Lancashire v Worcestershire, Days 1-4

Worcestershire skipper Brett D’Oliveira and all-rounder Matthew Waite shared an unbroken stand of 97 to ensure their side drew their Rothesay County Championship match against Lancashire. 

The pair came together with the visitors on 114 for five in the second innings, giving them a lead of 103 in mid-afternoon, when there were still 44 overs in the game. 

But they defied an attack led by James Anderson, whose figures of two for 27 from 15 overs did him no sort of justice, and the draw was certain long before the players shook hands with Worcestershire on 211 for five, with D’Oliveira on 46 not out and Waite unbeaten on 47. 

Lancashire earned 12 points from the game whereas Worcestershire took 11.

Steven Croft, Head Coach said:

“I thought it was a pretty solid week. I’m sure that if we had four days we’d have had a positive result.

“I think we played the better cricket in the game.

“If we’d started at 11am we may have gone out and tried to get 40 or 50 more runs and a bonus point or two.

“With diminishing overs it was important to try and get the ten wickets as soon as possible.

“Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be, but I thought the lads did really well, but we just ran out of time.

“The next two Championship games are at outgrounds, so hopefully we get good weather there should be some results to play for.

“There’s no stopping him (James Anderson). You can’t get his name off the teamsheet or the ball out of hand.

“He leads by example, with the ball and with his leadership qualities.

“He’s played all six games and at the start of this season we did a bit of planning and had a little laugh really at the thought of him playing all six.

“He’s done incredibly well, and shows no signs of slowing down.

“If we had a full roster of fast bowlers, there would have been a natural rotation, plus Mitch Perry was due to come. We’d have probably wanted to keep him a bit fresher but having said that, he’s showed no signs of fatigue at all in his skills set and quality.”

“It’s a privilege to have him around and I’m sure the lads feel that as well.”

Day 3: Worcestershire first innings 270 all out (Matthew Waite 77, George Balderson 3-62), Lancashire first innings 281-8 (Keaton Jennings 69, Paul Coughlin 61). Lancashire lead by 11 runs.

Paul Coughlin made the fastest fifty in the 49-match history of first-class cricket at Southport but the game against Worcestershire seems likely to end in a draw. 

Coughlin hit four sixes and four fours to reach his half-century in 36 balls and his 61, which included another maximum, helped the home side reach 281 for eight in reply to their opponents’ 270 at the end of a day which concluded with a four-over session starting at 6.25pm. 

That brief period of play ended in dramatic fashion when Coughlin was lbw to Tom Taylor’s last ball of the day but by then his 62-run stand with Tom Hartley had earned Lancashire an 11-run lead.  

But Saturday’s washout and Sunday evening’s showers have resulted in the loss of 116 overs in this match and unless one side collapses on the final day, a draw is the probable outcome. 

Paul Coughlin said:

“It’s always good fun when you can score quickly.

“I think this ground gives you that opportunity with its short boundary and the ball seemed to run away quite nicely.

“It was nice to out there and help put us in a good position. With the time out of the game it’s a bit frustrating because we’re in a pretty decent position.

“Coming in to tomorrow, first and foremost we’ll try to get to 300 for that batting point.

"From there we just keep reassessing, are we scoring fast enough. Are these valuable runs or would we prefer the time to be trying to take their wickets while they’re still behind. There’s a few different ways we can go about it.  

“The ground is playing well and it would have been a great four day fixture. “There’s still a lot of time left in  the game, so we’re still pretty positive we can come out of this with a win.”

Day 2: No play due to rain.

Day 1: Worcestershire first innings 270 all out (Matthew Waite 77, George Balderson 3-62), Lancashire first innings 28-0.

Fifties by Daniel Lategan and Matthew Waite enabled Worcestershire to a post a competitive 270 in their first innings on the opening day of the Rothesay County Championship match at Southport.

That represented a fine recovery after the visitors had collapsed to 107 for six half an hour after lunch. Lategan’s 53 had been responsible for almost half those runs but Waite then shared four partnerships, none of them worth less than 25 runs, before being last out for 77.

The most successful Lancashire bowler honours was George Balderson, who finished with three for 62, and the home side were 28 without loss at the end of a day when well over 1500 spectators had crowded into this beautifully presented outground.

Tom Hartley said:

“They got off to a pretty good start.

“From being fifty for none, we thought it could be a long day. But that spell after lunch from George Balderson and Tom Bailey really brought us back into it.

“It just showed the wicket is pretty good once the new ball went. It was pretty flat out there.

“To pull it back, Chris Green did a great job of holding up an end. And to pick up a couple of wickets myself was great really.

“To get that last wicket and survive the night with no wickets down was the perfect day for us.

“After the first hour we found our lengths went a bit fuller, and after lunch we capitalised on the pressure we built. “

We bowled in some great areas and the ball was talking. We were really on top of the game after that. “I knew I was close to the milestone (of 100 first-class wickets). It’s just a great achievement to be honest and hopefully I can get a few more.”