Lancashire County Cricket Club in 2005

Lancashire Lightning

2005 season
Captain	Mark Chilton
Ground(s)	Old Trafford

Lancashire County Cricket Club played cricket in Division Two of the

Lancashire played 17

• Brad Hodge
• Muttiah Muralitharan
• Marcus North
• Murali Kartik
• Andrew Symonds
• James Anderson
• Glen Chapple
• Dominic Cork
• Steven Croft
• Andrew Crook
• Steven Crook
• Gareth Cross
• Andrew Flintoff
• Warren Hegg
• Kyle Hogg
• Paul Horton
• Gary Keedy
• Stuart Law
• Mal Loye
• Sajid Mahmood
• Simon Marshall
• Oliver Newby
• Tim Rees
• Iain Sutcliffe
• Gary Yates

Tables

Championship

totesport League

Match details

April

It took until 30 April before Lancashire could celebrate their first win, after a Championship draw with

County Championship: Lancashire v Somerset (13–16 April)

Lancashire (10pts) drew with Somerset (9pts)

At Old Trafford, Somerset won the toss and elected to field on a seaming pitch after a delayed start. Mal Loye was the only Lancastrian to score a half-century, as Somerset made the most of the conditions. Iain Sutcliffe, Stuart Law and Mark Chilton all worked themselves into the 30s, but failed to progress. Lancashire finished the first day on 235 for 7.

Second day honours went to Lancashire. First their not out batsmen, Dominic Cork and Sajid Mahmood, took the eighth wicket partnership to 94, and Lancashire finished on 323. Andrew Caddick took 4 for 78. James Anderson and Dominic Cork then set about damaging Somerset's batting. Only Ian Blackwell, who was dropped by Law at slip when on 17, put up much resistance, with captain and England opener Marcus Trescothick making only 11. At one stage Somerset were 53 for 4, and they finished the day on 193 for 7, with Blackwell not out on 74.

Just as Lancashire's tail had pushed on at the end of their innings, so did Somerset's on the third day. Blackwell made his second century in two innings, finally surrendering on 122. The second-highest scorer was Richard Johnson with 40. Blackwell explained, "I've changed a few things this year and started to bat on off stump. A lot of bowlers have been going across me because they know that I go at widish balls. The ball's now closer to me if it's slanted across and I'm backing my hand-eye co-ordination to avoid being lbw." The day itself was very cold, with Blackwell saying, "It was absolutely perishing out there. I think play should be abandoned if it gets that cold." After Somerset were dismissed for 272, six Somerset men came out to field sporting woollen hats. Bad light and rain meant the day ended at 2.07pm, with Lancashire on 33 for 1, 84 runs ahead. Whilst a Lancashire victory was not out of the question, the most likely result was the draw.

Lancashire batted on for another 49 overs, scoring 195 for 6 declared, and setting Somerset a target of 247 runs in 31 overs. Paul Horton and Loye put on 94 for the first wicket. But all in all, taking 61 overs to score 195 was hardly declaration batting. Somerset did not go for the win (which would have meant scoring at well over 7 an over), and made 69 for 3 off 22.3 overs before play ended because of bad light. Lancashire's Mal Loye, who fell just short of his century on 92 in the second innings to go with his 53 in the first said, "To get a couple of fifties against a pretty good attack is a good start. It was a pretty difficult pitch to bat on during the first day but it got easier as the match wore on and I was disappointed to miss out. Getting a century is a psychological thing for a batsman. I don't set myself goals or anything like that, but it's always nice to get a hundred." (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Lancashire v Glamorgan (17 April)

Match abandoned – Lancashire (2pts), Glamorgan (2pts)

Lancashire Lightning won the toss at Lord's and put Middlesex Crusaders in. This looked the right decision as Lancashire's seam and swing bowling attack saw Middlesex fall to 6 for 3, and then 37 for 6. The Crusaders were then rescued by James Dalrymple, who took 81 off 82 balls to take them to 210 for 9 in their 45 overs.

Lancashire's reply started to come unstuck when both openers, Stuart Law and Iain Sutcliffe, fell in successive balls with the score on 23. The game saw the return of Andrew Flintoff, back after his operation and playing just as a batsman. But he couldn't stop the rot and made only 17 before falling lbw to Scott Styris. The Lightning were finally all out for 141 and Middlesex completed their second win in two matches. All eleven bowlers used in the match got at least one wicket, but the most prolific wicket-taker, Kyle Hogg, also conceded the most runs. (Cricinfo scorecard)

County Championship: Worcestershire v Lancashire (27–30 April)

Lancashire (17pts) beat Worcestershire (6pts) by 76 runs

Lancashire batted first after losing the toss at Worcester, and were soon in trouble. At 81 for 3, Andrew Flintoff, playing his first first-class match after returning from injury, came to the crease. However, after facing 5 balls he was back in the Pavilion without scoring. It got worse for Lancashire as they fell to 97 for 6 and 196 all out, mostly thanks to an unbeaten 69 from wicket-keeper Warren Hegg. In reply, Worcestershire lost Stephen Moore early, but Graeme Hick and Stephen Peters were there at close, with Worcestershire on 59 for 1.

Hick dominated the second day's play as he moved from 32 not out to 176 in 231 balls, his 127th first-class century and his 97th for Worcestershire. This now puts him tenth in the list of all-time century makers, just ahead of W. G. Grace. However, no other Worcester player scored more than 27 as Muttiah Muralitharan picked up 5 wickets, and they finished on 306, 110 ahead. Lancashire were 47 for 1 in reply at stumps.

There was cheer for England fans on the third day, as the England regular Flintoff was back to his belligerent best, scoring 83 from 101 balls. Stuart Law also made 83, but was slower, taking 152 balls. With support from Dominic Cork (57), Lancashire were able to set a fair target. Their 377 left Worcestershire 268 to win. They lost Peters first ball, and Moore also fell, but with Lancashire pitching short to Hick, it was 58 for 2 at close.

On the final day, 3 wickets from each of Dominic Cork and Muttiah Muralitharan helped dismiss Worcestershire for 191 runs, with David Wigley unable to bat because of a broken hand sustained when James Anderson bowled a beamer at him in the first innings. After the match Cork talking about his match performance of 7 for 115 said, "The ball is coming out well at the moment. I've worked hard with Mike Watkinson over the winter with it. It's early season and these sort of conditions suit a bowler like myself." Watkinson, in response, spoke of Lancashire's determination to get straight back into the first Division after the disappointment of relegation last season, ""We talked about the start of the season and the need to start well and to get a positive number in the wins column is a good feeling. We have two home games now coming up against Derbyshire and Durham and maybe we can kick on from here." (BBC scorecard)

May

After celebrating their first win on 30 April, Lancashire then lengthened their win streak to four, with one win in the Championship, one in the

Lancashire Lightning held on to win by 1 run after Nottinghamshire Outlaws needed 7 to win off the last over. Earlier new Englishman Stuart Law made 52 as the Lightning got to 178 for 8 off their 43 overs. England fans would have been pleased to see James Anderson take 3 for 18 from his 8 overs in reply as the Outlaws went to 170 for 6 with 12 balls to go, needing 9 to win. But Sajid Mahmood (who only conceded 2 from the penultimate over) and Dominic Cork saw Lancashire win a nailbiter. (BBC scorecard)

C&G Trophy Round One: Buckinghamshire v Lancashire (3–4 May)

Lancashire beat Buckinghamshire by 51 runs (

Derbyshire batted first at Old Trafford, but fared poorly, being dismissed for 215, with Luke Sutton top-scoring with 95. No one else passed 40, however. James Anderson took 4 for 62, and was the pick of the Lancashire bowlers. In reply, Lancashire made 65 for no loss at stumps on the first day.

Lancashire continued their dominance on the second day, although only 40 overs were possible as they progressed to 175 for 1. The third day saw them finally dismissed for 469, with Mal Loye (101) and Stuart Law (112) making centuries. By close Derbyshire had progressed to 81 for 1, leaving them at least the possibility of a draw. However, that wasn't to be as they plummeted to 182 all out. Spin bowler Gary Keedy was the hero for the home side, taking 6 for 60. (Cricinfo scorecard)

County Championship: Lancashire v Durham (11–13 May)

Durham (20pts) beat Lancashire (3pts) by 9 wickets

C&G Trophy Round Two: Lancashire v Essex (17 May)

Lancashire beat Essex by 6 wickets to progress to the Quarter-Finals of the C&G Trophy

Andrew Flintoff took 4 for 26 in helpful bowling conditions as Essex made only 195 for 9 at Old Trafford. In reply, Lancashire's opening partnership of Mal Loye and Stuart Law put on 53 in 10.1 overs, before Alex Tudor dismissed them both. Brad Hodge, however, kept the run rate up. Hodge was dropped on 32, and Lancashire might have been put under pressure if it had been taken, but instead he went on to make 82 off 102 balls, as Lancashire made there target with 6 wickets and 6 overs to spare. (Cricinfo scorecard)^{[permanent dead link]}

County Championship: Somerset v Lancashire (20–23 May)

Lancashire (11pts) drew with Somerset (7pts)

Rain ravaged the match between Somerset and Lancashire allowing little play on the first three days. Between the showers, Lancashire had Somerset at 48 for 2 on the first day, but the little play that was possible after that gave Mike Burns (87) and Sanath Jayasuriya (72 not out after three days) opportunity to increase the score to 195 for 3 on day 3. A draw looked more than likely, even if the sides would agree to forfeiting an innings. The fourth day was a full day of cricket, and Muttiah Muralitharan took five for 56 for Lancashire as they bowled Somerset out for 294. Iain Sutcliffe then lifted Lancashire to four batting points and 351 for 3 declared with his 150, well helped by an unbeaten century from Australian Brad Hodge. (Cricinfo scorecard)

MCC University Match: Oxford UCCE v Lancashire (25–27 May)

Lancashire won by 10 wickets

A second-string Lancashire side gave away 300 runs to the Oxford students, Stephen Moreton making his first first-class fifty as he top-scored with 74. Gary Keedy took four for 46 for Lancashire. Lancashire replied quickly and well, though, making 420, Andrew Crook top scoring with 88. Oxford then crawled to stumps with 24 runs off 14 overs without losing a wicket. However, the third day wasn't nearly as pleasant for Oxford, as Keedy added six for 33 to get a ten-wicket haul in the match. The students were bowled out for 151, leaving a target of 32 which was chased down by Mark Chilton and Iain Sutcliffe, and the Lancastrians won by ten wickets. (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Gloucestershire v Lancashire (30 May)

Lancashire (4pts) beat Gloucestershire (0pts) by six wickets

June

June's Championship run began with two draws, and in between they fell to two League defeats against Hampshire and Nottinghamshire. However, they ended the spring season on a high note, beating Derbyshire by one wicket to go third in the County Championship before the teams entered the Twenty20 Cup.

County Championship: Lancashire v Northamptonshire (1–4 June)

Lancashire (7pts) drew with Northamptonshire (7pts)

There was no play on the first day at Old Trafford because of rain. The weather on the second day allowed only 54 overs, and in that time Northamptonshire made 148 for 5. They were all out for 175 on the third day, after James Anderson took 3 and Muttiah Muralitharan 4 wickets. Lancashire fared worse in reply, slumping to 27 for 5 and 35 for 6, before recovering slightly to 149 all out thanks to 48 from veteran wicket-keeper Warren Hegg. Northants lost 2 quick wickets in their second innings, before ending the third day on 94 for 3. This left a small chance of victory on the final day, but it wasn't to happen. Muralitharan took 4 quick wickets, but the visitors still made 225, a target of 252 runs. Lancashire were saved by captain Mark Chilton who kept his wicket as all about were losing theirs. The opener finished on 113 not out, as Lancashire saved the match ending on 188 for 8. (Cricinfo scorecard)^{[permanent dead link]}

National League: Lancashire v Hampshire (5 June)

Hampshire (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by 79 runs

Despite an economical bowling performance from England prospect James Anderson who took two for 18 off 7.5 overs, Lancashire Lightning imploded with the bat at home against Hampshire Hawks who moved out of the relegation zone as they took a 79-run win at Old Trafford. Hampshire batted first, and Derek Kenway top-scored with 65 as they were bowled out for 200, but Lancashire could only muster 121 against Hampshire's strong bowling attack, Chris Tremlett taking three for 30 while off-spinner Shaun Udal took three tail-enders for 11. (Cricinfo scorecard)

County Championship: Yorkshire v Lancashire (8–11 June)

Yorkshire (10pts) drew with Lancashire (11pts)

Lancashire crumbled in chase of Nottinghamshire's big target of 250 at Trent Bridge. Winning the toss and fielding, Lancashire got wickets at crucial moments, and had Nottinghamshire at 77 for 5 at one point. However, former England wicketkeeper Chris Read contributed with 68 not out – including five fours and four sixes – and with Mark Ealham scoring 35 as well, only James Anderson managed to stop the rot slightly by removing Ealham. Lancashire's bowling was at times wayward, and 26 wides were noted down in the extras column. In reply, Lancashire sold their wickets all too cheaply, as starts were made but not converted and number nine Dominic Cork top-scored with 40. Lancashire crumbled to 188 all out in 41.3 overs, well short of the target. (Cricinfo scorecard)^{[permanent dead link]}

County Championship: Derbyshire v Lancashire (15–17 June)

Lancashire (18pts) beat Derbyshire (3pts) by one wicket

In a low-scoring thriller at

Twenty20 Cup Group Stage (22 June-6 July)

Lancashire recorded six wins in their first seven games, only losing to

Yorkshire v Lancashire (22 June)

Lancashire (2pts) beat Yorkshire (0pts) by five wickets

Phil Jaques, an Australian, was the dominant figure for the Yorkshire Phoenix in the Roses battle, scoring 72 from number three before being out to countryman Brad Hodge. That lifted the hosts to 165 for 7, but that was not enough to defend. Matthew Hoggard, the England Test bowler, showed an uncanny knack of being uneconomical, conceding 65 runs in his four overs, and despite two wickets he lost the game for the Phoenix. Brad Hodge ended with 64 not out for the visiting Lancashire Lightning as they won with seventeen balls to spare. (Cricinfo scorecard)

Nottinghamshire v Lancashire (24 June)

Nottinghamshire (2pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by 92 runs

Nottinghamshire Outlaws plundered runs off the Lancashire Lightning fast bowlers at Trent Bridge, to recover from their first-game loss to Leicestershire. Both James Anderson and Glen Chapple were taken for 53 in four overs each, as the Outlaws made 198 for 5. In reply, only Steven Crook passed 20 for Lancashire, Graeme Swann took three for 32 and Mark Ealham two for 22, and Lancashire ended up with an inadequate 106 all out. (Cricinfo scorecard)

Lancashire v Leicestershire (27 June)

Lancashire (2pts) beat Leicestershire (0pts) by eight wickets

Lancashire v Derbyshire (29 June)

Lancashire (2pts) beat Derbyshire (0pts) by 66 runs

Lancashire v Yorkshire (1 July)

Lancashire (2pts) beat Yorkshire (0pts) by 110 runs

Lancashire v Durham (3 July)

Lancashire (2pts) beat Durham (0pts) by 37 runs

Derbyshire v Lancashire (4 July)

Lancashire (2pts) beat Derbyshire (0pts) by 50 runs (

Big scores from

Durham v Lancashire (6 July)

Match abandoned; Durham (1pt), Lancashire (1pt)

As

Final Table (North Division)

July

The Championship season started again on 8 July, and Lancashire carried their winning ways from the Twenty20 Cup into this tournament, as they beat Durham by an innings and 228 runs to go second in the table, 11 points behind Durham. They followed that up with quarter-final wins in the

Durham were a prime example of how the lack of three men can change a team. Three months earlier, Michael Hussey, Paul Collingwood and Steve Harmison had been firing for the Durham lads as they beat Leicestershire by an innings and 216 runs, the highest margin of victory in the County Championship so far this season – before this match. Without these three, and only with Nathan Astle and Ashley Noffke by way of replacement, they collapsed to 167 against the bowling of Glen Chapple and Gary Keedy, before Mal Loye made a double ton and Dominic Cork an unbeaten ton to give Lancashire a 363-run lead on first innings. Then, Chapple took four for 18, as Durham rolled over yet again for 135 – and all of a sudden the league leaders were transformed into laughing stocks. (Cricinfo scorecard)

C&G Trophy Quarter-Final: Lancashire v Sussex (15 July)

Lancashire beat Sussex by 35 runs to progress to the Semi-Finals of the C&G Trophy

National League: Lancashire v Derbyshire (18 July)

Lancashire beat Derbyshire by 17 runs to progress to the Semi-Finals of the Twenty20 Cup

After

National League: Lancashire v Essex (19 July)

Essex (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by eight wickets (

In cloudy conditions at

County Championship: Lancashire v Essex (21–24 July)

Lancashire (10pts) drew with Essex (9pts)

Essex batted resolutely and calmly, without any rush until the fifth session, and quietly worked their way to 536 for 9 declared at Old Trafford. Grant Flower made a healthy 115 before being caught behind off Gary Keedy, while his brother Andy made 138. Australian Andrew Crook got the best figures for Lancashire, three for 71 with his part-time off-spin, but he was also very expensive in only ten overs. Lancashire number three Mal Loye replied with 194 after Andre Adams had dug out the hosts' captain Mark Chilton for 4, as the match ground towards an inevitable draw, Loye spending 200 balls for his century and eventually spending nearly eight hours at the crease before being caught by Alastair Cook off Grant Flower, six runs short of what could have been his second double century in July 2005. Lancashire eventually batted out a mammoth 220.3 overs – Danish Kaneria bowling 70.2 of those without a single wicket – to make 655 for 6 before the captains agreed to a draw. (Cricinfo scorecard)

Twenty20 Cup Semi-Final: Lancashire v Surrey (30 July)

Lancashire won by 20 runs and qualified for the Twenty20 Cup final

In the first of two semi-finals at The Oval on the Twenty20 Cup finals day, Lancashire Lightning lived up to expectations by smashing 217 for 4 in twenty overs against Surrey Lions – well helped by eleven wides and six penalty runs, although Lancashire's top five all contributed. Only Nayan Doshi came away with some face on the bowling side, taking two for 35, but with Andrew Flintoff making 49 and Andrew Symonds an unbeaten 52 the target quickly reached dangerously high levels – from a Surrey perspective, anyway.

Ali Brown and James Benning started well with an opening partnership of 93, as Dominic Cork and James Anderson were taken for runs, but Benning, Scott Newman, Brown and Rikki Clarke fell in quick succession to see Surrey struggle at 104 for 4. Mark Ramprakash and Azhar Mahmood upped the ante again, but when Flintoff and Anderson broke through with one wicket each, and Surrey crumbled to 195 for 7. (Cricinfo scorecard)

Twenty20 Cup Final: Lancashire v Somerset (30 July)

Somerset beat Lancashire by seven wickets and won the 2005 Twenty20 Cup

Somerset Sabres completed their run by springing the final upset to beat Lancashire Lightning in the Twenty20 Cup final. It should perhaps have been renamed Sixteen16, because rain earlier in the day delayed the schedule and meant that the final had been shortened to 16 overs a side, while the semi-finals had both been 20 overs. However, Somerset didn't mind – their strongest batsmen were their numbers one and two, Graeme Smith and Marcus Trescothick, and the more relative impact these two would have, the better for the Sabres. Their task was made easier, though, as Somerset fast bowler Andrew Caddick dug out a couple of early Lancashire wickets, which was followed a run-out and two wickets in two balls from Richard Johnson, as Lancashire crawled to 41 for 5.

Australian-born Stuart Law stood tall at the crease, defying the Somerset bowlers to make 59 before being run out on the very last ball, but Somerset only needed 115 from 16 overs – a run rate of 7.19. Smith and Trescothick started positively, before Trescothick's England team-mate Andrew Flintoff had him edge behind to Warren Hegg for 10. With two more wickets falling, Lancashire would perhaps have fancied their chances with the Somerset score on 65 for 3, but Smith defied them with an unbeaten 64, adding 53 in a fourth-wicket stand with young James Hildreth to guide Somerset to the target with seven wickets and eleven balls to spare. (Cricinfo scorecard)

August

August began with a seven-wicket loss in a one-day tour match to

Lancashire put out a second-string side against Bangladesh A, admittedly including former ODI bowler Sajid Mahmood, and were duly punished by the tourists, who cruised to a seven-wicket victory. Having won the toss, the Bangladeshis chose to bowl at Lancashire, and after Andrew Crook and Iain Sutcliffe had put on 35 for the first wicket, Shahadat Hossain dug out two quick wickets. Lancashire recovered somewhat before rain stopped play for nearly two hours, but when the players returned, Abdur Razzak ran through the middle order. He took three wickets for 25, and Lancashire collapsed to 149, with two run outs. Bangladesh were set 152 to win due to the rain interruption, and the tourists scored slowly before Tushar Imran came to the crease. Tushar took 91 balls to forge 93 runs, his sixth one-day fifty, as he guided Bangladesh A to a total of 155 for 3 with more than 15 overs remaining in the match. (Cricinfo scorecard)

County Championship: Leicestershire v Lancashire (3–6 August)

Lancashire (19pts) beat Leicestershire (5pts) by 234 runs

Leicestershire were in the game at Grace Road for exactly two days, after having Lancashire effectively 68 for 3 in the second innings. However, they lost it from there, and Lancashire took the win to go into second place in the Championship table. Lancashire had won the toss and batted first, with Iain Sutcliffe top scoring with 93, as nine batsmen made it into double figures but only Sutcliffe managed a fifty. Medium pacer Ryan Cummins got three for 32 in his first game for Leicestershire, but only bowled ten overs, as the captain preferred an ineffective but economical Claude Henderson. After making their way to 16 for 0 on the first day, Leicestershire fell apart twice, first from 69 for 0 to 78 for 4 and then from 160 for 5 to 183 for 8. However, Aftab Habib made 84 to lift them to 261, only 30 behind Lancashire's first-innings score.

In Lancashire's second innings, Ottis Gibson got two quick wickets as Lancashire fell to 22 for 3 shortly before stumps on the second day, but Australians Stuart Law and Andrew Symonds batted well together with a 111-run partnership before Law was out to Henderson. Symonds powered on from there, bludgeoning 17 fours in his 121, and Glen Chapple and Warren Hegg made season-best scores of 60 and 77 respectively as they added for 121 for the eighth wicket. Lancashire declared on 368 for 9, not bothering to send in James Anderson to bat, thinking he might be better use with the ball. He was – he took three for 39 before stumps on day three, as Leicestershire collapsed to 78 for 5 in chase of 399. There wasn't much respite on the fourth day either – after Dinesh Mongia and Habib had added 27, Anderson came back with two quick wickets, finishing with five for 79. Dominic Cork and debutant leg-spinner Simon Marshall wrapped up the Leicestershire chase as they were all out for 164. (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Northamptonshire v Lancashire (8 August)

Lancashire (4pts) beat Northamptonshire (0pts) by 64 runs

Despite four for 39 from Johann Louw, Lancashire Lightning recovered well from an early position of 52 for 3 against Northamptonshire Steelbacks. 80 from Andrew Symonds, a quick 44 from Dominic Cork and a captain's innings of 36 from Mark Chilton, took the score to 236 for 9. James Anderson, the former England ODI player, took three quick wickets to leave Northamptonshire struggling at 35 for 4, and from then on, it only went downwards for the Steelbacks. Andrew Crook wrapped up the innings with three cheap lower order wickets, and Northamptonshire crumbled to 172 all out. (Cricinfo scorecard)^{[permanent dead link]}

National League: Hampshire v Lancashire (10 August)

Hampshire (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by eight runs

Hampshire Hawks recovered to post a challenging target after early setbacks, caused by two wickets from Lancashire Lightning spinner Andrew Symonds and losing Nic Pothas early through a run out. They struggled to 86 for 4 before Shane Watson put them back on track with an unbeaten 106, helped by Greg Lamb, who made 42. In a match dominated by foreign or foreign-born players, Marcus North and Symonds put on a 94-run partnership to help Lancashire to 155 for 2. However, Australian all-rounder Andy Bichel took three for 34, Dimitri Mascarenhas rounded off his nine overs by taking two wickets with the two last balls, and Lancashire were left to score 23 from 24 balls with a wicket in hand. James Anderson tried, hitting two fours, but with nine required off ten balls he was lbw to Shaun Udal for nine to give Hampshire an eight-run victory. (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Glamorgan v Lancashire (14 August)

Lancashire (4pts) beat Glamorgan (0pts) by eight wickets

Lancashire Lightning recorded a relatively easy victory at Colwyn Bay, beating Glamorgan Dragons by eight wickets. Dominic Cork took four for 37 as the Dragons crashed to 173 all out, Alex Wharf – who had been promoted to three as pinch hitter – top scoring with 36. Mal Loye then carried Lancashire past the target with 79 not out, while Stuart Law, Marcus North and Andrew Symonds all passed 25. (Cricinfo scorecard)

County Championship: Lancashire v Yorkshire (16–19 August)

Lancashire (11pts) drew with Yorkshire (11pts)

Craig White and Matthew Wood gave Yorkshire control of the first day of the Roses clash against Lancashire. Wood made 86 and White 110 not out, while the Lancashire captain Mark Chilton was stumped for options and had to turn to part-time spinner Marcus North for seven overs of bowling – which yielded the wicket of Ismail Dawood. Thanks to hard hitting from Deon Kruis, who finished with 35, Yorkshire ended their innings on 417 after 125 overs, James Anderson taking the number 10 and 11 to end with three wickets, the same number as Glen Chapple. Lancashire set about chasing the total with a massive opening partnership between Chilton and Iain Sutcliffe – the pair added 223 and battered Chris Silverwood out of the attack, as the opening bowler was left with 13 of Yorkshire's 157.1 overs.

Sutcliffe was eventually dismissed seven runs short of a century, caught by wicket-keeper Dawood off Tim Bresnan's bowling, and Bresnan got another wicket when he trapped Mal Loye lbw. Bresnan and Deon Kruis were Yorkshire's best bowlers, sharing nine of the ten wickets, and starting with Sutcliffe's dismissal, Lancashire lost five wickets for 27 runs to Bresnan and Kruis. However, 146 from Andrew Symonds, and half-centuries from Dominic Cork and Warren Hegg gave Lancashire a 120-run lead. Yorkshire batted to stumps on day three without loss, and survived 89 overs on the fourth day with ease. Craig White, Anthony McGrath and Matthew Wood all made fifties for Yorkshire, while no Lancashire bowler got more than one wicket. Yorkshire remained 2.5 points ahead of Lancashire in the Championship table, but were third following Essex' victory over Derbyshire. (Cricinfo scorecard)

C&G Trophy Semi-Final: Warwickshire v Lancashire (20 August)

Warwickshire beat Lancashire by 99 runs to progress to the C&G Trophy Final

National League: Lancashire v Gloucestershire (22 August)

Gloucestershire (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by six wickets

Three

National League: Lancashire v Worcestershire (24 August)

Worcestershire (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by four wickets

County Championship: Lancashire v Worcestershire (25–28 August)

Lancashire (22pts) beat Worcestershire (6pts) by an innings and 73 runs

Lancashire recorded an innings victory at Stanley Park in Blackpool against Worcestershire to go second in the Division Two table of the County Championship. Mal Loye and Stuart Law made centuries in the first innings, which became a very difficult one for the Worcestershire bowlers. On the second day, Worcestershire finally got some breakthroughs, as Loye was dismissed for 187 and North for 60, and Lancashire could declare with a total of 562 for 8. Chris Gayle played an innings in typical fashion, hitting eight fours from 25 deliveries before he was bowled by Dominic Cork for 43. Cork also got Graeme Hick for a duck, as Worcestershire closed the second day on 111 for 3. Ben Smith and Vikram Solanki fought back, however, pairing up for 140 for the fourth wicket, and Worcestershire looked confident of avoiding the follow-on with the score on 330 for 4. However, two wickets from Andrew Symonds and three from James Anderson ended the Worcestershire effort for 376, still trailing by 186.

Mark Chilton enforced the follow on, and things went from bad to worse for the visitors. No batsman passed 25, Glen Chapple got four wickets for Lancashire, and by the close Worcestershire were 112 for 9 – needing 72 to avoid an innings defeat. However, with the tenth ball of the fourth day Chapple dismissed Kabir Ali to end with five for 32, and Warwickshire were all out for 113. (Cricinfo scorecard)

September

A four-day match starting on 30 August at

James Anderson then took two early wickets, leading to a long bowling effort for him – he bowled 28 overs, but could not add to his wicket tally, while Usman Afzaal ran away to 147, adding 183 with Bilal Shafayat. Northamptonshire declared eight overs into the last day, with the score 400 for 6 to unleash their spinners on Lancashire's batting line-up – and they did so very successfully. Brown got his second five-for of the match, ending with match figures of ten for 135, and Monty Panesar also got three wickets as Lancashire collapsed in a heap for 103 – with only Chilton passing 20, in a reversal of fortunes from the first innings. (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Essex v Lancashire (7 September)

Essex (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by 55 runs

County Championship: Essex v Lancashire (9–11 September)

Lancashire (20pts) beat Essex (5pts) by eight wickets

In the last session of the second day, Kartik took four wickets, and despite six double-digit scores Essex completed the day on 134 for 6, only leading by 61 runs. Sajid Mahmood then took two on the third day to finish Essex off for 227, setting Lancashire 155 to win, and a 106-run opening stand between Mark Chilton and Iain Sutcliffe brought them to the brink. Two wickets from Kaneria did not stop them, as Law hit an unbeaten 13 to power on to an eight-wicket victory, Sutcliffe ending with 80 not out as Lancashire won by eight wickets. (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Lancashire v Middlesex (18 September)

Middlesex (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by 44 runs

County Championship: Lancashire v Leicestershire (21–23 September)

Leicestershire (17pts) beat Lancashire (3pts) by four runs

Leicestershire prevailed in a match at Old Trafford where 726 runs were scored in four completed innings and Leicestershire's young bowler Stuart Broad and captain HD Ackerman starred. Leicestershire chose to bat after winning the toss, and were taken apart by Glen Chapple and Murali Kartik, who shared nine wickets, while the highest partnership for Leicestershire was worth 53. The lack of veteran bowler Dominic Cork did not seem to bother Lancashire unduly, as Chapple got five wickets for 22 runs and Kartik four for 43. Only Jon Maunders and HD Ackerman passed 20 for the visitors, and they were all out for 165. Lancashire accumulated runs slowly, and their score was 61 for 2 at the close of play on the first day. With Mal Loye out with an injury, Lancashire posted 191, Maunders taking four for 28 and Stuart Broad three for 57 to limit Lancashire's lead to 26 runs. An opening partnership of 63 saw Leicestershire take the lead, but spinners Murali Kartik and Andrew Symonds took two wickets each, while the three seamers Chapple, Sajid Mahmood and Anderson took one each to round off the day. Ackerman was left overnight on 37 – 11 short of the highest score in the match so far.

Ackerman added 30 to his overnight score, but was eventually

National League: Worcestershire v Lancashire (25 September)

Lancashire (4pts) beat Worcestershire (0pts) by 75 runs

Lancashire Lightning ensured continued survival in Division One of the National League with a victory over Worcestershire Royals in a rain-shortened match that was cut down from 45 to 33 overs. David Leatherdale and Gareth Batty took early wickets, as Lancashire lost their first four wickets for 65 runs, but Glen Chapple and Stuart Law added 84 for the fifth wicket, and Kyle Hogg also provided quick runs as Lancashire ended on 186 for 8. The six Lancashire bowlers then shared out wickets, as James Anderson ended with three for 12 including England batsman Vikram Solanki, while spinners Murali Kartik and Andrew Symonds took two each as Worcestershire were bowled out for 111. No Worcestershire batsman passed 25, and thus Worcestershire fell down into Division Two. (Cricinfo scorecard)