[themaclad]

Lancs close 46-1 great start Hameed may be getting into top form, all to play for.
Slightly different was the commentary on 5 Live Extra, never has Toby Roland-Jones stiffness caused so much hilarity.

[themaclad]

Close but no cigar

Specsavers County Championship Division One, Lord's (day three):
Middlesex 233 & 152: Robson 58; Bailey 5-44
Lancashire 165 & 184: Vilas 37, McLaren 37; Finn 8-79
Middlesex (20 pts) beat Lancashire (3 pts) by 36 runs
Scorecard

Steven Finn's eight-wicket haul inspired Middlesex to a 36-run win over Lancashire at Lord's and boosted the 2016 champions' hopes of survival.

Lancashire, chasing 221, were bowled out for 184 with Finn claiming 8-79.

Middlesex face fellow strugglers Somerset in their final game.

Haseeb Hameed retired hurt on 23 during the morning session after being struck on the hand by a James Harris delivery, and returned with his side nine wickets down, but did not add to his score.

READ MORE: Ashes hopeful Hameed retires hurt

The 20-year-old England opener had on-field treatment, but struggled to hold the bat and left the field for more than three hours.

Hameed faced another nine balls upon his return before last man Matt Parkinson became Finn's eighth and final wicket of the innings.

A broken finger ended Hameed's involvement in last winter's Test tour of India, and his latest injury comes two days after Middlesex seamer Toby Roland-Jones, tipped to make England's Ashes squad, went down with a lower back complaint.

Middlesex began the penultimate round of fixtures seventh in Division One, level on points with Somerset and one behind Yorkshire.

The 20 points collected from this game mean that, regardless of how their rivals perform in their ongoing matches, Middlesex will be safe if they win their final fixture of the season at Taunton, which starts on Monday.

[themaclad]

Lancashire v Surrey @ Old Trafford 25/9/2017 to 28/9/2017

And now the end is near, I fear the final curtain, the last game of an often soggy summer sees Lancashire take on Surrey for who wants to finsih second, at the moment Surrey are in that position having won only two games this summer!!!!!
Table as follows

1
Essex
13 9 0 4 27 37 0 228
2
Surrey
13 2 1 10 46 31 0 159
3
Lancashire
13 4 3 6 27 35 0 156
4
Yorkshire
13 4 4 5 24 32 0 145
5
Middlesex
13 3 3 7 28 34 2 143
6
Hampshire
13 3 3 7 24 33 0 140
7
Somerset
13 3 6 4 23 36 0 127
8 Warwickshire
13 1 9 3 19 28 0 78

No Hameed for Lancashire, Anderson rested by the powers that be, Surrey will be tough opposition, in the absence of any rain tomorrow will be going just to hopefully get the chance to see the great Kumar Sangakara.

Nowt on either club websites about squads for game, counties websites are abysmal

[themaclad]

Hameed has had an operation on his hand, Davies has been awarded his County Cap, Jarvis left out which may indicate that he has played his last game for us, Surrey win toss and bat.

[themaclad]

Surrey declare at 201-8 denying us a bowling point, the cheeky Southern scamps

[themaclad]

Lancs 17-0 at the close

[themaclad]

Lancs sign Jennings on a four year deal

[themaclad]

Specsavers County Championship Division One, Emirates Old Trafford (day two):
Surrey 201-8 dec & 79-0: Stoneman 44, Burns 27
Lancashire 268: Croft 115; Clarke 3-29, Batty 3-70
Surrey lead by 12 runs
Lancashire 4 pts, Surrey 4 pts
Scorecard

A fine opening stand from Mark Stoneman and Rory Burns helped Surrey regain the lead against Lancashire, for whom captain Steven Croft scored a century.

Resuming on 17-0 and trailing by 184 runs, Rikki Clarke (3-29) took three wickets as the Red Rose slumped from 68-0 to 75-4 inside six overs.

Croft hit a 173-ball 115 to rescue their innings as they posted 268.

However, Surrey took lead again as Stoneman and Burns helped them finish the second day on 79-0, ahead by 12.

Clarke first removed Rob Jones for 15 before Alex Davies, who had scored an excellent 54, was caught by Stoneman off the veteran seamer.

Gareth Batty (3-70) took a further three wickets as Lancashire struggled to open a sizeable lead against Surrey, with sides battling for second place in Division One.

Looking to overhaul a 67-run lead at the end of Lancashire's first innings, Stoneman and Burns - who passed 1,000 Championship runs this season - hit nine boundaries between them as they moved narrowly ahead going into day three.

It was a busy day for the hosts, who announced that Andrew Flintoff would join their board and Paul Allott would join as director of cricket, along with the signings of Keaton Jennings and Graham Onions from Durham and the departure of Kyle Jarvis, who is heading back to his native Zimbabwe.

Lancashire captain Steven Croft told BBC Radio Manchester:

"It was a good day with the bat. We would have liked a bigger lead but we did really well and got into a great position.

"The first session was one of two halves. Rob Jones and Alex Davies set a good foundation but when Rikki Clarke came on he bowled a really good spell. He really tested us.

"I was a little bit disappointed with the way we bowled. We leaked a lot of runs where we were looking at getting two or three wickets. It was a little bit of a downer on the day but it's still all to play for.

"We still feel confident of chasing a score. It's a nice deck. And I'm very pleased to have got some runs myself. To get that hundred at Old Trafford was very pleasing for me personally."

Surrey assistant coach Stuart Barnes told BBC Radio London:

"It was a really good session for us and maybe they showed us how to bat on this wicket. It's still doing a little bit but it's put us in a great position.

"Rikki Clarke did what he's good at. He got the ball to swing and got his rewards. It was a great little period for us.

"This morning was interesting because when we started the ball did very little. Then it became cloudy and started doing bits for us.

"There's been pockets where the bowlers have been on top. But Steven Croft, Rory Burns and Mark Stoneman have really showed the way that you do need to bat on this wicket."

[themaclad]

Delighted to have finally seen Sangakara, couldn't at the time figure out why Livi was bowling but obviously I know nothing, rain started about five minutes after they went off so would have been pushed to finish tonight, so that's it, for the dedicated only tomrrow should win but you never know.

Specsavers County Championship Division One, Emirates Old Trafford (day three):
Surrey 201-8 dec & 242: Stoneman 98, Burns 45; Livingstone 6-52
Lancashire 268 & 132-3: Livingstone 51; Clarke 2-36
Lancashire need 44 more runs to win
Lancashire 4 pts, Surrey 4 pts
Scorecard

Liam Livingstone took six wickets and scored an unbeaten 51 as Lancashire moved with 44 runs of beating Surrey and finishing second in Division One.

Bad light ended play with Lancashire 132-3 chasing 176 to win.

England and Surrey opener Mark Stoneman fell to Livingstone (6-52) two runs short of a century, while Kumar Sangakkara made 35 not out in his final first-class innings before retiring.

All 10 Surrey wickets fell inside 30 overs as they posted 242 all out.

Surrey made a bright start as Rory Burns and Stoneman put on 154 for the first wicket before leg-spinner Livingstone struck to remove the latter.

Stoneman - named in England's Ashes squad earlier in the day - went for 98 from 113 balls when he was caught by Dane Vilas, while Burns was trapped lbw by Stephen Parry (4-59).

In successive deliveries, Livingstone then removed Scott Borthwick and Ben Foakes, who has also been called up to the Ashes squad, for a golden duck

Lancashire threatened to stumble themselves, making hard work of their chase early on, with first-innings centurion Steven Croft going for a duck.

However, after his earlier career-best bowling figures, Livingstone hit his third half-century of the season - to go with his two tons - as Lancashire closed in on victory.

Lancashire batsman Liam Livingstone:

"I didn't even expect to bowl, I didn't bowl in the warm-ups this morning. I just expected to be stood in the field watching Stephen Parry and Matt Parkinson take the wickets. But it was one of those days when things happened quite quickly.

"I was having a laugh with Kyle Jarvis at the start of the day wondering if I would ever get a five-wicket haul before I retire, and he was talking about getting a hundred. It's just down to him now!

"We are in a good position, but they were in a good position at 150-0 so we won't be taking anything for granted. We have a big job in the morning. He can finish the season on a high and get what we deserve."

Surrey batsman Mark Stoneman:

"Overall I'd say it was disappointing. The partnership with myself and Rory Burns started to get us into a decent position in the game but the spin that was on offer, they managed to make the most of.

"Once we lost a couple we couldn't really grab the momentum back and Lancashire did well to keep us to that lead. You never know if we can get two quick wickets first thing it puts all the pressure back on to Lancashire. It then becomes their game to lose.

(on Ashes call-up) "It's absolutely amazing for me, Test cricket is a dream but then the Ashes is just that extra bit of icing on the cake. Some of the greatest Tests ever played have been Ashes Tests. To be a part of that is a dream come true."

[themaclad]

Davies, Livingstone, Mahmood and Jennings in Lions squad