Procter century puts Lancashire in command against Hampshire

Luke Procter recorded a career-best 137 and his second first-class hundred for Lancashire to guide the Red Rose to another emphatic day against Hampshire on the second day of their Specsavers County Championship match at Old Trafford.

Procter shared formidable partnerships with Haseeb Hameed (62) and Alviro Petersen (81) in helping Lancashire to reach 456 and a mammoth first-innings lead of 347 runs in reply to Hampshire's dismal score of 109.

Hameed and Procter added 173 runs for the second wicket, continuing their impressively defiant stance from yesterday evening, before Petersen's confident 81 from 85 balls helped Lancashire to add a further 123 runs in 27 overs. Tino Best claimed 5-90 in a typically ferocious display, but Hampshire's frustration with the bat continued, as they stumbled to 22/1 at close, with the possibility of an innings defeat a prospect for tomorrow, should they capitulate like they did in their first innings.

Procter, who took three wickets yesterday to help Lancashire dismiss their injury-stricken opponents for 109, is now averaging 77 in Championship cricket this season and has become a key member of the squad after struggling to secure a regular place in the First Team.

Hameed, meanwhile, recorded his third first-class fifty for Lancashire in seven Championship appearances, in what is set to be a breakthrough season for the Bolton batsman. The 19-year-old demonstrated his typical determination at the crease, with the only criticism being that he took nearly 45 minutes to score his first run on Day Two.

However, with Lancashire in such a dominant position from the opening day, the partnership between Hameed and Procter was one that could afford to meander, given the significant lead already possessed at the start of the second day. With their partnership already worth 104 runs, the duo calmly accumulated runs, wearing down the dispirited Hampshire bowlers.

Procter did the majority of the scoring in the first hour and indeed the first session, entering lunch on 84 not out and on the verge of only a second century for Lancashire. The crouching left-handed batsman went to his seventh fifty for Lancashire in 116 balls, reaching this milestone off the third ball of the day.

Hameed was also approaching fifty, but it took some time for the impressive opening batsman to get off the mark. Resuming on 41 not out, it took Hameed little over an hour to progress to his half-century, one that came at a watchful pace of 183 balls. Their progress, much like the entirety of the evening session yesterday, was unhampered by a severely weakened Hampshire bowling attack, one that was missing the likes of Reece Topley and Fidel Edwards, as the visitors realised the full extent of their failure with the bat.

Hameed and Procter comfortably scored more runs than Hampshire’s entire team put together and extras soon became a problem for the visitors, with its value exceeding that of their highest scorer, Adam Wheater, who made 32. Unencumbered progress and technically correct batting took the Red Rose to within two deliveries of lunch, but the first true sign of turn from the wicket came when Mason Crane (3-116) got one to grip and spin sharply off the bat of Hameed to James Vince at slip, ending the partnership with Procter after they had added 173 runs.

Despite losing this wicket on the stroke of lunch, Lancashire entered lunch with a handsome lead of 117 runs, with Procter unbeaten on 84 and the indication that the wicket was starting to take spin suggested that Simon Kerrigan could be useful in Hampshire’s second innings.

After lunch, it was the impressive temperament of Petersen that allowed Lancashire to enhance their superiority, as he hit regular boundaries to extend their lead and accompany Procter to his century. Petersen accumulated runs with a conviction that had been missing before lunch, as he hit five boundaries in his first 19 balls to get the Red Rose moving in the afternoon session.

Petersen offered the ideal support for Procter, who overcame the potential scare of the nervous nineties to reach his second first-class hundred in 252 balls with his eighth boundary. Procter immediately appeared to have more confidence after reaching three figures, progressing beyond the 106 he made against Gloucestershire in 2013 and also the 109 made by Hampshire in their first innings.

The naturally positive approach of their partnership allowed Lancashire to dominate the afternoon session, even with Crane continuing to produce noticeable turn. The new ball offered Hampshire zero respite, as Procter and Petersen went on to add one hundred runs in 104 balls.

Regular boundaries ensured that Petersen recorded back-to-back half-centuries for Lancashire after he made 83 against Somerset last week, with his ninth four taking him to a 52-ball fifty and Lancashire to 300. Procter’s confidence continued to shine before tea, as he came down the wicket and lofted Liam Dawson for a huge six over mid-on, taking his partnership with Petersen to a value of 105 runs.

Best came back into the attack with Petersen ticking, as he hit the West Indies paceman for two boundaries in quick succession, but Best did not lose heart and sent one in shorter than usual, forcing Petersen to pull to Michael Carberry, as he was dismissed for a brilliant 81 from 85 balls, hitting 13 boundaries during his blistering innings.

Petersen and Procter's efforts had secured 123 runs for the third wicket in 27 overs and their positive stroke play allowed Lancashire to add 144 runs in the afternoon session, with captain Steven Croft (12) hitting a huge six before he fell to Best, edging a sharp chance to James Vince at second slip at 365/4.

After guiding Lancashire to a formidable lead of 261 runs at tea, Procter's watchful innings came to an end, as Best carried his success from the afternoon session into the evening with two quick wickets. First he had Procter dismissed for 133 when he mistimed a pull to Dawson at mid-wicket and he followed that up with the wicket of Liam Livingstone, who lost his off-stump without scoring after recording a maiden first-class hundred last week at Somerset.

The dismissal of Livingstone signalled the third wicket in the space of five overs and Lancashire lost their fifth wicket for 49 runs when Alex Davies (17) skied a delivery from Crane to Carberry. In the next over, Best cemented a five-wicket haul by bowling James Anderson for a golden duck and Dawson (1-97) then had Kyle Jarvis (6) bowled with his first ball.

This flurry of wickets would have frustrated Lancashire were it not for the fact that they had already established a strong lead, one that was extended further by Neil Wagner (36) and Simon Kerrigan. The pair hit nine boundaries between them, including a six apiece, before Wagner was stumped off Crane, leaving Kerrigan unbeaten on 21.

Holding a sizeable lead of 347 runs, Hampshire made the worst possible start to their second innings, losing Jimmy Adams when he edged Anderson to Karl Brown for a duck, as Lancashire claimed a wicket with only the fourth ball of the innings. Hampshire avoided any further scares before close of play, reaching 22/1 and trailing Lancashire by 325 runs, with Carberry (15) and Vince (7) unbeaten at stumps.