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.”