[themaclad]

First friendly today Essex batted 86 overs and made 160 for 13 Mahmood got Cook twice in the day, Lancs will bat tomorrow

[themaclad]

So the 2021 season begins behind closed doors at Old Trafford as the weather starts to head towards winter again, the fixture has been reversed due to Sussex's issues with bugs in their ground

No team news as yet

https://unofficialsussexccc.freeforums.net/

OTHER GAMES

11:00 am
Emerald Headingley, Leeds

LV= Insurance County Championship - Group 3 - 4 Day

Yorkshire
Glamorgan
11:00 am
County Ground, Northampton, Northampton

LV= Insurance County Championship - Group 3 - 4 Day

Northamptonshire
Kent
11:00 am
Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester

LV= Insurance County Championship - Group 2 - 4 Day

Leicestershire
Hampshire
11:00 am
Lord's Cricket Ground, London

LV= Insurance County Championship - Group 2 - 4 Day

Middlesex
Somerset
11:00 am
The Bristol County Ground, Bristol

LV= Insurance County Championship - Group 2 - 4 Day

Gloucestershire
Surrey

[themaclad]

Championship title challengers and great rivals in the mid-noughties, these two famous old counties meet again with exactly the same goal.

Lancashire versus Sussex clashes have been few and far between in recent years, which adds to the excitement for this opening round affair switched to Emirates Old Trafford at the last minute due to a Daddy Long Legs infestation on the outfield at Hove. The return fixture on the South Coast will instead be later this month.

While Lancashire’s development has been stronger in four-day cricket in recent years, Sussex have some exciting up and comers at their disposal, who should not be underestimated.

The Red Rose start 2021 amongst the favourites for success and will hope for a strong campaign opener against a Sussex side under new management.

Of course, it is 10 years since Lancashire last won the County Championship. And that glorious summer of 2011 started with a home win against who? Sussex at Liverpool. Fingers crossed, a good omen.



Team news
Luke Wells misses out on an immediate meeting with the county he left last season having sustained a hamstring injury during winter training.

Lancashire’s new batting signing says he is “95 percent there”, so hopefully his return comes in time for him to face Sussex at Hove later this month.

Another Luke, Wood, missed last week’s final pre-season friendly against Derbyshire due to a minor knee strain. But the left-arm seamer has recovered and will be in contention this week.

Richard Gleeson’s recovery from a stress fracture in his back, suffered last summer, continues to be monitored by the county’s medical team.

Jimmy Anderson will not be available for this game on ECB orders, with his return to county action likely to be against Kent at Canterbury in the third round (April 22-25). That is the game earmarked as Australian seamer Jackson Bird’s debut.



Opponents
Sussex finished last season bottom of the South Group in the Bob Willis Trophy and were then beaten by Lancashire in the Vitality Blast quarter-finals. Safe to say, it was a frustrating end to Jason Gillespie’s three-year coaching tenure.

He has been replaced by former England leg-spinner Ian Salisbury, who will be assisted by ex-seamer James Kirtley.

Had this season started under a two-divisional structure, Sussex would be in Division Two, with their last success coming with back-to-back Championship titles in 2006 and 2007. Lancashire finished second and third in those summers.

Captained by wicketkeeper batsman Ben Brown, a University buddy of Dane Vilas’s, they have employed two batting overseas players. South African Stiaan van Zyl has switched from a Kolpak player, and starts the season, while Australian Travis Head joins from the end of April.

New ball seamer Ollie Robinson is on the fringes of England’s Test plans, and was in squads last summer, while Phil Salt (290 runs) and Irish off-spinner Jack Carson (15 wickets) led the way for them in the shortened 2020 BW Trophy.

Previous meeting
The two sides met only once in the 2019 County Championship, Lancashire’s promotion year from Division Two.

And the Red Rose came out on top in a mid-July clash at Emirates Old Trafford, winning by an innings and 51 runs on the way to the title.

Spinners Matt Parkinson, with a superb 6-23, and Glenn Maxwell (4-41) bowled Sussex, who elected to bat, out for just 127.

Half-centuries for Keaton Jennings, Alex Davies, Maxwell and Rob Jones then supported Dane Vilas, who made 132 not out in 494-6 declared.

In reply, talented Bermuda-born left-hander Delray Rawlins hit 100. But Sussex were bowled out for 316, including 4-142 for Parkinson, to slip to a heavy defeat inside three days.



What they said
Captain Dane Vilas is hoping Lancashire can take advantage of back-to-back home games to start the campaign, with Northamptonshire also visiting Emirates Old Trafford next week.

Vilas says pre-season preparations have been excellent, despite certain Covid restrictions, admitting: “We’re as strong and as fit as we’ve ever been.

Lancashire and Roses rivals Yorkshire start the summer as the favourites to qualify out of the Championship Group Three and into the season-ending top group.

The top six teams will then fight it out for the Championship title and the right to play in the Bob Willis Trophy Lord’s final at the end of the summer.

“It’s always good to be back here,” said Vilas. “And we missed it a lot last year given we weren’t able to play as much cricket as we wanted at Emirates Old Trafford.

“We love playing here, so hopefully they are two good games at the start.”

He added: “We always want to compete in every format we play in. But this is the real important competition for us, and the guys are excited and keen to do well in it.

“We want to do as well as we can, and realistically we have a good chance. But it’s going to be tough because we have a couple of good teams in our group.

“Every player will tell you that this is the hardest competition to win or do well in.

“You have to play well for six months to do that. If you look back at the end of the summer and know that you’ve put a good stint in and you’re up there, it’s hugely rewarding and satisfactory.

“That’s the target for us, but we’re a long way away from that.

“First of all, we have five weeks of hard cricket to contend with.”

[themaclad]

Sussex 291-9: Haines 155, Robinson 59; Bailey 3-41
Lancashire: Yet to bat
Lancashire 3 pts, Sussex 2 pts

A career-best 155 from batsman Tom Haines helped Sussex recover from a dreadful start against Lancashire.

The visitors were reduced to 14-3 in the first hour, with both Stiaan van Zyl and Tom Clark out for nought.

However, Haines, who had also hit a ton in the final game of last season, kept his head and batted wonderfully to reach three figures off 177 balls.

He was supported by all-rounder Ollie Robinson (59) in a stand of 126 as Sussex finished on a creditable 291-9.

Despite the early batting collapse, it ended up being a record-breaking day for the visitors as Haines comfortably beat his highest first-class score of 124 and his seventh-wicket partnership with Robinson was Sussex's best against Lancashire.

It had looked like being a memorable day for all the wrong reasons when Aaron Thompson, Van Zyl and Clark went for a combined three runs.

Haines, 22, helped them recover from 14-3 to 127-6 before Robinson joined him at the crease and they pulled the visitors into a decent position.

Stuart Meaker ended day one on 27 not out and Ian Salisbury's men will hope to get the nine more runs they need for the third batting bonus point on Friday.

[themaclad]

A seventh Red Rose century by Dane Vilas steered Lancashire into a strong position against Sussex on the second day of this LV= Insurance County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford.

Vilas shared in three big partnerships with Alex Davies, Rob Jones and Luke Wood as Lancashire closed on 339-5, ahead by 38 runs with the Red Rose skipper still there unbeaten on 158.

It was a commanding innings by Vilas who came to the crease with his side in a spot of trouble on 41-3 after the Sussex attack had similar early success to that enjoyed by their Red Rose counterparts on day one.



Ollie Robinson struck twice in a good opening eight-over spell to remove Keaton Jennings, caught at fourth slip for 4, and Josh Bohannon who nicked an edge to wicketkeeper Brown for 10. Steven Croft next gloved a pull to a short delivery from George Garton that was caught by Brown.

Davies and Vilas responded in positive fashion either side of lunch with an array of attacking shots, Vilas contributing 36 of the 50 partnership reached off 86 balls.

Davies had a moment of good fortune when a fierce drive burst through the hands of spinner Carson in his first over but the wicketkeeper/batsman continued the good form he had shown in pre-season with another impressive outing, three flashing drives from one Stuart Meaker over particularly catching the eye, with the batsman’s fifty arriving from the first of those shots, an emphatic back foot square cut.

But Davies’ innings ended on 61 when teenager Sean Hunt, in the middle of a fine spell, nipped one back to trap the opener lbw and claim his maiden first-class wicket. That ended a 91-run partnership with Vilas, who moments later was dropped on 47 at slip off Carson but the Red Rose skipper soon reached his half century and powered on in a partnership of 125 with Rob Jones.



Jones took three consecutive boundaries off young spinner Carson on his way to 58 and looked in good touch until he reverse-pulled a full toss from the same bowler straight to Tom Clark at backward point. It was a horrible way to get out and Jones was distraught on his way off.

By then Vilas had reached three figures (from 136 balls) with an innings of real quality that saw the South African-in his 50th match for the county-post the milestone of 3,000 first-class runs for Lancashire at average of 47.61 when he reached 76. Of the batsmen to have reached this milestone, only Stuart Law, John Crawley and Ashwell Prince have a better average.

Vilas wasn’t finished though as he moved swiftly from 100 to 150 in just 53 balls, punished anything wayward from a tiring Sussex attack.



Luke Wood provided great support with an unbeaten 27 in a partnership of 80 that the hosts will hope can add considerably to the lead already established.

Resuming the day on 291-9 the Sussex first innings lasted 28 deliveries during which Stuart Meaker and Sean Hunt scrambled the total up to 301 to claim a third batting point, before Bailey cleverly trapped Hunt lbw for 7 with a slower delivery to finish with figures of 4-48. Meaker was left unbeaten on 30.



It was a good day for both Dane Vilas and for the team.

“It was all we could have wanted,” said the captain.

“It was a disappointing end to the day yesterday but we’ve done the job today.

“The plan was to get their last wicket early and then bat all day, and we managed that which was fantastic.

Asked about his favourite shot of his innings, Vilas didn’t hesitate.

“That punched drive for the two to get to one hundred,” he smiled. “I was looking for it and they were bowling pretty well so when I saw the ball go past the cover fielder it felt really good.



The Lancashire skipper looked in great touch today, and he added: “I felt good in the practice games and I felt good from the start.

“Getting out in the middle in a really competitive game and getting us in a good position was the aim. We’ve got some hard work ahead of us now in the morning.

Vilas looked in complete control throughout his innings and he said: “That’s what we all want when we are playing.

“We know how difficult it is to start (an innings), especially against a good bowling attack like this, it’s tough. So when you are out there and you start hitting the ball in the middle and you are finding your feet, you become more relaxed.

“There’s no better feeling. Luckily I was in one of those sort of zones today.

Vilas prides himself in being able to ‘reset’ once he reaches a century and today was no different.

“There are so many times when are struggling for form and finding it difficult. When you have a hundred, there’s no better time to bat. You’re in, seeing the ball well and you need to cash as much as you can.

“It’s only day two in this match so there’s a lot of batting ahead so there’s lots of time in the game. So get as many (runs) as you can and go as big as possible.

Vilas was involved in two important partnerships during the innings and he said: “They were one of the key features of our play today.

“Al (Davies) was batting beautifully, and he set it up during tough conditions with the new ball.



“The way Jonesy came in and played was incredible. It took all the pressure off me. He really put his foot down and it was great to see. He’d done all the hard work, played beautifully and then to get out to a full toss like that, I was gutted for him.

“I know how hard he has worked and I was so disappointed for him. He deserved so much more. But I also think he will take a lot of confidence from it.

"We've got a 38-run lead, we know it's a tough wicket and once the ball gets softer it gets a little bit more difficult for the bowlers to take wickets.

"So we know we need to put on big runs, and create some big pressure in the second innings.

Vilas doesn’t worry too much about his personal stats, but asked about reaching his 3,000 run milestone for Lancashire today he replied: “I’m immensely proud of what I’ve achieved here. Being the captain is fantastic and I’m very fortunate. To be among some of those names you've mentioned is great. They are legends for Lancashire.

"I’m very happy with that, and hopefully there are a few more runs to come as well.



YOU TUBE VIEWING FIGURE DAY 1 WERE 32000

[themaclad]

Lancashire will go into the final day of this opening LV= Insurance County Championship match holding a slender 68-run advantage over Sussex who were 38-0 in their second innings before play was halted early.

Rain and flurries of snow delayed the start of this third day with play not getting under way until 1.15pm with an early lunch taken and 17 overs lost from the day’s allocation..

But further bad weather late in the afternoon meant only 42 overs could be completed.



Resuming on 339-5 and looking to build on their 38-run lead Lancashire suffered two early setbacks when Sussex debutant Sean Hunt trapped Luke Wood for 32-ending a 93-run partnership-and Danny Lamb for 1, both lbw.

But Tom Bailey batted with positive intent to help Vilas put on another 40 runs in nine overs before he was unluckily run out for 24 when George Garton parried a firm drive from Vilas and threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end.

Tom Hartley perished for 4 to another run out from Stiaan van Zyl’s successful throw from square leg but Vilas, who had continued to punish the visitors attack today, was last out for a magnificent 189 with Lancashire collecting maximum batting points from their 407 all out. Teenager Hunt was the pick of the Sussex bowling with figures of 3-47.



Facing a first innings deficit of 106 runs, Aaron Thomason and Tom Haines survived searching opening spells from Saqib Mahmood and Tom Bailey, and the Sussex pair were still there when bad light halted play at 4.30pm before play was finally abandoned for the day.

“It’s been a bit of a frustrating day,” said Graham Onions.

“But you have to acknowledge that was a fantastic century by Dane.

“We’ve given ourselves an opportunity on a really good pitch to try and win this game now,” he added.

“It would have nice to get a few more runs, but if we bowl they way we did this evening and create pressure tomorrow, I’m pretty sure we will give it a good go.

“Dane is incredibly hard to bowl at-as I’ve discovered this winter-and he just finds way to score. It’s very hard to stop him. If you don’t get him early he generally gets in.

“He’s scored a lot of double hundreds here and on good pitches you’ve got to make sure you execute your plans to him.

“The way he trains it’s no real surprise he’s scoring runs. He’s a really solid player.”

Onions, who is in his first season as bowling coach, was delighted by the efforts of opening pair Mahmood and Bailey in this match.

“I can’t fault them at all,” he said. “When they come off the field, I always ask them if there’s anything else they could have done. They said ‘no’, and that’s good enough for me.



“On pitches that aren’t doing a great deal, you’ve got to be smart and skilful, hit the pitch hard and going onto a day four pitch you’ve got to hope you get a bit of help from the pitch. That’s where your spinner comes into the picture as well and I’m backing Tommy (Hartley) with the winter he’s had that he’ll turn up tomorrow and produce the goods.”



And Coach Onions also enthused about Danny Lamb’s progress with the ball.

“The winter he’s had and the progression he’s made, he deserves all the success that I’m sure will come his way this season, so long as he keeps focus on his strengths-to be an all-rounder-but also work really hard on his bowling, and his ability to bowl maidens, build pressure and hit the seam.

“This winter it’s the best he’s been and I feel his belief is there, and I’ve no doubt in my mind that he will have a really good season. He deserves a lot of credit.

[themaclad]

A strong snow shower put paid to any Red Rose hopes of pushing home their first innings advantage against Sussex, with the opening match of this season’s LV= County Championship campaign abandoned as a draw at tea on the final day.



Aaron Thomason and Tom Haines were made to work hard for their runs by Danny Lamb and Tom Bailey when play resumed in sunny, but freezing cold, conditions at 11am. The opening pair added 12 runs from six overs to their overnight position to post a fifty partnership, and they had extended their alliance to 72 before Saqib Mahmood struck with two wickets in five balls.



First Haines, on 26, took on a short delivery but only succeeded in pulling it high to Tom Hartley who took a nicely judged catch at deep backward square.

And in Mahmood’s following over, a fast delivery that shaped in slightly beat Stiaan van Zyl’s forward push to trap the Sussex overseas player lbw for 4 with the visitors 80-2 and still 26 in arrears.



A hostile spell from Luke Wood and a tight, controlled spell from left-arm spinner Hartley kept the pressure on the visiting batsmen before lunch, which arrived with Sussex 93-2.

Ten runs had been added to that total before the arrival of sleet stopped play 15 minutes after the resumption and a heavier snow shower soon followed, turning the outfield completely white to bring about the early finish.

“I’m sure I’ve never seen snow stop play before,” admitted Assistant Head Coach Mark Chilton.

“It’s a first for me!

“We’ve played a lot of good cricket in this game,” was Chilton’s assessment.

“I think we can be very positive about the start we’ve made.

“We’ve got good bonus points out of it as well and given the situation we’ve done all we can.



“We’ve won on first innings, and looked like a really good bowling attack, so overall we are really pleased.

“The intensity with which we bowled this morning was spoken about by the players in our debrief just now,” he revealed.

“Even when you are not picking up wickets, you need to maintain that pressure and aggression on the opposition.

“That’s the sort of level they want to be working at and if they continue to play with that level of intensity and their skills levels remain high, then we should get results.



Chilton supports the move to increase the number of points on offer for a drawn game this season.

“I’m in favour of any kind of push to create better wickets that give opportunities both to spinners and to batsmen to get big scores.

“This wicket has felt like a really good cricket wicket. The seamers had to work really hard and you need all the time available to force a result. That’s what we want to encourage.

“It should be seen as a positive decision.”



Lancashire return to action on Thursday when Northants visit Emirates Old Trafford and Chilton expects more of the same while hoping for less of an impact by the weather.

“I think we will take a lot from this game into the Northants match as well as the work from the two weeks prior to that. There was a lot of good work from a lot of people and not just the eleven who have been on the park this week.

“We have to manage players through quite a busy period with five weeks on the trot, and you can see from the games we’ve played here already how hard you have to work to get results.

“So we will think carefully about the team going into the Northants game, assess the pitch, and look at what the weather is like over the next two or three days-because it’s been very unpredictable.

“We are confident it’s not just about the eleven in this game. There are at least sixteen players who are going to make contributions to this side in the next few weeks.”

[themaclad]

After the draw against Sussex we are again at home against Northamptonshire who drew their first game as well against Kent, basically a one innings game with both side scoring over 400. Vanconcelos and Keogh both got centuries and Buck took three wickets in the first innings.
They have three ex Red Roses players on teh books, Buck, Procter and Kerrigan only Buck played in teh first game

Taken from the Northants website

It’s every cricket lover’s fantasy. Summoned from work to represent your county at one of England’s most famous Test match grounds, you play a key role in a famous victory.

It happened to Peter Pickering back in 1953. The 27-year-old Yorkshireman – a handy cricketer although better known as a professional footballer who kept goal for both the Poppies and the Cobblers in his time – was summoned to the office at British Timken one morning, given the keys to a car and told to head for Manchester to make his first-class debut for Northamptonshire.

Pickering earned his unlikely call-up because the County had only ten fit players. He arrived at lunchtime on the first day and it was clear the bowlers were holding sway on a difficult pitch. Northamptonshire were eventually left to score 128 for victory and collapsed to 40-5 before Pickering hit a vital 37, setting the stage for a one-wicket win. It was the County’s first Championship triumph at Old Trafford at the 22nd attempt!

Although not exactly a happy hunting ground even after ‘Pickering’s Match’, there have been some outstanding performances at Lancashire’s headquarters. In the opening Championship fixture of 1976 David Steele’s masterly 93 – plus 13 wickets in the match for pace bowler Bob Cottam – set up a 116-run victory at the start of a memorable season that saw Mushtaq Mohammad’s team finish second in the table.

The County had won there in 1965 – and also went on to claim runners-up spot. On that occasion it was off-spinner Haydn Sully who did the damage with 6-20 in the first innings and 5-67 in the second.

Kevin Curran – father of Ben – hammered a century there in the 1997 drawn game, and two years later the illustrious trio of Devon Malcolm, Paul Taylor and Graeme Swann shared nine wickets as Lancashire, set 311 to win by Matthew Hayden, slumped to 121 all out.

But bad memories of past drubbings in Manchester came back to haunt Northamptonshire in 2013 – skittled for 62 on the first morning and beaten inside two days on a pitch that sparked a major controversy – and 2014, when Ashwell Prince’s undefeated 257 set the hosts on course for victory by an innings and 200 runs.

It’s also worth noting that the County played their final Championship match of the 1914 season at Old Trafford. When Lancashire batted opener William Tyldesley was caught by Don Denton off fellow Wellingborough School pupil Tommy Askham for 92. Batsman and bowler would both die in the First World War while the catcher lost part of a leg. Tyldesley’s opening partner Harold Garnett was killed too.

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE V LANCASHIRE – OVERALL CHAMPIONSHIP RECORD

PLAYED: 129

NORTHAMPTONSHIRE WINS: 18

LANCASHIRE WINS: 52

DRAWN: 59

ABANDONED: 1

LAST TIME OUT…

Ben Duckett starred with the bat in Northamptonshire’s most recent Championship visit to Old Trafford in 2015, scoring a classy 134. Adam Rossington weighed in with 89 and the County were strong favourites to win until rain stopped play on the final day with Lancashire seven wickets down.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2643123

[themaclad]

Lancashire and Northamptonshire fought an intense battle for control on the opening day of this LV= Insurance County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford with the hosts reaching 264-8 by the close.

Half centuries by Alex Davies and Josh Bohannon after Dane Vilas won the toss were countered by three wickets and a run out for Tom Taylor while former Red Rose spinner Simon Kerrigan excelled with 3-53 from a marathon 30 overs on his return for the first time in nearly four years.

“It’s pretty even I would say,” was the summary of the day’s top run scorer Josh Bohannon.

“We’ve have liked a few more runs and not to lose as many wickets later on, “he added, “but it’s a nice pitch. It’s tough if they bowl in the right areas but I think we’ve got the right team to win it.”



Matt Parkinson replaced Danny Lamb in the one change from last week’s opening match against Sussex while Northants overseas player Wayne Parnell, not available last week due to Covid-19 protocols, was omitted from the visitors line-up.

Lancashire started brightly with Alex Davies and Keaton Jennings both driving successfully for early boundaries in an opening partnership of 38 before Jennings on 13, edged Taylor to Ricardo Vasconcelos at first slip who made no mistake, having earlier injured himself attempting a catch at slip from the fourth ball of the morning.

But Davies and Bohannon attacked the Northants bowling with some success, bringing up their 50 partnership in 63 balls with Davies continuing his good early season form and Bohannon striking the ball with authority and reaching 1,000 first-class runs for Lancashire during his innings.

“It’s nice to tick that milestone off,” said Bohannon, “but I still feel like I have a long way to go and a lot to learn.

“Again, it’s days like today that are big learners for me. It’s always nice to get a few and spend a few hours out there today.”



Davies raced to his half century in eye-catching style with three boundaries and a three from four Nathan Buck deliveries in the 21st over and looked set to ‘go big’ before becoming victim to a great piece of fielding after making 57 when Taylor threw down the stumps at the batsman’s end from midwicket as the two batsmen hesitated over a quick single.

That left Lancashire on 97-2 just before lunch and the afternoon developed into a determined battle with Bohannon and Steven Croft resisting some accurate bowling from the visitors’ attack, for whom Kerrigan bowled with good control throughout the afternoon.

Scoring opportunities became limited but Bohannon and Croft patiently built a partnership of 46 across 27 overs before Croft edged Taylor to wicketkeeper Adam Rossington for 26. Taylor had thus played his part in all three wickets, but his day was soon hampered by a finger injury on his right hand after parrying a fierce drive off his own bowling which required treatment off the field on a number of occasions.



Bohannon broke the scoring shackles with three boundaries off Taylor’s following over, going to a 146-ball half century off the first, but Kerrigan then took out the Lancashire middle order with three wickets either side of tea.

The first was Bohannon, lbw for a fine 68 just before tea, and the left-arm spinner continued his marathon spell from the James Anderson end after the break to pick up two important wickets when he spun one past Rob Jones’ forward press with Rossington completing the stumping, followed by that of Red Rose skipper Vilas, who had started in positive fashion, trapped in front for 26 to leave Lancashire on 212-6.

“I was gutted to miss out and not kick on,” said Bohannon. “I can still take a lot of positives from it though.

“Me and Crofty did the hard yards and then none of us have gone on and made it count and get a big score.

“We felt if we could stick in, we would get enough balls to score off eventually. With the pitch being the way it is and the type of fields they set, maybe we could have taken more risks but felt during that period it was the right approach.”

Further wickets followed. Taylor, armed with the second new ball, trapped Tom Bailey lbw for 9 to break a 24-run partnership for the seventh wicket with Luke Wood, who struck three nice fours in his 23 before unluckily pulling a short ball from Ben Sanderson on to his stumps.



Saqib Mahmood (15 not out) and Tom Hartley (10 not out) patiently steered Lancashire to a second batting point reaching the close on 264-8.

Bohannon is enjoying the challenge of occupying the number three spot in Lancashire’s batting line-up. It’s where he scored his only first-class century to date against Derbyshire in 2019.

“I’d like to change the column (of fifties and hundreds) round and get some more conversions into three figures,” he declared.

“It’s what all my work has been based around during the winter and the last couple of years. It’s about trying to bat for good lengths of time and settle in to batting at number three.

“It’s a tough thing to do but I’m enjoying the challenge.



And Bohannon had a word for the returning Simon Kerrigan on his return to Emirates Old Trafford.

“It’s always nice to see friends back bowling,” he said. “I played with Keggsy at Ormskirk and at Lancs but it was frustrating to get out to him!”

K

[themaclad]

Lancashire’s bowlers produced a great display with both bat and ball to claim the advantage at the halfway stage of this LV= Insurance County Championship match with Northamptonshire.

Saqib Mahmood (20), Tom Hartley (25) and Matt Parkinson (21 not out) combined effectively to add 41 very useful runs during the first hour of play, the latter two both making career-best scores.



Then the Red Rose attack combined to put Northants in big trouble on 87-8 by the middle of the afternoon with a fine display before captain Adam Rossington and former Red Rose spinner Simon Kerrigan revived the visitors innings with a solid 82-run partnership across almost 30 overs.

It took a quite magical delivery from Parkinson, (“I decided I was going to try and rip it”, he confessed) to break that alliance as Northants were eventually 177 all out with Lancashire reaching the close on 60-0 and holding a 188-run advantage going into the third day.

Lancashire’s first innings ended on 305 after that early success with the bat when Kerrigan collected a fourth wicket having Hartley caught at deep square leg, and it was a nice touch by the Northants team to insist the former Red Rose player lead the team off the field with Tom Taylor-who also took four wickets-joining the applause.



Mahmood returned with ball in hand to produce a hostile spell of fast bowling that accounted for two Northants batsmen in the remaining 45 minutes before lunch. Opener Ben Curran was the first to go for 9 after the left handed batsman edged into the slips where Steven Croft at second slip parried the ball to Hartley at third.

Emilio Gay fell for 7 in similar fashion after nicking a quick delivery low to Keaton Jennings at first slip, who made a superb catch to his left, to leave the visitors in early trouble on 35-2 at the interval.

Luke Wood made the next breakthrough, firing in a couple of short balls and then pitching up the next delivery which Ricardo Vasconcelos drove to Tom Bailey at midwicket to depart for 15.

That was the first of six wickets to fall for 42 as Northants’ afternoon fell apart in the face of some excellent Lancashire bowling.



Parkinson, turning his arm in a first-class game for first time since 2019, had Luke Procter caught for 6 after the former Red Rose man attempted to clear Josh Bohannon at mid-on. The leg spinner then snapped up a second wicket, Saif Zaib well caught by Croft at the second attempt at backward short leg after top-edging a sweep.

Bailey piled on the pressure with three wickets in 10 balls during a superb spell from the Brian Statham end; Rob Keogh lbw for 29 and then two in two balls when Taylor offered no shot but found his off stump cartwheeling away followed by Nathan Buck lbw first ball, leaving Northants in disarray on 87-8.

Kerrigan and visiting skipper Adam Rossington battled hard to successfully stop the rot, reaching a fifty partnership off 81 balls and steering their side to 144-8 at tea, and their determined, solid performance with the bat then prospered well into the evening session.



It was eventually broken by a quite outstanding delivery by Parkinson that pitched outside leg (“about five inches or so,” was the bowler’s assessment) and spun viciously to hit off stump with Rossington out for 49 and quite possibly as surprised as Mike Gatting was on this ground against another leg spinner in 1993.

Parkinson’s stunning delivery had ended a fine 82-run partnership and the visitors’ innings soon folded on 177 with a run out, Ben Sanderson beaten by Croft’s throw from square leg after setting off for second run, leaving Kerrigan unbeaten on 40.

That left Lancashire 18 overs to negotiate and Jennings (23 not out) and Davies batted with purpose to build the Red Rose lead, adding 60 runs by stumps with Davies thumping two straight sixes in his 36.

But everyone fortunate enough to be covering the game at the ground, and hopefully those watching the live stream, were left talking about one particular delivery.



Matt Parkinson admitted it was “good to be back playing,” after having a day to remember on his return to four-day action.

“It’s nice to be playing Championship cricket for the first time in a while. It’s been a long time coming,” he said.

“The last game that I played was in September 2019. I’ve played a few warm-up games in between but it was lovely to put the Red Rose on again.

Parkinson was called into action quite early in the Northants innings and he said: “Me and Tommy (Hartley) knew we’d have a role to play. It’s not a typical April pitch. It’s quite dry and there’s decent footholds as well so it’s lovely to bowl a decent chunk of overs at the stage of the season.



“I feel I’ve been bowling well in the nets and I was gutted to miss out on selection last week. My first over today went well and I went on from there really.

Asked about the delivery to Adam Rossington that has captured headlines today, Parkinson broke into a big grin explaining: “I was really frustrated actually.”

“Keggsy was slogging me for a few fours so I thought ‘sack it, I’m going to try and rip it’!

“Luckily it paid off.”

Those of us watching doubted if any luck was involved, and Parkinson added: “there were some decent footholds leg side so I tried to bowl it quite fast.

“Rossington had made forty-odd by then so to produce that for the team was fantastic.”

“It’s just nice to play some cricket again, especially for Lancashire.”



Looking at the game situation, Parkinson said: “getting up to three hundred this morning and then bowl them out for 177 on a day two pitch was fantastic. Hats off to Davo and Keats getting us to sixty by the close with a big lead has made it a great day.”