26. Jarvis 1 for 9 from 5 overs. Croft 0 for 12. 16 extras

Liam Livingstone and Tom Smith opened the Lancashire reply and made a good start as the visitors progressed to Lancs 67 for 0 from 7 overs. Smith accelerated his way towards 35 from 27 balls before he was stumped off the bowling of Paranavithana with the score at 67 for 1.

Smith hit two sixes and four fours as the Lancashire skipper played a crucial role at the top of the order. Livingstone, now joined by Karl Brown soon followed Smith when he was caught by Jayakody at mid-wicket off Eranda for 31 from 22 balls after he had hit three maximums in his innings.

Paul Horton (9) became the third Lancashire wicket to fall with the score at 94 when he found a thin edge to Silva off the bowling of Auwardt, trying to force the ball through the off-side. Lancashire lost their fourth wicket for 32 runs when Brown was caught Malan off Eranda for 18.

The visitors made hard work of their relatively straightforward run chase and matters were made worse when Steven Croft was removed by Hasaranga for 16 when he was caught at deep backward point.

Clark had been successful with the ball but only managed to make four before he was removed by Auwardi 4 as Lancashire stumbled to 119/6 in the 18^th over.

Davies was then trapped LBW by Hasaranga for 7 attempting to play a reverse sweep, but Lancashire held their nerve as Parry (6) and Lilley (5) guided the visitors to a three-wicket victory.

Lancs team - Smith, Livingstone, Brown, Croft, Clark, Davies, Parry, Lilley, Griffiths, Jarvis, Lester, Horton (Play 11 from 12 throughout game). Lancs won toss and bowling.

Information courtesy of Neil Adams, scorecard information courtesy of Michael Moore and Phil Clarke.