Middlesex Vs. Lancashire County Championship Day Three

Lancashire keep their hopes of avoiding the drop alive.

Lancashire earned a first innings lead half

way through the third day at Lords, but they

face a tough challenge to pull of a victory as

Middlesex finished on 129-2 with a lead of

127. The relegation-haunted visitors may

need a Middlesex declaration to stand any

chance of winning this match to help avoid

the drop. Karl Brown (78), Ashwell Prince

(71) and Gareth Cross (59) all completed

half-centuries as Lancashire totalled 448,

with spinner Ravi Patel taking 4-126. But

Australian opener Chris Rogers then hit an

unbeaten 57 as Middlesex recovered from

44-2 to close on 129-2.

Lancashire started the third day on 236-3, and Ashwell Prince and Karl Brown added 30 runs to the visitor’s overnight score, before Prince was caught by David Malan off of Roland Jones, for an impressive score of 71. Despite a good late run of form, Steven Croft was dismissed for just 3, bowled comprehensively by Roland Jones. At 270-5 Lancashire were going strong, but looking like falling well short of Middlesex’s score of 466. A partnership worth 77 between Brown and Gareth Cross guided Lancashire back towards the impressive total set by the home side, Brown reaching 50 in 133 balls with 3 fours and Cross making his 50 in 30 balls with 8 fours.

Cross was dismissed for 59, edging behind to Simpson off of Gareth Berg, as Lancashire reached a steady score of 347-6. A moderate collapse from the visitors threatened to give Lancashire a first innings deficit but the collaborative efforts of Brown (78), Hogg (10), Chapple (29), Shahzad (10) and Kerrigan (3*) saw that the visitors gained a first innings lead, albeit of just two runs. Patel finished with figures of 4-126 as Middlesex started a crucial second innings for the away side.  

Lancashire achieved a similar start to the second innings with the ball, as Middlesex reached just 5 before the loss of Sam Robson (3) who was trapped LBW to Glen Chapple. Joe Denly and Chris Rogers re-built the innings but Middlesex lost Denly for 16, with the home side 44-2. But the efforts of Rogers 57* and Malan 37* meant that Middlesex finished on 129/2, with a lead of 127 runs.

Middlesex Vs. Lancashire County Championship Day Two 5th Septmeber

Lancashire fight back on day two of Lords encounter.

Paul Horton led Lancashire’s response to

Middlesex’s score of 446, as the relegation-

threatened visitors fought back on day two

at Lord's. The hosts added 57 to their overnight

 score before being bowled out for 446, as Steven

Crook (66) made a season's best score against
his former county. Fifties from Tom Smith and

Ashwell Prince may prove vital as Lancashire

are still in search of an unlikely victory after

the first innings efforts of the hosts. Lancashire

eased to 236-3 by the close, 210 runs behind

the impressive score of Middlesex.

After the confidence of the evening session of the previous day, Steven Crook continued to excel with the bat, making his fifty in 64 balls with 6 fours and 1 six. Neil Dexter started the day in a much more disappointing style however, adding just 2 more runs to his overnight score of 123*. He was also dismissed softly, edging behind to Gareth Cross off of Glen Chapple, who claimed his third wicket of the innings.

Toby Roland-Jones joined Crook and despite the long tail of the hosts batting line up, they were able to pass 400, easily inside the 110 over limit for bonus points. Crook eventually departed for 66, caught by Paul Horton off of Ajmal Shahzad, with Middlesex 417-8. Roland Jones was shortly bowled by Chapple for 10, as Middlesex reached 427-9. Ravi Patel and Cory Collymore added 19 runs for the final wicket before Patel was bowled for 20, as Chapple finished with figures of 5-86 and Middlesex reached 446 all out.

Lancashire were facing a daunting task in reply to Middlesex’s score and opened with a new combination (Tom Smith and Luke Procter) to make matters even more unsettling. But all fears were soon silenced as both openers started the visitor’s response seemingly unfazed. In an opening stand worth 95 runs, the new opening combination gave Lancashire the exact start that was required if there was any chance of pulling off a miraculous victory. Tom Smith reached his 50 in 86 balls with 8 fours and Luke Procter (30) seemed to be following gin his footsteps, before he was caught by Sam Robson off of Steven Crook.

Typically, and for Lancashire unfortunately the fall of one wicket immediately brought another as Tom Smith (55) played a disappointing shot, resulting in a stumping from Simpson off of Ravi Patel. At 95-2, Lancashire’s efforts had been slightly minimised, but a partnership worth 130 between Paul Horton (64) and Ashwell Prince (57*) would put Lancashire back on course. Prince reached his 50 in 97 balls with 4 fours and also passed 2000 runs in County Championship matches when he reached 13. Horton’s recent form was exemplified by a sturdy 50 that came up in 87 balls with 8 fours, before he was caught behind off of all rounder Steven Crook, who led the way with the ball, finishing day two with 2-51. Karl Brown (5*) joined Prince with the visitors on 225-3, as Lancashire closed on 236-3.

Middlesex Vs. Lancashire Championship Day One 4th September

Neil Dexter century saves hosts on day one.

Neil Dexter scored an impressive 123 not out

after hosts Middlesex had initially stumbled

to 39-3. His efforts have frustrated last seasons

champions Lancashire, who are in need of a win

to avoid relegation to Division Two. Glen

Chapple ended with figures of 2-60 after taking

a wicket with the fifth ball of the day, but like

most Lancashire’s bowler, experienced a

frustrating evening session at the hands of Neil

Dexter and Gareth Berg (83)

The early wicket of Chris Rogers (0), LBW to Chapple with the fifth ball of the day, encouraged visitors Lancashire towards the result that was needed to avoid relegation and they continued to advance in the morning session. Joe Denly shortly followed, scoring just 4 before he edged behind to Gareth Cross, as Chapple struck once more.  The hosts then stuttered to 39-3, with David Malan being cleanly bowled by Ajmal Shahzad for 12.

Sam Robson (49) and Neil Dexter constructed the first frustrating partnership of the day, adding 63 for the fourth wicket. Robson will have been disappointed however as he fell one short of his fifty, trapped LBW to Simon Kerrigan. John Simpson, originally a Lancastrian, would form a similarly strong partnership with Dexter worth 62, to reduce the impact made by the visitors in the morning session. Simpson was eventually out for 29, edging behind off of Kyle Hogg, with the match poised evenly at 164-5. Neil Dexter brought up his 50 from 109 balls, scoring 9 fours, as Lancashire fought back in the afternoon session.

The introduction of Gareth Berg however would promise to hurt Lancashire’s chances of victory, as Middlesex added an impressive 148 runs for the sixth wicket. Dexter reached his hundred from 193 balls in 265 minutes with 14 fours, as Middlesex commanded the game after an imposing start from the relegation candidates. Gareth Berg assisted Dexter nicely and he soon reached his fifty from 81 balls with 3 fours. Berg continued to score freely but fell seventeen short of a century of his own, edging behind off of Kyle Hogg.

With the home side on 312-6, the frustration was far from over for Lancashire, as another former Lancashire player, Steven Crook, contributed to an already daunting first innings total. An unbeaten stand worth 77 included some eye catching shots from Steven Crook, who has his sights set on a fifty. Middlesex closed on 389-6, with Dexter involved his fourth fifty partnership of day one and unbeaten on 123.

Lancs Vs. Warks CB40 Semi Final Sat 1st September

Lightning crash out in semi final of CB40.

Lancashire have fallen in the penultimate fixture of this years CB40 campaign, loosing comfortably to a very strong Warwickshire side. After an unbeaten run of form this year at home, Lancashire will feel disappointed to have chosen the semi final to face defeat for the first time at Old Trafford. After qualifying as the strongest side from all three groups, it is also frustrating to lose to the side who qualified as the weakest of the four semi finalists.

Having won the toss, Warwickshire aimed to set Lancashire a challenging total with what was viewed as a formidable batting line-up. Opening with Will Porterfield and Varun Chopra, Warwickshire achieved a steady power play score of 33-0, which was by no means a daunting score for the home side. However, the openers advanced on the foundations they'd built, with Warwickshire reaching 101-0 after 18 overs and not even looking like loosing a wicket. Porterfield the first to reach his 50 from 46 balls with Chopra soon following from 66 balls. It took Lancashire 22 overs to make the first breakthrough when Stephen Moore took a catch at mid wicket off Gary Keedy to dismiss Porterfield for 67.

After the amount of time the Lightning waited for the first wicket, the next seemed to fall in a shirt space of time, with captain Jim Troughton repeating the fate of opener Will Porterfiled for 11. At 150-2, Warwickshire were still in an incredibly strong position, going into the remaining 13 overs with 8 wickets in hand. Darren Maddy struggled at the crease and was forced to chip the ball to Karl Brown off Ajmal Shahzad for 18. Rikki Clarke played a cameo, scoring 17 off 9 balls, hitting 2 fours and 1 six in the process. In attempt to score more runs, Clarke skied the ball and Stephen Moore made up a lot of ground, taking a superb diving catch off Tom Smith.

Chopra soon reached his 100 from 119 balls, in what would prove to be a match winning innings. Warwickshire's endeavours to score more runs resulted in the loss of 2 wickets on 240. Chris Woakes attempted to scoop Shahzad over the top of keeper, Gareth Cross, but was unable to add to his score of 8. In the next over star batsmen, Varun Chopra, gave Shahzad his third wicket, smashing the ball out to Steven Croft at long on for 110. Paul Best (8*) and Ian Blackwell (2) collected 10 from the final over, as Lancashire were set a formidable target of 251.

The target was by no means out of Lancashire's reach, with even higher targets being chased down earlier in the season and Lancashire scoring an impressive 324-4 from just 37 overs against Worcestershire in their last group game. Stephen Moore and Tom Smith, who both scored centuries against Worcester, would prove to make an unsuccessful start to an already difficult run chase. Smith chipped the ball straight to Jim Troughton off Neil Carter, scoring just 6 after his record breaking century on Monday. Moore (17) was soon caught behind by Richard Johnson (also off Carter) as the absence of Tim Ambrose was not proving to hinder the visitors chances in the slightest.

At 29-2, Lancashire were struggling and in need of a big partnership, similar to the one achieved by Chopra and Portferfield in the Bears' innings. Steven Croft and Ashwell Prince have performed consistently all season for Lancashire, but were only able to reach 50 before the former played on to his own stumps off Chris Wright, making a modest score of 18. Prince was joined by Karl Brown (9), who has also had a promising season with the bat, but the pressure appeared too much, causing Brown to edge to Maddy, giving Wright his second wicket. Prince (26) had batted comfortably but was scoring much slower than was required of him and with Lancashire losing 4 wickets, he was forced in to a big shot off Ian Blackwell, which was subsequently caught by Troughton.

Now 90-5, Paul Horton and Gareth Cross were facing everest, still needing 161 runs with little confidence to take them forward. A steady partnership appeared to regain a shred of hope to Lancashire's case before Cross was given out LBW off Blackwell, on what appeared to be at the very least a dubious decision from Jeremy Lloyds. Horton was joined by Shahzad, who was the pick of Lancashire's bowlers, taking 3-52. But as a tail end batsmen, he struggled with the unreasonable run rate required of him and was out playing a reverse sweep to Ian Blackwell off Paul Best for 10.

Horton remained to be the only hope that Lancashire had in their now futile effort to reach 251, but he certainly got the crowds attention going to 50 from 47 balls and hitting boundaries for fun. An entertaining partnership of 37 runs came to an end when Glen Chapple (13) gave Troughton his third catch of the innings, with Carter claiming another wicket. Lancashire required 60 from the final 5 overs, which may well have been possible had Lancashire had more than 2 wickets left. The hosts battled on, with Parry joining in with some boundaries of his own, but the run rate was too much and when Horton drove Carter to mid off fielder (Troughton) for 78, the game was all but over, with Carter finishing on 4-38.

Parry and Gary Keedy scorecard further 9 runs, before Parry was caught by Best off Wright as Lancashire were bowled out for 227. Lancashire will be disappointed to have lost their first match of the CB40 campaign in the semi final, after qualifying as the strongest side from all divisions and losing to Warwickshire who qualified after finishing second in their group.

Worcs Vs. Lancs CB40: 27th August

Smith smashes record breaking century in wash-out at New Road.

Tom Smith’s return to Lancashire’s side could not have

gone any better, as he scored an impressive 106 from

46 balls, smashing 8 fours and 10 sixes. He broke the

Lancashire record for the fastest century, taking just 44

balls, with the previous best by Andrew Flintoff coming

from 50 balls. It was not all about Tom Smith, as

Stephen Moore’s return to his former county saw him

score an equally impressive 113 from 105 balls, with 11

fours and 2 sixes, in an opening stand worth 150.

Steven Croft replicated his fine form Chelmsford on Thursday, scoring 67 from 52 balls, with 2 fours and 4 sixes. After rain had interrupted play on several occasions, the innings was limited to 37 overs, with the visitors reaching their highest ever one day score against Worcestershire of 324-4. Between the two innings however the rain continued to fall and for the first time in the CB40 campaign this season, Lancashire were involved in a no result fixture.

Having already qualified to the semi finals and with a home tie, the result of this game had no bearing on Lancashire’s progress and another point only added to an impressive finish to the league, with Lancashire finishing on the highest total of all three groups of 19 points from 12 games.

In the draw of the CB40 semi final it was announced that Lancashire would play Warwickshire at home on Saturday 1^st September, which will please the lightning giving that the Bears qualified on a best placed second placed side basis. Their home form is also unprecedented this season with victory coming from all six games at Old Trafford. 

Essex Vs. Lancs CB40 report: 23rd August

Newby claims first 5-wicket-haul to give Lightning home tie.

Oliver Newby claimed his first ever career

five-wicket-haul, finishing with figures of
5-35 and Karl Brown scored 87*, as
Lancashire earned not only guaranteed qualification to the semi-finals but also a home tie. Lancashire claimed their ninth victory from just eleven games. The Essex Eagles lost their fifth game of Group A and now have an all but futile season ahead with no interest remaining in any campaign.

Lancashire’s track record at Chelmsford before this match suggested a loss was in store for the visitors, with Lancashire’s last win at Chelmsford coming in 1999 and when the Eagles won the toss and decided to bat, the same scenario appeared to be in the making. At the end of the first powerplay (8 overs) the home side had reached 44-0 with Mark Pettini and Tom Westley batting in style. The first bowling change, and the introduction of Oliver Newby, brought Lancashire their first wicket as Westley chipped the ball to captain Glen Chapple for 21. Essex’s run rate already appeared to be slowing down and when Newby claimed Pettini’s wicket, playing a poor shot to Paul Horton for 27, the Eagles were struggling at 59-2.

Gary Keedy redeemed a poor fielding effort by catching Greg Smith (9), to give Newby his third wicket in just three overs. The partnership of Owais Shah and Ryan Ten Doeschate had the potential to do a lot of damage to Lancashire, but the latter made just 6 runs before he launched Keedy’s delivery into the air and Horton claimed a second catch. The impatient manor in which Essex had approached their innings seemed to be taking its toll at 78-4, as Essex captain, James Foster, joined Shah. Together they re-built the innings with a partnership worth 30, before a stunning direct hit run out from Karl Brown (pictured above) ended Shah’s innings for 24. Typically, after a solid partnership had ended, one wicket brought another with Foster bowled by Stephen Parry for 13.

At 110-6, Essex were faced with setting a score that was very much below par and it took Adam Wheater and Tim Phillips, who both scored 25, to give Essex a shred of hope. The seventh wicket partnership, worth 45 runs, was starting to undo Lancashire’s hard work and so the wicket of Wheater was met with great reception by the visitors, with Newby taking his fourth wicket and Horton claiming a third catch. Overseas signing, Harbhajan Singh, has great potential as an aggressive batsman and with the innings coming to a close a quick burst of runs was welcomed by the Essex faithful. His running was however questionable and he was certainly responsible for the run out of Phillips who was less than pleased with the Indian spinner. Singh smashed a four and a six to lift the score and the dampened spirits of the home side, before picking out Chapple on the boundary to give Ajmal Shahzad a wicket after a disappointing first spell with the ball. The last partnership between Maurice Chambers (2) and Tymal Mills (0*) was unable to add any more runs, as Chambers edged behind to Gareth Cross off Newby, with the home side posting a disappointing score of 186 all out and Newby claiming his first ever five wicket haul.

Despite having to chase under lights, Lancashire will have felt confident going out to bat, needing to score at just 4.68 runs per over. Stephen Moore (9) and Ashwell Prince (14) have been renowned for getting the Lightning off to fast starts, but in what Bob Willis described as “a rush of blood to the head” both batsmen played on to their own stumps and seemingly gave away their wickets.

Steven Croft and Karl Brown not only managed to steady a worrying situation for the visitors, but were also able to guide Lancashire towards victory. Nearly twenty overs after Chambers had claimed Moore’s wicket, Karl Brown reached his fifty from 57 balls, striking 4 fours and 2 huge sixes. The hundred partnership came up in the twenty-sixth over, in what would prove to be the highest stand for the third-wicket in one-day matches between Lancashire and Essex, beating the previous best of 114 between Clive Lloyd and Neil Fairbrother in 1986. Croft soon joined his batting partners milestone, reaching his 50 from 73 balls, also scoring 4 fours in the process.

As the innings came to a close, Lancashire started to play with the confidence they had earned from the third wicket stand worth 160. Sky Sports man of the match, Karl Brown, added another 4 fours and a six to an already impressive innings, as he top scored with 87*. Accompanied by the ever reliable Steven Croft (66*), Lancashire cruised to an impressive eight-wicket victory to ensure that they are not only through to the semi finals of this years Clydesdale Bank 40 campaign, but they will also play at home, where they are unbeaten so far this season. Lancashire will play away at Worcestershire on Monday and after the match they will find out who they will face at home on Saturday 1^st September.

Gloucestershire Gladiators Vs. Lancashire Lightning CB40

Lightning qualify for CB40 semi-final by defeating Gladiators.

Lancashire have qualified for this

years CB40 semi-final by defeating

Gloucestershire Gladiators by 18

runs. After a disappointing effort with the bat, Lancashire’s bowling attack,led by skipper Glen Chapple (5-26), were able to guide Lancashire to their eighth victory of the CB40 campaign. After he heroically guided Lancashire home with the bat last year at Cheltenham, Oliver Newby was once again essential, Scoring 37 when Lancashire were 143-8.

After yet another drawn game in the County Championship against Worcestershire, visitors Lancashire were keen to turn their attention towards the competition that they have been so successful in, and winning the toss certainly boosted their spirits. Stephen Moore returned to the Lancashire side after he was left in the match at New Road and accompanied by Ashwell Prince sought to gain some form with the bat. But he was caught behind by John Batty off James Fuller for 14, with the Lightning on 20-1. Prince (25) was joined by the in-form Steven Croft and a partnership of 43 runs seemed to suggest that batting was easy but Prince was soon caught by Daniel Housego off David Payne, as Lancashire reached a steady score of 63-2.

But Lancashire’s middle order was unable to provide stability to the efforts of Croft and Prince. Karl Brown was trapped LBW for Benny Howell for just 3 and when Croft (31) was caught by Ian Cockbain off spinner Ed Young Lancashire had stumbled to 85-4. New batsmen Gareth Cross and Paul Horton were likewise unable to get Lancashire out of trouble loosing their wickets in quick succession. Cross was stumped by Batty off Young for 9 and then Horton edged to Batty off young pace-bowler Fuller, as Lancashire were struggling at 100-6.

Tail-enders, Ajmal Shahzad (13) and Glen Chapple (16), were starting to look promising with the bat but it was difficult to prevent the spinner Young, who claimed his third wicket when Shahzad was caught by Howell. Chapple, who would prove instrumental with the ball, was only able to score 16 before he was caught by Alex Gidman off Payne (3-48) with Lancashire on dissapoiting score of 143-8. Last year Oliver Newby struck 35* at Cheltenham to guide the Lightning home and his score of 37 was an essential part of Lancashire’s success today. Accompanied by Stephen Parry (12), who was caught by Young off Payne on the final delivery of the innings, Lancashire were able to reach a dignified score of 182-9.

Lancashire’s success this year has certainly come from their ability to bowl economically and take wickets regularly and this would prove dividend today. Shahzad struck first when Hamish Marshall was caught superbly by Croft and Chapple soon followed with Rob Nicol being caught by Parry as Lancashire dismissed both openers for one run a piece. At 2-2 the home side were struggling and when Benny Howell was bowled by Chapple for 6 the situation became desperate. Chapple struck yet another blow, dismissing Dan Housego who edged behind to Gareth Cross for 4, with Gloucestershire floundering at 16-4.

Alex Gidman (36) and Ian Cockbain (11) were able to revive the innings with a partnership worth 45 as the new ball appeared to be loosing affect. Gidman was gaining in confidence, but Lancashire’s star-man with the bat, Newby, forced him to edge to Paul Horton with Gloucestershire on 61-5. Ian Cockbain scored 58 in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford but was only able to muster 11 runs before he was caught by Karl Brown off veteran spinner, Gary Keedy.  

Will Gidman (32) and James Fuller (43) managed to steer Gloucestershire’s run chase back in the right direction with a 55-run partnership, which frustrated Lancashire after such an easy start. The partnership ended in disappointing style with Gidman being stumped off Steven Croft. Gloucestershire had reached 130-7 after a difficult start and were still in need of something special to win the match. Ed Young assisted Fuller in the Gladiators pursuit for victory but the return of Glen Chapple was too good for the tail-ender who edged behind to Cross for just 12. All the while Fuller continued to score quickly and soon, Gloucester were no longer fighting against the run rate, but the lack of wickets in hand at 158-8.

Still requiring 23 runs for victory, the home side were reliant on James Fuller, who was running out of batting partners. John Batty gave Chapple his five-wicket haul when he was bowled for 3, as the Lancashire skipper finished with figures of 5-26. Both sides were capable of winning the match, but the regular loss of wickets caused Gloucestershire to let victory to slip away and when Ajmal Shahzad forced top scorer, Fuller, to edge behind the home side were all out for 164. Lancashire’s eighth CB40 victory has guaranteed them a semi final spot and if they can win at Essex on Thursday then they will ensure a home fixture, which could prove vital giving that they were unbeaten at home throughout this campaign.