Photos from Lancashire's pre-season tour to Dubai

Clark takes five wickets as Lancashire skittle UAE

Jordan Clark took five wickets on the second and final day of Lancashire's two-day friendly against UAE in Dubai, as the Red Rose ended their pre-season tour with a dominant performance.

Clark (5-35) rattled through the UAE top order in the morning session, as the home side made 179/9 in their first innings, losing one of their opening batsmen to an elbow injury. UAE managed to face only 48.2 overs before their innings came to a close, which forced the two teams to contest a practice session of 12 overs in which Lancashire's spinners enjoyed further practice in the Dubai heat.

Lancashire declared overnight on 319/7 with Karl Brown, Steven Croft and Liam Livingstone all hitting half-centuries yesterday for the tourists. After enjoying a strong day with the bat against the UAE national side, the Red Rose turned their attention to bowling in Dubai, with Clark's morning spell of 4-23 from seven overs leaving the home side facing an uphill struggle for the rest of the second day.

Sreesanth Laxman, who made fifty when the sides met in the Twenty20 Airline Tournament last week, made just eight runs on this occasion, edging to Livingstone in the slips to give Clark the first of four wickets in the morning session. UAE's other opening batsman, Babar Husain, had made it to 12 before taking a nasty blow to the elbow from Clark's bowling, forcing him to retire hurt with the score now at 26/1.

Clark continued to make an impact with the ball, claiming his second wicket and the first of a spell of three wickets in as many overs when he encouraged a thin edge behind to Alex Davies, removing Mohammad Qasim for no score. The bustling all rounder bowled a tight and hostile line all morning and continued to create chances for the Lancashire slip cordon, with Livingstone once again in action, clinging on to an edge from the bat of Shaiman Anwar (13) at third slip.

Livingstone and Clark combined again to remove Shabbir Ahmed (9) before Luke Procter (1-30) had Rameez Shahzad caught behind by Davies for a duck, with the UAE national side stumbling to 58/5 on the second morning. They recovered to 95/5 by lunch, with Mohammad Usman and Rohan Mustafa adding 92 runs for the sixth wicket either side of lunch to help the hosts reach a respectable but albeit underwhelming total.

Usman went on to make 59 from 74 balls, while Mustafa fell short of a half-century, reaching 47 from 52 balls before he fell to Luis Reece's first ball of the game. Reece forced Mustafa to top edge his shot behind to Davies, as UAE recovered to 150/6 in the afternoon session.

Reece went on to claim both of the big wickets in the UAE innings, removing Usman for 59 with Davies once again taking the catch behind the stumps, by which time it became apparent that Husain would not return to bat after being hit on the elbow by Clark.

Clark returned in the afternoon session, vying for a five-wicket-haul which he managed to acquire when Khalid was caught by Rob Jones at mid wicket for five, leaving UAE struggling once again on 178/8.

Spinner Matthew Parkinson (1-29) claimed his first wicket for Lancashire when he removed his own teammate's middle stump, leaving Simon Kerrigan (0) stranded halfway down the wicket as he looked back despondently at the wickets.

With no more UAE batsmen available, the sides agreed to play a 12-over practice session, allowing Parkinson and Stephen Parry to acquire further practice after Lancashire had blasted their way through the home side's batting line up. During the short practice session, Parkinson took two more wickets and Parry claimed one, although no official score was kept.

Attention now turns to the first pre-season friendly on home soil, as Lancashire travel to Taunton for a three-day friendly against Somerset, with the game starting on Monday 4th April. The Red Rose then head to Fenners a week later for another three-day friendly against Cambridge MCCU.

Brown 92 leads strong day with the bat for Lancashire

Karl Brown hit 92 for Lancashire as the tourists enjoyed a strong day with the bat against UAE during their two-day friendly in Dubai.

Brown and captain Steven Croft (51) added 98 runs for the second-wicket partnership, cementing the strong platform established by Haseeb Hameed (33), who shared 71 runs with Brown for the opening stand.

Liam Livingstone (50) continued his excellent pre-season form with the bat, scoring a half-century either side of tea, as the Red Rose ended the first day with an impressive total of 319/7 in sweltering conditions.

With UAE missing several players, the Red Rose happily handed the opposition Simon Kerrigan, Toby Lester, Nathan Buck and Saqib Mahmood, allowing more of Lancashire's players to get game time ahead of the new season.

Brown and Hameed faced their own teammates in Lester and Mahmood to start the friendly with UAE, but it was the Lancashire batters who enjoyed the better start. Boundaries came regularly, particularly for the more experienced Brown, who hit 16 boundaries during his innings of 92 from 136 balls.

Hameed played a typically patient hand at the top of the innings with Brown, but the teenager was not shy of dispatching the bad ball when it came, as Lancashire progressed to 55/0 after only 11 overs. Kerrigan played a hand in the first Red Rose wicket to fall, taking a routine catch at mid on off the bowling of Imran Haider (1-56) to send Hameed back to the pavilion for 33.

This was the last wicket to fall for Lancashire before the tea interval, with Brown and Croft both retiring on 92 and 51 respectively. While Brown continued to find the ropes with perfectly-timed cover drives, Croft took the more aggressive route, thumping two straight sixes off the spinners, including a huge six against Kerrigan to help take Lancashire beyond 100.

Brown motored to a 79-ball fifty with his tenth boundary of the morning session, as Lancashire entered lunch on 108/1. The strong progress between Brown and skipper Croft continued after the break, with Croft's second maximum bringing up the fifty partnership in the 35th over of the innings.

Croft's third and final six over long on, once again off the bowling of Kerrigan, cemented a superb day with the bat for Lancashire, with Brown now favouring a few cavalier strokes over the top of the inner circle, much like his captain had done throughout his entire innings.

Approaching three figures, the Lancashire opening batsman was signalled to retire by the dugout, eight runs short of what would have been a fluent and masterful century. His retirement allowed Livingstone to continue his fine pre-season form for the Red Rose, as the promising young batsman added a half-century to his runs against Yorkshire last week.

Captain Croft retired immediately after reaching his fifty from 94 balls, with his replacement Jordan Clark adding just four runs to the total before his wicket signalled tea in Dubai. Livingstone entered the interval needing only one more run to reach fifty, a single which he secured just after the break to take him to a run-a-ball half-century with eight boundaries.

He fell soon after reaching fifty to Mahmood (2-47) who had earlier forced Clark to be caught in the deep before tea. The young Lancashire fast bowler had Livingstone caught by Buck at mid on, with this wicket signalling a recovery from UAE in the final session.

The home side took four wickets for 42 runs either side of tea, removing Alex Davies (10) and Luis Reece (15) cheaply before a determined partnership between Luke Procter and Stephen Parry for the eight wicket. Buck had Davies caught in the gully to a sharply-rising delivery, while Reece was trapped lbw sweeping across the line to Rameez Shahzad (1-10), wickets which left Lancashire on 281/7.

Procter (30*) and Parry (16*) came together and steadied the innings brilliantly following this minor setback for the Red Rose, adding an unbeaten partnership worth 38 runs before close of play.

Yorkshire retain Emirates trophy with win over Lancashire

Yorkshire Vikings held on to the Emirates Airline T20 trophy by beating Roses rivals Lancashire by 13 runs in the final under lights in Dubai.

Lancashire could only muster 119/9 chasing 133 runs to win, with Luis Reece top-scoring with 35 from 22 deliveries at the top of the innings. Yorkshire made 132/8 batting first, a strong score given the difficult conditions, with Gary Ballance making 46 from 38 balls to lead the Vikings' innings.

The Lightning earned a place in the final after beating UAE in a last-ball thriller in the first semi final, while Yorkshire beat MCC in the second semi by 13 runs, the same margin of victory as in the final.

George Edwards was superb with the ball for the Red Rose, claiming three wickets in Yorkshire's innings, including the crucial scalp of Ballance, who was in tremendous form after making an unbeaten hundred in the two-day Roses friendly earlier this week.

Adam Lyth (7) fell in the third over when he was caught by Reece at mid off, supplying Edwards with his first victim of the innings at 20/1. His replacement, Andrew Hodd, fell in the next over when he chopped-on to Kyle Jarvis (1-26) with an under edge, leaving the White Rose on 23/2.

Ballance continued to find the ropes with his conventional hitting, but he also hit the first of two huge sixes when he lofted Arron Lilley down the ground in the eighth over. He clobbered an even bigger six over wide long on, making the wicket of Alex Lees (28) a much-needed breakthrough when he was caught by Jarvis off Lilley (1-24) at 74/3.

Jack Leaning found himself back in the pavilion after advancing too far down the pitch and he was run out after a smart piece of fielding at short fine leg. Wicket continued to tumble to Lancashire's relief when a bit of extra grip in the pitch forced Will Rhodes to play his shot into the hands of Stephen Parry, who took a good return catch off his own bowling at 97/5.

Approaching his half-century, Ballance departed to a smart catch by Liam Livingstone at deep square leg, Edwards' second wicket after coming back onto bowl at the death. The express paceman added a third to his collection when he had Matthew Waite caught by Reece at long off, with just two runs coming from the penultimate over.

Some late destructive hitting from Steven Patterson, who hit 14 runs from five balls, made all the difference for Yorkshire, as they pushed their way up to 132/8.

A target of 133 was certainly within Lancashire's capabilities, but chasing under the lights made life difficult from the start of the run chase. Reece and Alex Davies started brilliantly and gave Lancashire the ideal start, with Reece leading the charge during his innings of 35 from 22 balls.

The Red Rose were propelled to 51/1 at the end of the powerplay, the perfect platform given the modest target they had been set by their rivals. Davies made 19 from 15 balls, hitting four boundaries before he was caught at backward point by Ballance off Rhodes.

Karl Brown failed to come to the party, adding only four runs to the total before he was stumped by Hodd to the spin bowling of Karl Carver (2-17). Reece fell soon after when he was pinned on the crease and judged lbw to Carver, with these two wickets putting a huge dent in Lancashire's run chase.

Wickets continued to fall for Lancashire, with Livingstone (8) the next batsman to depart, edging behind to Hodd off Rhodes (2-23). Hodd was in action once again when captain Steven Croft edged a delivery from James Wainman (2-25), with the Lighting facing an uphill struggle at 81/5.

Any chance of salvaging the match was put to rest when Luke Procter (9) was trapped lbw by Wainman, who collected his second wicket with five overs remaining. As the run rate continued to climb, so to did Yorkshire's chances of lifting the trophy, with the pressure forcing Jordan Clark to swipe at a delivery from Ben Coad (1-27), one which bowled the Lancashire all-rounder for five.

Patterson claimed his second wicket when he removed Parry for one, a wicket which left Lancashire in a chasm at 103/8, with the Red Rose struggling to avoid being bowled out by their rivals. Lilley made an unbeaten 15 from 12 balls, but it was not nearly enough to redeem the flurry of wickets taken by the Vikings in the middle overs, with Jarvis falling to the penultimate ball of the game when he was bowled by Patterson for six.

Lancashire beat UAE by one run in Airline Tournament

Lancashire Lightning advanced to the final of the Emirates Airline tournament with a tense one-run victory against UAE in dubai.

The home side hit a six off the last ball of the match, but were unable to chase the 145/7 set by Lancashire, with captain Steven Croft top-scoring with 38 not out after being put into bat first.

Laxman Sreekumar hit an unbeaten 61 from 52 balls for UAE, as they looked well set to chase 146. But crucial wickets at regular intervals ensured that Lancashire set up a final with either Yorkshire of MCC later today.

Had Lancashire been beaten, it would have been no shame, given that UAE have recently returned from the Asia Cup, a tournament which saw them beat the likes of Oman and Afghanistan. The Red Rose would have looked back at a scratchy powerplay as a difficult spell, with Tom Smith and Alex Davies struggling to time the ball in the early stages.

The duo added 41 runs for the first wicket, although Smith contributed the majority of the runs, hitting six boundaries in his innings of 33 before he departed to Mohammad Shahzad. Davies also made 33 at a run-a-ball, coming out of his shell after the loss of Smith, now accompanied by Karl Brown.

Davies and Brown shared another 36 runs, with conditions still taking ahold of their efforts to break free and score boundaries. A lack of spin bowlers was surprising, but pace proved to be the more effective route for UAE, until Rohan Mustafa (3-27) came into the attack.

He bowled Davies and had Brown out lbw for 10 in quick succession, which left Lancashire needing another strong partnership, but one which could also accumulate runs fast. Captain Croft attempted to galvanise the innings and he was responsible for the only six of the innings, which he clobbered straight down the ground.

Liam Livingstone was unable to carry his form from the warm-up game against Yorkshire yesterday, falling for nine as Mustafa collected his third scalp of the innings. Croft continued to accumulate runs at a good pace, but smart running between the wickets was vital, with timing and boundaries still hard to come by.

A flurry of run outs saw Jordan Clark return to the pavilion without facing a ball, with Luke Procter (13) and Arron Lilley also failing to get the better of intelligent fielding from UAE, as Lancashire could only muster 145/7.

The Lightning made a good start to their defence of 146, with George Edwards and Kyle Jarvis removing both opening batsmen in quick succession. Jarvis, the pick of the Lancashire attack with figures of 3-35, took the catch off Edwards to remove Shahzad for six, before the Zimbabwean bowled Mustafa for 11, as part of a wicket maiden in the fourth over.

Tidy bowling from the Lancashire spinners was inhabited by the dangerous Laxman, who continued to hit boundaries freely and keep UAE in line with the required rate. A much-needed breakthrough came for Lancashire when Shabbir Ahmed was trapped lbw by Stephen Parry (1-28) at 78/3, as the tourists started to apply pressure to the opposition.

Spin bowling might not have been crucial for UAE, but it is a cornerstone of Lancashire's Twenty20 game plan and today was no exception. Mohammad Usman became the fourth UAE casualty, after he was brilliantly caught by Livingstone off Procter (1-6).

Laxman continued to be the danger man for the home side, lofting Parry for six to release some of the pressure that had been applied by the loss of two quick wickets. Livingstone's fielding played a crucial part in the Lightning's slender victory, as his rocket throw from the boundary allowed Lancashire to run out Qasim with the score now at 107/5.

However, this wicket brought Amjad Javed to the crease and he hit his first two deliveries for six, the second of which came from a no-ball, which really put a dent in Lancashire's confidence. Economical bowling from Edwards in the penultimate over gave Lancashire renewed hope heading into the final six deliveries and Jarvis backed up his efforts with a tidy over of his own to take Lancashire over the line.

A thumping six from Mohammad Naveed left UAE just short of their target, although there was a degree of confusion about the score at the time, which caused many people in the ground to believe that the game had been tied.