Lancashire v Gloucestershire, Rothesay County Championship, Day 1

Gloucestershire, having won the toss, were 164-6 at the close with Daaryoush Ahmed (33 not out) and Sai Kishore (20 not out) providing some late resistance with the highest partnership of the day in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 45.

Anderson, who struck with the second ball of the match in a fine opening nine-over spell of 1-13, finished with 2-33 while Balderson was excellent with his three wickets in the afternoon session putting the visitors in early trouble after most of the morning had been lost to the weather.

Balderson ended the day with 3-35 and also produced a great pick up and throw from mid-on to run out Miles Hammond in the evening session to cap a fine performance on a day where 35 overs were lost to rain.

George Balderson, Lancashire said:

“It was good fun. I think there was a little bit there early doors, especially for the seamers, and then as the ball got a bit softer it got a little bit slower. I think we're pretty happy with where we are in the game.

“I've been bowling nicely at the moment, so I just want to keep that going as much as I can up until the end of the season, see how many wickets I can get and see if I can contribute to a couple of wins.

“I think when you know you're bowling well, you relax and everything just falls into place, and when you're struggling, you have to try and remind yourself of times like this when you're feeling good and what are you doing well.

“So, at the moment I'm just trying to think about what I'm doing in terms of when it's good, because I know there'll be a point at some time where I don't feel great and I want to switch back and look at what I was doing at this moment in time.

“Personal milestones aren't a priority really in terms of our season and where we want to be - and we're disappointed with where we are - but I think going into these last couple of weeks, if a few personal milestones can be ticked then that's a good thing. I’ve never done 50 wickets in a season before.

“Me and Jimmy noticed last week that we were both on the same number of wickets and we were having a little joke about it, but I was thinking he might take me off if I got on a bit of a roll today, but yeah, it's good fun.”