Lancashire County Cricket Club in 2005

Lancashire Lightning

Grounds

Old Trafford

Website

http://www.lccc.co.uk/

Captain

Mark James Chilton is an English cricketer. Chilton was educated at Manchester Grammar School and Durham University where he won the British Universities tournament in 1997. The same year he made his debut for Lancashire, aged 20...

Squad

Overseas players

Brad Hodge

Bradley John Hodge is an Australian and Victorian cricketer. He attended St Bede's College in Mentone, Victoria. He is a right hand batsman who bats in the middle order, as well as a part time right arm off spin bowler....

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

Marcus North

Marcus James North is an Australian cricketer, who scored centuries on both his Test and Ashes debuts. He has also played for the Australian Cricket Academy, Western Australia, Australia A, Durham, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Lancashire and Hampshire.He is a left-handed batsman and right arm...

Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik is an Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the India national cricket team since 2000...

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

'Others

James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

James Michael "Jimmy" Anderson is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club and since bursting onto the scene in 2002/03, before his first full season of county cricket, Anderson has represented England in over 50 Test matches and over 100 One Day...

Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple is an English cricketer. He is an all-rounder, and represented the national team in a One Day International, as well as performing well for Lancashire over many years. He bowls right-arm fast-medium, and is a right-handed batsman...

Dominic Cork

Dominic Gerald Cork is a former English cricketer. Cork is a right-handed lower-order batsman who bowls right-arm fast-medium, and is renowned for his swing and seam control. Making his début in first-class cricket for Derbyshire in 1990, he was selected to play for England in 1992, aged 21. He...

Steven Croft

Andrew Crook

Andrew Richard Crook is an Australian cricketer who has played first-class cricket for South Australia, Lancashire and Northamptonshire. He is an all-rounder, bowling off spin. He is the brother of English county player Steven Crook.-References:...

Steven Crook

Steven Paul Crook is an Australian cricketer who plays for Middlesex in English county cricket. He is an all-rounder, bowling right-arm fast medium pace.-Cricket career:...

Gareth Cross

Gareth David Cross is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler and wicket-keeper who currently plays for Lancashire County Cricket Club. He started his cricket at Roe Green Cricket Club in Worsley, Salford. Cross made his first-class debut in 2005...

Andrew Flintoff

Andrew "Freddie" Flintoff MBE is a former English cricketer who played for Lancashire County Cricket Club, England and the Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings. A tall fast bowler, batsman and slip fielder, Flintoff according to the ICC rankings was consistently rated amongst the top...

Warren Hegg

Warren Kevin Hegg is an English cricketer. He played County Cricket for Lancashire. Although primarily a wicket-keeper, Hegg was also a handy lower-order batsman, and made several first-class hundreds...

Kyle Hogg

Kyle William Hogg is an English cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler who has played for Lancashire since 2001. Between 2000/01 and 2002 Hogg represented the England under-19s in six youth Tests and 11 One Day Internationals...

Paul Horton

Paul James Horton is a cricketer for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England and Matabeleland Tuskers in Zimbabwe....

Gary Keedy

Gary Keedy is a slow-left arm spin bowler for Lancashire. He played one match for Yorkshire in 1994, having graduate from their cricket academy, before moving to Lancashire. He has played for the club since 1995 and has, over 500 first-class wickets...

Stuart Law

Stuart Grant Law OAM is an Australian-born cricketer. He is also the head coach of Bangladesh national cricket team, as from July, he succeeded fellow Aussie Jamie Siddons, who left shortly after the 2011 Cricket World Cup...

Mal Loye

Malachy Bernard Loye , most commonly known as Mal Loye, is an English cricketer who has played first class cricket for Northamptonshire, Lancashire, and England A. Loye is a right-handed batsman, particularly well known for his slog sweep shot against fast bowlers...

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

Simon Marshall

Simon Marshall (cricketer)

Simon James Marshall is an English cricketer who was released by Lancashire County Cricket Club in 2008. He bats right-handed and bowls right arm leg breaks....

Oliver Newby

Oliver James Newby is an English cricketer who plays for Lancashire. Newby is a right-arm fast-medium bowler with the ability to extract bounce from a cricket surface.-Career:...

Timothy Rees

Timothy Rees was a Bishop of Llandaff.Timothy Rees was a Cardiganshire man, educated at Lampeter and subsequently pursued a monastic vocation at the Community of the Resurrection at Mirfield in Yorkshire. When in 1931 he became Bishop of Llandaff he was the first member of a religious community to...

Iain Sutcliffe

Iain John Sutcliffe is a former English cricketer who played for the cricket teams of Oxford University, Combined Universities, Leicestershire, British Universities and Lancashire. He played as a left-handed batsman, primarily as an opener in four-day cricket, and as a very occasional spin bowler...

Gary Yates

For the director, see Gary Yates Gary Yates was an English cricketer, a capable off-spinner who played for Lancashire from 1989 to 2004. He often seemed to be underrated as a 4 day player and most of his notable appearances came in the One-Day team. He subsequently became 2nd team captain and coach...

Lancashire County Cricket Club played cricket in Division Two of the County Championship

County Championship

The County Championship is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales...

and Division One of the totesport League

National League (cricket)

The NatWest Pro40 League was a one-day cricket league for first-class cricket counties in England and Wales. It was inaugurated in 1999, but was essentially the old Sunday League retitled to reflect the fact that large numbers of matches were played on days other than Sunday.-Sunday League:The...

in the 2005 English cricket season. After their shock relegation last season, they were 11-10 favourites to win the Second Division of the Championship, and they managed this with seven wins and a total of 212 points. They also survived in Division One of the National League, beating Worcestershire Royals on the last matchday to stay up. Lancashire also qualified for the final of the Twenty20 Cup

Twenty20 Cup

The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...

, but lost by seven wickets to Somerset Sabres.

Lancashire played 17 first class

First-class cricket

First-class cricket is a class of cricket that consists of matches of three or more days' scheduled duration, that are between two sides of eleven players and are officially adjudged first-class by virtue of the standard of the competing teams...

matches in the 2005 season, winning eight, drawing six and losing three, while their season included 21 List A games - with nine wins, eleven losses and one no-result. They also played 10 Twenty20

Twenty20

Twenty20 is a form of cricket, originally introduced in England for professional inter-county competition by the England and Wales Cricket Board , in 2003. A Twenty20 game involves two teams, each has a single innings, batting for a maximum of 20 overs. Twenty20 cricket is also known as T20 cricket...

games, with seven wins, one no-result and two losses, including the final.

Championship

2005 County Championship - Division Two
Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	Pen	Bat	Bowl	Pts
1	Lancashire Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...	16	7	6	3	0	43	47	212
2	Durham Durham County Cricket Club Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...	16	6	8	2	0	45	44	205
3	Yorkshire Yorkshire County Cricket Club Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....	16	5	10	1	0.5	49	42	200.5
4	Northamptonshire Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...	16	5	8	3	0	45	46	193
5	Essex Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...	16	5	7	4	0	51	36	185
6	Worcestershire Worcestershire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...	16	5	4	7	5.5	53	46	179.5
7	Leicestershire Leicestershire County Cricket Club Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....	16	3	7	6	0.5	45	45	159.5
8	Somerset Somerset County Cricket Club Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...	16	4	5	7	0	42	37	155
9	Derbyshire Derbyshire County Cricket Club Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...	16	1	7	8	0	31	43	116

totesport League

2005 totesport League - Division One
Pos	Team	Pld	W	L	NR	Pts
1	Essex Eagles Essex County Cricket Club Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...	16	13	1	2	56
2	Middlesex Crusaders Middlesex County Cricket Club Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...	16	10	5	1	42
3	Northamptonshire Steelbacks Northamptonshire County Cricket Club Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...	16	7	7	2	32
4	Glamorgan Dragons Glamorgan County Cricket Club Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...	16	6	6	4	32
5	Nottinghamshire Outlaws Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...	16	6	7	3	30
6	Lancashire Lightning Lancashire County Cricket Club Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...	16	6	9	1	26
7	Gloucestershire Gladiators Gloucestershire County Cricket Club Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....	16	6	9	1	26
8	Worcestershire Royals Worcestershire County Cricket Club Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...	16	5	10	1	22
9	Hampshire Hawks Hampshire County Cricket Club Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...	16	5	10	1	22

April

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

Somerset County Cricket Club

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

an abandoned match with Glamorgan Dragons (their only abandoned List A match in the season), before they lost to Middlesex Crusaders in their second League match of the season despite having them

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

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

At Old Trafford, Somerset

Somerset County Cricket Club

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

won the toss and elected to field on a seaming pitch after a delayed start. Mal Loye

Mal Loye

was the only Lancastrian to score a half-century, as Somerset made the most of the conditions. Ian Sutcliffe, Stuart Law

Stuart Law

and Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

all worked themselves into the 30s, but failed to progress. Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...

finished the first day on 235 for 7.

Second day honours went to Lancashire. First their not out batsmen, Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

and Sajid Mahmood

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

, took the eighth wicket partnership to 94, and Lancashire finished on 323. Andrew Caddick

Andrew Caddick

Andrew Richard Caddick is a retired cricketer who played for England as a fast-medium bowler. At 6 ft 5in, Caddick was a successful bowler for England for a decade, taking 13 five-wicket hauls in Test matches...

took 4 for 78. James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

and Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

then set about damaging Somerset's batting. Only Ian Blackwell

Ian Blackwell

Ian David Blackwell is an English cricketer. A left-arm orthodox spinner and powerful middle-order batsman, he has played for England in one-day and Test sides, and plays county cricket for Durham, having left Somerset at the end of the 2008 season.-Career:Blackwell was called up for the England...

, who was dropped by Law at slip

Slip (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, a slip fielder is placed behind the batsman on the off side of the field. They are placed with the aim of catching an edged ball which is beyond the wicket-keeper's reach. Many teams employ two or three slips...

when on 17, put up much resistance, with captain and England opener Marcus Trescothick

Marcus Trescothick

Marcus Edward Trescothick MBE is an English cricketer. He plays first-class cricket for Somerset County Cricket Club, and represented England in 76 Test matches and 123 One Day Internationals. A left-handed opening batsman, he made his first-class debut for Somerset in 1993 and quickly established...

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

Paul Horton

Paul James Horton is a cricketer for Lancashire County Cricket Club in England and Matabeleland Tuskers in Zimbabwe....

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

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)

Simon Jones

Simon Jones (cricketer)

Simon Philip Jones MBE is a Welsh cricketer, who played internationally for England. Formerly playing his county cricket for Glamorgan County Cricket Club and then Worcestershire before moving in September 2009 to Hampshire. He is currently on a month's loan with his first county, Glamorgan...

took 3 for 19 for the defending champions Glamorgan Dragons took on Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

at Old Trafford. Afterwards he said, "The older I've got the easier I've found bowling. My control has got better over the last couple of years and that showed today." Alex Wharf

Alex Wharf

Alex Wharf is an English former first-class cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed medium-fast bowler, who ended his career with the Welsh side, Glamorgan County Cricket Club....

and Robert Croft

Robert Croft

Robert Damien Bale Croft is a Welsh cricketer who has played international cricket for both England and Wales. He is an off-spin bowler who plays for Glamorgan and captained the county from 2003 to 2006...

also both took 2 wickets as Lancashire moved to 160 for 8 off 41.2 overs, with Hogg top-scoring with 41 not out. Rain then brought proceedings to a close. (BBC scorecard)

National League: Middlesex v Lancashire (24 April)

Middlesex (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by 69 runs

Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

won the toss at Lord's and put Middlesex Crusaders

Middlesex County Cricket Club

Middlesex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Middlesex. It was announced in February 2009 that Middlesex changed their limited overs name from the Middlesex Crusaders, to the...

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

Jamie Dalrymple

James William Murray "Jamie" Dalrymple is a Kenyan-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler....

, 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

Stuart Law

and Ian Sutcliffe, fell in successive balls with the score on 23. The game saw the return of Andrew Flintoff

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

Leg before wicket

In the sport of cricket, leg before wicket is one of the ways in which a batsman can be dismissed. An umpire will rule a batsman out LBW under a series of circumstances which primarily include the ball striking the batsman's body when it would otherwise have continued on to hit the batsman's...

to Scott Styris

Scott Styris

Scott Bernardo Styris is an Australian-born New Zealand cricketer. An allrounder, Styris is an aggressive right-handed middle order batsman and a right-arm medium pace bowler....

. 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

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

Lancashire County Cricket Club

batted first after losing the toss at Worcester

Worcester

The City of Worcester, commonly known as Worcester, , is a city and county town of Worcestershire in the West Midlands of England. Worcester is situated some southwest of Birmingham and north of Gloucester, and has an approximate population of 94,000 people. The River Severn runs through the...

, and were soon in trouble. At 81 for 3, Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

, playing his first first-class

First-class cricket

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

Wicket-keeper

The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...

Warren Hegg

. In reply, Worcestershire

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

lost Stephen Moore

Stephen Moore (cricketer)

Stephen Colin Moore is an English cricketer. Moore is a right-handed opening batsman who plays first-class cricket for Lancashire County Cricket Club. He previously played for Worcestershire from 2003 until 2009...

early, but Graeme Hick

Graeme Hick

Graeme Ashley Hick MBE is a Zimbabwean-born cricketer who played 65 Test matches and 120 One Day Internationals for England. He played county cricket for Worcestershire for his entire English domestic career, a period of well over twenty years, and in 2008 he surpassed Graham Gooch's record for...

and Stephen Peters

Stephen Peters

Stephen David Peters is an English cricketer. He has played for the county cricket teams of Essex and Worcestershire...

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 WG Grace. However, no other Worcester player scored more than 27 as Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

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

English cricket team

The England and Wales cricket team is a cricket team which represents England and Wales. Until 1992 it also represented Scotland. Since 1 January 1997 it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board , having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club from 1903 until the end...

fans on the third day, as the England regular Flintoff was back to his belligerent best, scoring 83 from 101 balls. Stuart Law

Stuart Law

also made 83, but was slower, taking 152 balls. With support from Dominic Cork

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

Dominic Cork

and Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

helped dismiss Worcestershire for 191 runs, with David Wigley

David Wigley

David Harry Wigley is an English former first-class cricketer. He latterly played for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club, his third county after previously playing for Yorkshire and then Worcestershire, until his early retirement from the game in 2010...

unable to bat because of a broken hand sustained when James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

bowled a beamer

Beamer (cricket)

In the terminology of the game of cricket, a beamer is a type of delivery in which the ball , without bouncing, passes above the batsman's waist height. Such a ball is often dangerously close to the batsman's head, due to the lack of control a bowler has over high full tosses...

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

Mike Watkinson

Mike Watkinson is a former English cricketer who played four Test matches and one One Day International in the mid-1990s...

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 C&G Trophy

C&G Trophy

The Friends Provident Trophy was a one-day cricket competition in the United Kingdom.It was one of the four tournaments in which the eighteen first-class counties compete each season. They were joined by teams from Scotland and Ireland...

and one in the League, to lie third in the Championship table at 9 May. However, they suffered a nine-wicket loss to table-toppers Durham

Durham County Cricket Club

Durham County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Durham. Its limited overs team is called the Durham Dynamos. Their kit colours are blue with yellow trim and the shirt sponsor was...

in the next game to fall down to fourth. There were a further four games in May, and Lancashire won the Trophy second round match, the League match and the University match, and drew their Championship encounter with Somerset to be fifth in the Championship and third in the League at the end of the month.

National League: Lancashire v Nottinghamshire (1 May)

Lancashire (4pts) beat Nottinghamshire (0pts) by 1 run (D/L method
Duckworth-Lewis method
In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...

)

Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

held on to win by 1 run after Nottinghamshire Outlaws

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Nottinghamshire, and the current county champions. Its limited overs team is called the Nottinghamshire Outlaws...

needed 7 to win off the last over. Earlier new Englishman Stuart Law

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

James Anderson (cricketer)

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

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

(who only conceded 2 from the penultimate over) and Dominic Cork

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 (D/L method
Duckworth-Lewis method
In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...

) to progress to Round Two of the C&G Trophy

Andrew Crook

Andrew Crook

scored freely for Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

at Sir Paul Getty's Ground at Wormsley as he broke Lancashire's one-day record with his 162 not out

Not out

In cricket, a batsman will be not out if he comes out to bat in an innings and has not been dismissed by the end of the innings. One may similarly describe a batsman as not out while the innings is still in progress...

. Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

gave support as he scored the competition's fastest ever half-century, making 55 in just 16 balls as the first-class team finished on 370 for 4. They were denied the chance to wrap up the win on the first day though, as rain halted play with Buckinghamshire on 39 for 2. No play was possible on the second day, and with 10.3 overs of Buckinghamshire's innings bowled, a decision was possible on the Duckworth-Lewis method

Duckworth-Lewis method

In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...

.(BBC scorecard)

County Championship: Lancashire v Derbyshire (6-9 May)

Lancashire (22pts) beat Derbyshire (3pts) by an innings and 72 runs

Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

batted first at Old Trafford, but fared poorly, being dismissed for 215, with Luke Sutton

Luke Sutton

Luke David Sutton is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and wicketkeeper. He won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and has also played List A and Twenty20 cricket....

top-scoring with 95. No one else passed 40, however. James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

took 4 for 62, and was the pick of the Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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

Mal Loye

(101) and Stuart Law

Stuart Law

(112) making centuries

Century (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, a batsman reaches his century when he scores 100 or more runs in a single innings. The term is also included in "century partnership" which occurs when two batsmen add 100 runs to the team total when they are batting together. A century is regarded as a landmark score for...

. 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

Spin bowling

Spin bowling is a technique used for bowling in the sport of cricket. Practitioners are known as spinners or spin bowlers.-Purpose:The main aim of spin bowling is to bowl the cricket ball with rapid rotation so that when it bounces on the pitch it will deviate, thus making it difficult for the...

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

Durham

Durham County Cricket Club

recorded another comprehensive win, this time at Old Trafford. After winning the toss, Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

were skittled out for 199, and with Durham making 92 for 2 by close on the first day, they were well on top. This continued on the second day, with Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey

Michael Edward Killeen Hussey is an Australian cricketer, a left-handed specialist batsman. Hussey is also widely known by his nickname Mr Cricket. Hussey was a relative latecomer to both the one-day international and Test Australian teams, debuting at 28 and 30 years of age in the respective...

making 144 and wicket-keeper

Wicket-keeper

The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...

Philip Mustard

Philip Mustard is an English cricketer who plays for Durham and England. Mustard is a left-handed batsman and wicketkeeper, with a style likened to that of Australia's Adam Gilchrist...

77 before they were all out for 338. Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

took 5 for 107, bowling 39 of Lancashire's 107 overs

Over (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, an over is a set of six consecutive balls bowled in succession. An over is normally bowled by a single bowler. However, in the event of injury preventing a bowler from completing an over, it is completed by a teammate....

. Lancashire were struggling again at 135 for 5 at close, and only managed to make it to 173 on the third day, as Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

was the only Lancashire batsman to pass 20. Durham knocked off the 35 runs required for the loss of one wicket. (Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Lancashire v Northamptonshire (15 May)

Lancashire (4pts) beat Northamptonshire (0pts) by seven wickets

Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

eased to a comfortable win against Northamptonshire Steelbacks

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Northamptonshire. Its limited overs team is called the Northants Steelbacks. The traditional club colour is Maroon. During the...

to go third in the table, two points behind leaders Middlesex Crusaders. Northamptonshire won the toss and batted, but 215 for 7 was never going to be enough on a fine Old Trafford pitch, where Lancashire's Mal Loye

Mal Loye

smashed 94 not out

Not out

with ten fours and three sixes. There were good news for England

English cricket team

fans as well - Test

Test cricket

Test cricket is the longest form of the sport of cricket. Test matches are played between national representative teams with "Test status", as determined by the International Cricket Council , with four innings played between two teams of 11 players over a period of up to a maximum five days...

all-rounder

All-rounder

An all-rounder is a cricketer who regularly performs well at both batting and bowling. Although all bowlers must bat and quite a few batsmen do bowl occasionally, most players are skilled in only one of the two disciplines and are considered specialists...

Andrew Flintoff

bowled 9 overs

Over (cricket)

for Lancashire without complain from his recently operated ankle, taking the wicket

Wicket

In the sport of cricket the word wicket has several distinct meanings:-Definitions of wicket:Most of the time, the wicket is one of the two sets of three stumps and two bails at either end of the pitch...

of England prospect Bilal Shafayat

Bilal Shafayat

Bilal Mustapha Shafayat is an English cricketer. He is a middle-order batsman, fast bowler and wicket-keeper. Shafayat was a former captain of the England under-19 side....

in the process.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

Andrew Flintoff

took 4 for 26 in helpful bowling conditions as Essex

Essex County Cricket Club

Essex County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Essex. Its limited overs team is called the Essex Eagles, their team colours this season are blue.The club plays most of its home games...

made only 195 for 9 at Old Trafford. In reply, Lancashire's

Lancashire County Cricket Club

opening partnership of Mal Loye

Mal Loye

and Stuart Law

Stuart Law

put on 53 in 10.1 overs, before Alex Tudor

Alex Tudor

Alex Jeremy Tudor is an English cricketer who has spent two spells with Surrey as well as playing for Essex. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm fast bowler. He was awarded the NBC Denis Compton Award during the 1997 and 1998 season...

dismissed them both. Brad Hodge

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)

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

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

Rain ravaged the match between Somerset

Somerset County Cricket Club

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

and Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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 Michael Burns

Michael Burns (cricketer)

Michael Burns , is a former English cricketer who played for Somerset and Warwickshire in first-class cricket.-Wicket-keeper at Warwickshire:...

(87) and Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Jayasuriya

Sanath Teran Jayasuriya is a former Sri Lankan cricketer. An all-rounder, he played for the Sri Lankan cricket team from 1989 to 2011...

(72 not out

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

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

took five for 56 for Lancashire as they bowled Somerset out for 294. Ian Sutcliffe then lifted Lancashire to four batting points and 351 for 3 declared with his 150, well helped by an unbeaten century

Century (cricket)

from Australian Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

Lancashire won by 10 wickets

A second-string Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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

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

Mark Chilton

and Ian 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

Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

were lethal with the ball at Bristol as they beat Gloucestershire Gladiators

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Gloucestershire. Its limited overs team is called the Gloucestershire Gladiators....

by six wickets in a low-scoring encounter. Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

was the most punishing bowler, taking four for 14 off nine overs (including five wides) as Gloucestershire whimpered to 86, as veteran wicketkeeper Mark Alleyne

Mark Alleyne

Mark Wayne Alleyne MBE is an English all-round cricketer who made ten One Day International appearances for England between 1998/99 and 2000/01...

top-scored with 24 not out

Not out

. Alleyne was one of two Gloucestershire batsmen to make it into double figures. Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis

Jonathan "Jon" Lewis is an English cricketer. He was brought up in Swindon where he went to Churchfields School and Swindon College. He played for Swindon CC and, in Minor Counties cricket, for Wiltshire County Cricket Club in 1993. He joined Northamptonshire in 1994 and played for its Second XI...

, who had earlier on in the day been called up to the England ODI squad to meet Bangladesh and Australia, took three for 40, but it was not enough to stop Lancashire from cruising to the target with nearly 25 overs to spare.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

June

June's Championship run began with two draws, and in between they fell to two League defeats against Hampshire

Hampshire County Cricket Club

Hampshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Hampshire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1863 as a successor to the Hampshire county cricket teams and has played at the Antelope Ground from then until 1885, before moving to the County Ground where it...

and Nottinghamshire

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

. However, they ended the spring season on a high note, beating Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of 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

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

made 148 for 5. They were all out for 175 on the third day, after James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

took 3 and Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

4 wickets. Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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

Wicket-keeper

The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...

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

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)

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

James Anderson (cricketer)

who took two for 18 off 7.5 overs, Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

imploded with the bat at home against Hampshire Hawks

Hampshire County Cricket Club

who moved out of the relegation zone as they took a 79-run win at Old Trafford. Hampshire batted first, and Derek Kenway

Derek Kenway

Derek Anthony Kenway is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman who bowls right-arm medium pace, who can also play as a wicketkeeper.-First-class debut and early career:...

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

Chris Tremlett

Christopher Timothy "Chris" Tremlett is an English cricketer who plays for Surrey County Cricket Club. He is 6 ft 8 in tall and is a fast bowler able to extract bounce on most surfaces. He is a competent number 8 or 9 batsman, with seven first-class fifties to his name...

taking three for 30 while off-spinner Shaun Udal

Shaun Udal

Shaun David Udal is an English cricketer. An off spin bowler and lower-middle order batsman, he was a member of England's Test team for their tours to Pakistan and India in 2005/06.-International career:...

took three tail-enders for 11.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

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

Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

batted first in the Roses match at Headingley

Headingley Stadium

Headingley Stadium is a sporting complex in the Leeds suburb of Headingley in West Yorkshire, England. It is the home of Yorkshire County Cricket Club, rugby league team Leeds Rhinos and rugby union team Leeds Carnegie ....

and though opening batsman Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

was out first ball to Matthew Hoggard

Matthew Hoggard

Matthew James Hoggard MBE is an English cricketer. The 6' 2" Hoggard is a right arm fast-medium bowler and right-handed batsman. He played international cricket for England cricket team from 2000-2008, playing both Test cricket and One Day International cricket. He is currently the captain of...

his partner Iain Sutcliffe

Iain Sutcliffe

made a free-scoring 153 including 26 boundaries. Former England U-19 pacer

Fast bowling

Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...

Tim Bresnan

Timothy 'Tim' Thomas Bresnan is an English cricketer. He is a fast-medium bowler, as well as being respected for his ability with the bat for Yorkshire. He normally fields in the deep. He won the NBC Denis Compton Award in 2002 and 2003. In June 2006 he was called up to the England One Day...

then struck back with three wickets in four balls to leave Lancashire all out for 379 at stumps on the first day. Yorkshire's 335 in reply included solid innings from Phil Jaques

Phil Jaques

Philip Anthony Jaques is an Australian cricketer. He is a left-handed opening batsman who has played first-class cricket for New South Wales, Northamptonshire, Yorkshire and Worcestershire, as well as international cricket for Australia...

, Craig White

Craig White

Craig White is an English former first-class cricketer, and latterly cricket coach.-Life and career:...

and Michael Lumb

Michael John Lumb

Michael John Lumb is a South African-born English cricketer who currently plays for Nottinghamshire and England in Twenty20 International cricket...

, while Lancashire's James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

took four wickets. Lancashire declared

Declaration and forfeiture

In the sport of cricket a declaration occurs when a captain declares his team's innings closed and a forfeiture is when a captain chooses to forfeit an innings. Declaration and forfeiture are covered in Law 14 of the Laws of cricket...

their second innings at 337 for 5, built around a patient 112 from Chilton, and that set Yorkshire 382 for victory. Yorkshire fell to 182 for 8 before a resistant 64 not out from Matthew Hoggard (only his second half-century of his career) saved the draw, as he shared partnerships of 45 for the ninth wicket with Richard Dawson

Richard Dawson (cricketer)

Richard Kevin James Dawson is an English first-class cricketer, who plays primarily as an off-spinner....

and 46 for the tenth with Deon Kruis

Deon Kruis

Gideon Jacobus Kruis , popularly known as Deon Kruis, is a South African first-class cricketer who played in England with Yorkshire County Cricket Club for five seasons from 2004 to 2009...

. (BBC scorecard)

National League: Nottinghamshire v Lancashire (12 June)

Nottinghamshire (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by 61 runs

Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

crumbled in chase of Nottinghamshire's

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

big target of 250 at Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge is a Test, One-day international and County cricket ground located in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England and is also the headquarters of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club. As well as International cricket and Nottinghamshire's home games, the ground has hosted the Finals Day of...

. 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

Chris Read

Christopher Mark Wells Read is an English cricketer, a wicket-keeper who is the captain of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club...

contributed with 68 not out

Not out

- including five fours and four sixes - and with Mark Ealham

Mark Ealham

Mark Alan Ealham is a retired English cricketer, who played domestic cricket for Kent C.C.C. and Nottinghamshire C.C.C.. He is an all-rounder and is a former England international at both Test and one-day cricket....

scoring 35 as well, only James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

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

Dominic Cork

top-scored with 40. Lancashire crumbled to 188 all out in 41.3 overs, well short of the target.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

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

In a low-scoring thriller at The County Ground, Derby, Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

had the pleasure of beating his old county, though it became a tougher task than expected, considering that Derbyshire had not won a Championship match since 2004

2004 English cricket season

The 2004 English cricket season saw the English cricket team record a 4-0 Test series whitewash over the West Indies. Their one-day form was poor, however. In the Natwest Trophy, they failed to make the final, which saw New Zealand defeat the West Indies by 107 runs. And in the Natwest Challenge,...

. Winning the toss and batting, Derbyshire

Derbyshire County Cricket Club

Derbyshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the England and Wales domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Derbyshire...

had a good opening partnership between Australian Michael di Venuto

Michael Di Venuto

Michael James Di Venuto is a former Australian cricketer of Italian descent who played first-class cricket for Tasmanian Tigers and One Day Internationals for Australia. Although he has retired from representative cricket in Australia, he currently continues to play for Durham CCC. He has also...

and Ben France

Ben France

Benjamin John France, born 14 May 1982 in Brunei, is a professional cricketer who has played first-class and List A cricket for Derbyshire.He played for Suffolk in 2003 and 2004 and was the second highest run scorer in the Minor Counties championship in 2004. He made his debut for Derbyshire in...

, but Greg Chapple put the pressure on with some patient, economical bowling and reaped the rewards with three wickets for 29. However, it was Cork who got the most wickets, after taking the last three of the innings to finish with four for 40 and send Derbyshire off for 191. Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

lost two quick wickets in reply, and were in trouble when Warren Hegg

Warren Hegg

departed at 128 for 6, but a fine innings worth 64 from Cork down the order - along with 24 from Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

- sent Lancashire into a 50-run lead. Muralitharan was, indeed, in contention for Man of the Match, bowling 27 overs in succession and taking six for 50 as Derbyshire collapsed to 185, setting a target of 136 to win. Lancashire thought that would be a walk in the park, especially as Ian Sutcliffe and Mal Loye

Mal Loye

paired up for 53 for the second wicket, but they then lost seven men for sub-12 scores and were in trouble at 131 for 9. Only Sutcliffe kept his head calm, carrying his bat to 62 not out, and he and Muralitharan managed to add the required five runs.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

Twenty20 Cup Group Stage (22 June-6 July)

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

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

, but beating Roses rivals Yorkshire Phoenix twice. They thus qualified for the quarter-finals with one game to spare - which was then rained off.

Yorkshire v Lancashire (22 June)

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

Phil Jaques

Phil Jaques

, an Australian, was the dominant figure for the Yorkshire Phoenix

Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....

in the Roses battle, scoring 72 from number three before being out to countryman Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

. That lifted the hosts to 165 for 7, but that was not enough to defend. Matthew Hoggard

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

Brad Hodge

ended with 64 not out for the visiting Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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

Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club

plundered runs off the Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

fast bowlers at Trent Bridge

Trent Bridge

, to recover from their first-game loss to Leicestershire. Both James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

and Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

were taken for 53 in four overs each, as the Outlaws made 198 for 5. In reply, only Steven Crook

Steven Crook

Steven Paul Crook is an Australian cricketer who plays for Middlesex in English county cricket. He is an all-rounder, bowling right-arm fast medium pace.-Cricket career:...

passed 20 for Lancashire, Graeme Swann

Graeme Swann

Graeme Peter Swann is an English international cricketer. He is primarily a right-arm offspinner, and also bats right-handed. After initially playing for his home county Northamptonshire, for whom he made his debut in 1997, he moved to Nottinghamshire in 2005. He often fields at slip...

took three for 32 and Mark Ealham

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

HD Ackerman was the only one who resisted a patient bowling display from Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

at their home ground, Old Trafford. Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

, the Sri Lankan off-spinner, took four for 19 in four overs, yet Ackerman made 79 not out amid the carnage, lifting Leicestershire Foxes to 146 for 7. However, Stuart Law

Stuart Law

took matters into his own hands, bludgeoning twelve fours and four sixes on his way to 92 not out - the highest score of the season so far - and Lancashire won with four wickets and 23 deliveries to spare.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

Lancashire v Derbyshire (29 June)

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

Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

and 23 wides gave Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

a competitive total against Derbyshire Phantoms, making 164 for 8 despite Kevin Dean

Kevin Dean (cricketer)

Kevin James Dean is an English cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a left-arm medium-fast bowler.The imposing, 6'5" tall Dean made his club debut for the Derbyshire Phantoms in 1996 and received the Denis Compton Award in 1998...

's spell of one for 16 from four overs. Hodge made 44 off 34 balls, and Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

- promoted to five - made 28, the only ones to pass 20. Hodge, who came on as fourth change bowler, fuelled the Derbyshire implosion with wickets, as they couldn't hit the ball off the square and were all out for 98 - Hodge ending with figures of four for 17.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

Lancashire v Yorkshire (1 July)

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

Lancashire Lightning recorded the most emphatic victory by runs in the 2005 Twenty20 season, as they had fun with the Yorkshire Phoenix bowlers. After being put in to bat, Mal Loye

Mal Loye

and Stuart Law

Stuart Law

put on 106 for the first wicket, and when Loye departed for 47 Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

followed up with a 17-ball 33, a partnership of 77 with Law. Despite Ian Harvey

Ian Harvey

Ian Joseph Harvey is an Australian cricketer. He is an all-rounder. He was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2004.-Australian career:...

digging into them with two wickets, the early run-rate ensured that Lancashire set a target of 208, Law recording the second Twenty20 century this season - in 56 balls. Ian Harvey

Ian Harvey

Ian Joseph Harvey is an Australian cricketer. He is an all-rounder. He was named as one of the five Wisden Cricketers of the Year for 2004.-Australian career:...

, the man responsible for the first of those centuries, was out early for 1, and wickets fell to everyone as Yorkshire were out for 97 - Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

taking three for 10, Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan

Muttiah Muralitharan , often referred to as Murali, is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who was rated the greatest Test match bowler ever by Wisden Cricketers' Almanack in 2002...

three for 17, and James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

two for 26. Matthew Hoggard

Matthew Hoggard

and Tim Bresnan

Tim Bresnan

recorded the highest partnership for Yorkshire, with 22 for the tenth wicket.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

Lancashire v Durham (3 July)

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

Mal Loye

Mal Loye

and Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

helped Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

to recover after Stuart Law

Stuart Law

was stumped in the second over off Durham Dynamos medium-pacer Neil Killeen

Neil Killeen

Neil Killeen is a former English cricketer who has played for the cricket teams of Durham CCC, Marylebone Cricket Club and Combined Universities....

. Loye and Hodge paired up for 169 for the second wicket, as Loye became the second Lancastrian to score a Twenty20 century this season before he was eventually caught off Nathan Astle

Nathan Astle

Nathan John Astle is a former New Zealand cricketer. He was an attacking batsman who liked to play batting shots such as the cover drive and the pull shot. He also scored the world's fastest Test double century in terms of balls faced. This remarkable innings of 222 was scored in just 168 balls...

's bowling for 100. Lancashire closed on 208 for 4, and only Killeen conceded less than 30 runs of Durham's six bowlers. Astle got the best bowling figures, with two for 37, but his batting helped little - 55 for 37 was never enough to keep up with the asking rate of 10.5. When Durham realised that, they tried to lash out, and a result, wickets tumbled to Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

and Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

and Durham finished their 20 overs with the score on 171 for 7.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

Derbyshire v Lancashire (4 July)

Lancashire (2pts) beat Derbyshire (0pts) by 50 runs (D/L method
Duckworth-Lewis method
In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...

)

Big scores from Stuart Law

Stuart Law

(67) and Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

(90 not out) helped Lancashire Lightning to a massive 205 for 2 at The County Ground, Derby, medium-pacer Ian Hunter

Ian Hunter (cricketer)

Ian David Hunter is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler....

taking both wickets. Law and Hodge shared a 154-run stand for the second wicket. Two early wickets from former England

English cricket team

ODI player James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

pegged Derbyshire Phantoms back, and Brad Hodge

Brad Hodge

took four for 27 - his second Twenty20 four-wicket-haul of the season - to reduce Derbyshire to 106 for 7, before rain intervened with 5.3 overs left in the game. The rain never relented, and it was calculated that Derbyshire's par score was 156, thus Lancashire took a convincing 50-run victory. The victory meant that Lancashire qualified for the quarter-finals with one game to spare.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

Durham v Lancashire (6 July)

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

As Lancashire Lightning were already through and Durham Dynamos already knocked out of the Twenty20 Cup, the rain at the Riverside Ground

Riverside Ground

The Riverside Ground, officially called the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground, is a cricket venue in Chester-le-Street, County Durham, England. It is home to Durham County Cricket Club....

mattered little. Both sides shared a point in the game.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

Final Table (North Division)

EWLINE

1.77
North Division Standings
Team	M	W	L	NR	Pts	NRR
Lancashire Lightning	8	6	1	1	13
Leicestershire Foxes	8	5	2	1	11
Derbyshire Phantoms	8	4	3	1	9
Yorkshire Phoenix	8	3	5	0	6
Durham Dynamos	8	2	5	1	5
Nottinghamshire Outlaws	8	2	6	0	4

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 Twenty20 Cup

Twenty20 Cup

The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...

and C&G Trophy

C&G Trophy

, before suffering their first loss of July with an eight-wicket League defeat to later champions Essex Eagles. The East Anglians stayed for a County Championship match, where 1100-odd runs were scored for the loss of eleven wickets in a draw. In the last week-end of July, Lancashire travelled to The Oval

The Oval

The Kia Oval, still commonly referred to by its original name of The Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, in the London Borough of Lambeth. In the past it was also sometimes called the Kennington Oval...

for the Twenty20 Cup

Twenty20 Cup

The Twenty20 Cup was a cricket competition for English and Welsh county clubs.In 2010, it has been replaced by Friends Provident t20 as the domestic Twenty20 competition.-History:...

finals day, where they beat Surrey

Surrey County Cricket Club

Surrey County Cricket Club is one of the 18 professional county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Surrey. Its limited overs team is called the Surrey Lions...

quite easily in the semi-final but crashed to a seven-wicket defeat in the final at the hands of Somerset Sabres

Somerset County Cricket Club

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

County Championship: Durham v Lancashire (8-11 July)

Lancashire (22pts) beat Durham (1pt) by an innings and 228 runs

Durham

Durham County Cricket Club

were a prime example of how the lack of three men can change a team. Three months earlier, Michael Hussey

Michael Hussey

, Paul Collingwood

Paul Collingwood

Paul David Collingwood MBE is an English cricketer. He has been a regular member of the England Test side, was captain of the One Day International team 2007–2008. He is also vice-captain of his county, Durham County Cricket Club. Collingwood is a batting all-rounder, whose batting...

and Steve Harmison

Steve Harmison

Stephen James Harmison MBE is an English cricketer. Primarily a fast bowler, he represented England in 63 Tests, 58 ODI's, and 2 T20's. He also plays county cricket for Durham....

had been firing for the Durham lads as they beat Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

Leicestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Leicestershire. It has also been representative of the county of Rutland....

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

Nathan Astle

and Ashley Noffke

Ashley Noffke

Ashley Allan Noffke is an Australian cricketer who currently plays for the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League . He previously played cricket for Queensland and Western Australia...

by way of replacement, they collapsed to 167 against the bowling of Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

and Gary Keedy

Gary Keedy

, before Mal Loye

Mal Loye

made a double ton and Dominic Cork

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 the 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

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

scored 101 and took two wickets for 46 to be the difference between the sides at Old Trafford. Having been sent in to bat, Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

owed much of their success to a partnership of 118 between Symonds and Marcus North

Marcus North

, and good lower-order hitting took the total to 249 for 8, despite three wickets each from Sussex'

Sussex County Cricket Club

Sussex County Cricket Club is the oldest of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Sussex. The club was founded as a successor to Brighton Cricket Club which was a representative of the county of Sussex as a...

Pakistanis, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan

Rana Naved-ul-Hasan is a cricketer who plays for the Pakistani Test and One Day International teams...

and Mushtaq Ahmed

Mushtaq Ahmed

Mushtaq Ahmed is a retired Pakistani cricketer who specialised as a leg spin bowler. He was known for his hard-to-pick googly. He memorably trapped Graeme Hick in front with one during the 1992 World Cup final. He was a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in 1997...

. The Sussex chase looked on when they were 112 for 1 with Matthew Prior

Matthew Prior (cricketer)

Matthew James Prior is an English One Day International and Test cricketer who plays domestic cricket for Sussex. He is a wicket-keeper, and his aggressive right-handed batting enables him to open the innings in ODI matches...

and Chris Adams at the crease, as they were just waiting for opportunities to up the run-rate, but instead Symonds and England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

ran through them with the ball, and Robin Martin-Jenkins

Robin Martin-Jenkins

Robin Simon Christopher Martin-Jenkins is an English cricketer who has played for the cricket teams of Sussex CCC and British Universities. He is six feet 5 inches tall. He is the son of Christopher Martin-Jenkins, the cricket writer and commentator...

and Ahmed eventually had to consolidate to 214 for 8, losing by 35 runs.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Lancashire v Derbyshire (18 July)

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

After Mal Loye

Mal Loye

's boundary-filled 73, off just 32 balls, Derbyshire Phantoms were probably happy that they escaped with conceding 189 runs in their game with Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford. Lancashire tried to employ pinch hitters

Pinch hitter (cricket)

In cricket, pinch hitter is the usual term for a batsman promoted up the batting order in order to score quick runs. As attempting to score runs quickly involves playing more aggressive shots and thus an increased likelihood of being dismissed, it is generally considered unwise for a top-order...

such as Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

and Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

to get the runs flowing quickly, but they disappointed slightly, hitting at just over a run a ball. Derbyshire's chase looked possible despite Gary Keedy

Gary Keedy

taking the wickets of Michael di Venuto

Michael Di Venuto

and Jonathan Moss

Jonathan Moss (cricketer)

Jonathan Moss is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler who played for the Victorian Bushrangers from season 2000/01 to 2006/07.-Biography:...

, two danger men, early on - as they were 121 for 3 - but Keedy dug out another wicket, and that spurred a collapse to 139 for 8, part-time off-spinner Andrew Crook

Andrew Crook

joining in with two for 35. Derbyshire needed some big hits from the specialist bowlers in the end, and crumbled to 172 with three balls remaining, James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

getting the honour of taking the last wicket.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Lancashire v Essex (19 July)

Essex (4pts) beat Lancashire (0pts) by eight wickets (D/L method
Duckworth-Lewis method
In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...

)

In cloudy conditions at Old Trafford, Essex Eagles took full advantage after shaking Lancashire Lightning's batting order in a match shortened to 40 overs a side. Only Ian Sutcliffe and Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

passed 15, while spinners Danish Kaneria

Danish Kaneria

Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer . Danish Kaneria has continued the tradition of great Pakistani leg spin bowlers and possesses a very well disguised googly...

and James Middlebrook

James Middlebrook

James Middlebrook is an English first-class cricketer, currently playing for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. He is an all-rounder, who bats right-handed and bowls off spin.-Career:...

shared five wickets between them. Lancashire eventually finished on 154 for 8, and Essex were set 156 to win due to a small rain-interruption in Lancashire's innings. Despite two wickets from James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

, Essex cruised to the target with more than seven overs to spare, Grant Flower

Grant Flower

Grant William Flower is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He is rated among the best Zimbabwean cricketers in history for his handy left arm spin and fine batting skills. He was a fitness fanatic who spends hours in the gym, and was also regarded as a brilliant fielder who was usually seen in the gully...

making 66 and Ravinder Bopara

Ravinder Bopara

Ravinder Singh Bopara is an English cricketer who plays for Essex and England. He is the second Sikh to play cricket for England, after Monty Panesar. Originally a top-order batsman, but with his developing medium pace bowling, he is becoming a vital all-rounder...

an unbeaten 45.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

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

Essex

Essex County Cricket Club

batted resolutely and calmly, without any rush until the fifth session, and quietly worked their way to 536 for 9 declared

Declaration and forfeiture

at Old Trafford. Grant Flower

Grant Flower

made a healthy 115 before being caught behind off Gary Keedy

Gary Keedy

, while his brother Andy

Andy Flower

Andrew "Andy" Flower OBE is a former international cricketer for Zimbabwe and is currently the England coach.-Playing career:...

made 138. Australian Andrew Crook

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

Lancashire County Cricket Club

number three Mal Loye

Mal Loye

replied with 194 after Andre Adams

Andre Adams

Andre Ryan Adams is a New Zealand cricketer of Caribbean descent who has played one Test and 42 One Day International, taking 53 wickets at a bowling average of 31. He has also scored over 400 ODI runs with a batting strike rate above 100...

had dug out the hosts' captain Mark Chilton

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

Alastair Cook

Alastair Nathan Cook, MBE is an English international cricket player. He is a left-handed opening batsman who plays county cricket for Essex and International cricket for England, where he is their ODI captain. Cook played for Essex's Academy and made his debut for the first XI in 2003...

off Grant Flower

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

Danish Kaneria

Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer . Danish Kaneria has continued the tradition of great Pakistani leg spin bowlers and possesses a very well disguised googly...

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

The Oval

on the Twenty20 Cup finals day, Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

lived up to expectations by smashing 217 for 4 in twenty overs against Surrey Lions

Surrey County Cricket Club

- well helped by eleven wides and six penalty runs, although Lancashire's top five all contributed. Only Nayan Doshi

Nayan Doshi

Nayan Dilip Doshi is an English cricketer, who was released by Derbyshire. He is the son of Dilip Doshi, who is a former Indian Test bowler...

came away with some face on the bowling side, taking two for 35, but with Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

making 49 and Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

an unbeaten 52 the target quickly reached dangerously high levels - from a Surrey perspective, anyway.

Ali Brown

Ali Brown

Alistair Duncan Brown , more commonly known as Ali Brown, is an English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club, before moving to Nottinghamshire for the 2009 season. He is nicknamed "Lordy", in allusion to Ted Dexter because of his big-hitting, confident batting style...

and James Benning

James Benning (cricketer)

James Benning is an English cricketer who currently plays for Leicestershire County Cricket Club having previously represented Surrey. He is a right-hand bat and right-arm medium pace bowler...

started well with an opening partnership of 93, as Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

and James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

were taken for runs, but Benning, Scott Newman, Brown and Rikki Clarke

Rikki Clarke

Rikki Clarke is an English cricketer, currently playing for Warwickshire. He was educated at Broadwater School and then Godalming College.-Surrey:...

fell in quick succession to see Surrey struggle at 104 for 4. Mark Ramprakash

Mark Ramprakash

Mark Ravin Ramprakash is an English cricketer, playing for Surrey and England. A right-handed batsman, he initially made his name playing for Middlesex, and was selected for England aged 21...

and Azhar Mahmood

Azhar Mahmood

Azhar Mahmood Sagar is a Pakistani cricketer, . Originally his father objected to his interest in cricket, but later started to appreciate it seeing his accomplishments. As a teenager, Azhar was mentored by Irfan Bhatti who played a One Day International for Pakistan in the early 90’s...

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

Somerset County Cricket Club

Somerset County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Somerset...

completed their run by springing the final upset to beat Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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

Graeme Smith

Graeme Craig Smith is a South African cricketer and captain of the South African cricket team Test Match side, having succeeded Shaun Pollock after the 2003 Cricket World Cup...

and Marcus Trescothick

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

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

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

English cricket team

team-mate Andrew Flintoff

Andrew Flintoff

had him edge behind to Warren Hegg

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

James Hildreth

James Charles Hildreth is an English cricketer who plays for Somerset County Cricket Club. He attended Millfield School, Somerset. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm medium pace bowler. Hildreth represented England at all youth levels including the 2003-04 Under-19 World cup...

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 Bangladesh A

Bangladesh A cricket team

The Bangladesh A cricket team is a cricket team representing Bangladesh, and is the "second tier" of international Bangladeshi cricket below the full Bangladeshi cricket team. The team played its first game, against the full Pakistan side, in 2001/02...

, before a 234-run Championship win over Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

sent them second in the table with a game in hand. Three National League matches followed - with two wins and a loss - before they drew with Yorkshire

Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....

for the second time in the Championship season, sending them out of the promotion zone as they trailed Yorkshire by 1.5 points. The day after the Championship draw with Yorkshire finished, they travelled to Edgbaston

Edgbaston Cricket Ground

Edgbaston Cricket Ground, also known as the County Ground or Edgbaston Stadium, is a cricket ground in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham, England...

for the C&G Trophy

C&G Trophy

semi-final, where they lost to Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

Warwickshire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Warwickshire. Its limited overs team is called the Warwickshire Bears. Their kit colours are black and gold and the shirt sponsor...

. Two more one-day defeats followed, but their last match in August was an innings win in the Championship, which meant that they saw out August in second place.

Tour Match: Lancashire v Bangladesh A (1 August)

Bangladesh A won by seven wickets (D/L Method
Duckworth-Lewis method
In the sport of cricket, the Duckworth–Lewis method is a mathematical formulation designed to calculate the target score for the team batting second in a one-day cricket or Twenty20 cricket match interrupted by weather or other circumstance...

)

Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

put out a second-string side against Bangladesh A, admittedly including former ODI bowler Sajid Mahmood

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

, 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

Andrew Crook

and Ian Sutcliffe had put on 35 for the first wicket, Shahadat Hossain

Shahadat Hossain

Kazi Shahadat Hossain is a Bangladeshi cricketer. He made his Test debut in 2005 during Bangladesh's first tour of England. When he came onto the international scnene he was cited by then coach Dav Whatmore as the fastest bowler in the team. The following year, Hossain made his One Day...

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

Tushar Imran

Sheikh Tushar Imran is a cricketer from Bangladesh who has represented his country in 4 Test matches and 37 One Day International...

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

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

were in the game at Grace Road for exactly two days, after having Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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 Ian Sutcliffe top scoring with 93, as nine batsmen made it into double figures but only Sutcliffe managed a fifty. Medium pacer

Fast bowling

Fast bowling, sometimes known as pace bowling, is one of the two main approaches to bowling in the sport of cricket. The other is spin bowling...

Ryan Cummins

Ryan Cummins is an English cricketer, who represented Leicestershire County Cricket Club. He was born in Sutton, London....

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

Claude Henderson

Claude William Henderson is a South African cricketer who bowls left-arm spin and played in seven Tests and four ODIs from 2001 to 2002...

. 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

Aftab Habib

Aftab Habib is an English cricketer. He has been appointed the coach of Afghanistan national cricket team on September 2011...

made 84 to lift them to 261, only 30 behind Lancashire's first-innings score.

In Lancashire's second innings, Ottis Gibson

Ottis Gibson

Ottis Delroy Gibson is a cricket coach and former player from Barbados. A pace bowler and exploiter of the older cricket ball for the West Indies, Gibson is now head coach for the West Indies. He previously worked as bowling coach for England.- International career :Gibson made two Test...

got two quick wickets as Lancashire fell to 22 for 3 shortly before stumps on the second day, but Australians Stuart Law

Stuart Law

and Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

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

Glen Chapple

and Warren Hegg

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

James Anderson (cricketer)

to bat, thinking he might be better use with the ball. Indeed, 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

Dinesh Mongia

Dinesh Mongia is an Indian cricketer who has appeared in ODIs for India. Mongia is a heavy run-scorer in domestic cricket with just under 6850 runs at an average of just under 50 and his highest score being an unbeaten 308...

and Habib

Aftab Habib

Aftab Habib is an English cricketer. He has been appointed the coach of Afghanistan national cricket team on September 2011...

had added 27, Anderson came back with two quick wickets, finishing with five for 79. Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

and debutant leg-spinner Simon Marshall

Simon Marshall

Simon Marshall is an Australian former jockey and media personality.He often appears in the media as part of horse-racing functions and once hosted a radio show on SEN 1116 with Tony Jones. He also appeared as a reporter for Seven Network's AFL GameDay program.Marshall wrote a biography, Hold ya...

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

Johann Louw

Johann Louw is a South African cricketer.Louw was born in Cape Town, Cape Province. He is a right-arm medium-fast bowler who has represented Griqualand West, Eastern Province, Northamptonshire, Dolphins, Eagles and Middlesex...

, Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

recovered well from an early position of 52 for 3 against Northamptonshire Steelbacks

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

. 80 from Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

, a quick 44 from Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

and a captain's innings of 36 from Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

, took the score to 236 for 9. James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

, the former England

English cricket team

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

Andrew Crook

wrapped up the innings with three cheap lower order

Batting order (cricket)

In cricket, the batting order is the sequence in which batsmen play through their team's innings, there always being two batsmen taking part at any one time...

wickets, and Northamptonshire crumbled to 172 all out.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Hampshire v Lancashire (10 August)

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

Hampshire Hawks

Hampshire County Cricket Club

recovered to post a challenging target after early setbacks, caused by two wickets from Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

spinner Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

and losing Nic Pothas

Nic Pothas

Nic Pothas is a South African cricketer who plays as a right-handed batsman and who fields as a wicket-keeper. In a total of over 200 first-class matches, he has taken over 500 catches...

early through a run out

Run out

Run out is a method of dismissal in the sport of cricket. It is governed by Law 38 of the Laws of cricket.-The rules:A batsman is out Run out if at any time while the ball is in play no part of his bat or person is grounded behind the popping crease and his wicket is fairly put down by the opposing...

. They struggled to 86 for 4 before Shane Watson

Shane Watson

Shane Robert Watson is an Australian cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed fast medium bowler. He mainly bats as an opener in international cricket, although he does not do so domestically....

put them back on track with an unbeaten 106, helped by Greg Lamb

Greg Lamb

Gregory Arthur Lamb is a Zimbabwean cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman who can bowl both off spin and right arm medium pace....

, who made 42. In a match dominated by foreign or foreign-born players, Marcus North

Marcus North

and Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

put on a 94-run partnership to help Lancashire to 155 for 2. However, Australian all-rounder Andy Bichel

Andy Bichel

Andrew John Bichel is a retired Australian cricket player and was the bowling coach of the Kolkata Knight Riders for the 2009 Indian Premier League....

took three for 34, Dimitri Mascarenhas

Dimitri Mascarenhas

Adrian Dimitri Mascarenhas is an English cricketer of Sri Lankan Tamil heritage. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-fast bowler. He currently plays county cricket for Hampshire County Cricket Club, in the Indian Premier League for the Kings XI Punjab and for the Otago Volts in New...

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

James Anderson (cricketer)

tried, hitting two fours, but with nine required off ten balls he was lbw to Shaun Udal

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

Lancashire County Cricket Club

recorded a relatively easy victory at Colwyn Bay

Colwyn Bay

- Demography :Prior to local government reorganisation on 1 April 1974 Colwyn Bay was a municipal borough with a population of c.25,000, but in 1974 this designation disappeared leaving five separate parishes, known as communities in Wales, of which the one bearing the name Colwyn Bay encompassed...

, beating Glamorgan Dragons

Glamorgan County Cricket Club

Glamorgan County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh national cricket structure, representing the historic county of Glamorgan aka Glamorganshire . Glamorgan CCC is the only Welsh first-class cricket club. Glamorgan CCC have won the English County...

by eight wickets. Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

took four for 37 as the Dragons crashed to 173 all out, Alex Wharf

Alex Wharf

Alex Wharf is an English former first-class cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-handed medium-fast bowler, who ended his career with the Welsh side, Glamorgan County Cricket Club....

- who had been promoted to three as pinch hitter

Pinch hitter (cricket)

- top scoring with 36. Mal Loye

Mal Loye

then carried Lancashire past the target with 79 not out, while Stuart Law

Stuart Law

, Marcus North

Marcus North

and Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

all passed 25.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

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

Craig White

Craig White

Craig White is an English former first-class cricketer, and latterly cricket coach.-Life and career:...

and Matthew Wood

Matthew Wood (cricketer)

Matthew James Wood is an English cricketer who plays for Nottinghamshire. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm off-break bowler.-Career:...

gave Yorkshire

Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....

control of the first day of the Roses clash against Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

. Wood made 86 and White 110 not out

Not out

, while the Lancashire captain Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

was stumped for options and had to turn to part-time spinner Marcus North

Marcus North

for seven overs of bowling - which yielded the wicket of Ismail Dawood

Ismail Dawood

Ismail Dawood is a former professional first-class cricketer, currently playing with Cheshire County Cricket Club. He has previously played first-class cricket for Northamptonshire, Worcestershire, Glamorgan and Yorkshire.Dawood is a lower-middle order batsman and wicket-keeper...

. Thanks to hard hitting from Deon Kruis

Deon Kruis

Gideon Jacobus Kruis , popularly known as Deon Kruis, is a South African first-class cricketer who played in England with Yorkshire County Cricket Club for five seasons from 2004 to 2009...

, who finished with 35, Yorkshire ended their innings on 417 after 125 overs, James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

taking the number 10 and 11 to end with three wickets, the same number as Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

. Lancashire set about chasing the total with a massive opening partnership

Partnership (cricket)

In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in partnership, although only one is on strike at any time. The partnership between two batsmen will come to an end when one of them is dismissed or retires, or the innings comes to a close In the sport of cricket, two batsmen always bat in...

between Chilton and Ian Sutcliffe - the pair added 223 and battered Chris Silverwood

Chris Silverwood

Christopher Eric Wilfred Silverwood is an English first-class cricketer.Educated at Garforth Comprehensive School in Leeds, as a right-arm fast-medium pace bowler Silverwood made his debut for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in 1993...

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

Wicket-keeper

The wicket-keeper in the sport of cricket is the player on the fielding side who stands behind the wicket or stumps being guarded by the batsman currently on strike...

Dawood off Tim Bresnan

Tim Bresnan

's bowling, and Bresnan got another wicket when he trapped Mal Loye

Mal Loye

lbw. Bresnan and Deon Kruis

Deon Kruis

Gideon Jacobus Kruis , popularly known as Deon Kruis, is a South African first-class cricketer who played in England with Yorkshire County Cricket Club for five seasons from 2004 to 2009...

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

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

, and half-centuries from Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

and Warren Hegg

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

Craig White

Craig White is an English former first-class cricketer, and latterly cricket coach.-Life and career:...

, Anthony McGrath

Anthony McGrath

Anthony McGrath is an English first-class cricketer, who plays county cricket for Yorkshire County Cricket Club. He is a right-handed batsman and bowls part-time right-arm medium pace and has twice captained Yorkshire, in the 2003 and 2009 seasons.-England:McGrath made his Test match debut for...

and Matthew Wood

Matthew Wood (cricketer)

Matthew James Wood is an English cricketer who plays for Nottinghamshire. He is a right-handed batsman and occasional right-arm off-break bowler.-Career:...

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

Warwickshire

Warwickshire County Cricket Club

put in a fine bowling effort to send Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

out of the C&G Trophy

C&G Trophy

, despite Lancashire's Australian

Australian cricket team

The Australian cricket team is the national cricket team of Australia. It is the joint oldest team in Test cricket, having played in the first Test match in 1877...

Marcus North

taking three wickets. North's bowling - and others, Sajid Mahmood

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

took two wickets - set Warwickshire back to 155 for 7, but Michael Powell and Trevor Frost put on an eighth-wicket partnership

Partnership (cricket)

of 81 runs to carry Warwickshire to a total of 236 for 8 after 50 overs

Over (cricket)

. Lancashire looked on track when Mal Loye

Mal Loye

and Stuart Law

Stuart Law

negotiated some tricky early bowling to put on 49 for the fourth wicket and see the score to 80 for 3, but medium pacer Jamie Anyon took two wickets, and a fiery spell from Neil Carter, which included two wickets to see him end with four for 26, had Lancashire bowled out for 137.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Lancashire v Gloucestershire (22 August)

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

Three centuries

Century (cricket)

were recorded at Old Trafford, as Gloucestershire Gladiators

Gloucestershire County Cricket Club

snatched a victory over the hosting Lancashire Lightning after being regarded with no chance earlier on. The Gladiators won the toss and got immediate success, as Jon Lewis

Jon Lewis

dismissed Mal Loye

Mal Loye

with the second ball

Delivery (cricket)

A delivery or ball in cricket is a single action of bowling a cricket ball towards the batsman.During play of the game, a member of the fielding team is designated as the bowler, and bowls deliveries towards the batsman...

of the day, but pretty much everything went against Gloucestershire from then on, as Stuart Law

Stuart Law

, Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

and Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

flayed the bowling to all corners. Symonds took 88 balls for his century, and went on to make 129 before being bowled

Bowled

Bowled is a method of dismissing a batsman in the sport of cricket. This method of dismissal is covered by Law 30 of the Laws of cricket.A batsman is out bowled if his wicket is put down by a ball delivered by the bowler...

by James Averis

James Averis

James Maxwell Michael Averis is a retired English cricket player who played for the cricket teams of Oxford University and Gloucestershire. He also played professional rugby for Harlequins and Bristol...

- who finished with four for 40. Law and Chilton also made fifties, but Averis' late spell and a slow 39-ball 11 from Marcus North

Marcus North

ensured that the total ended on 267 for 7. Then, James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

had three men caught off his bowling, as Gloucestershire crashed to 47 for 4. However, Anderson finished his spell, and Ramnaresh Sarwan

Ramnaresh Sarwan

Ramnaresh Ronnie Sarwan is a West Indian cricketer of Indo-Guyanese origin and a member of the West Indies cricket team....

crafted a century - which was shortly followed by Mark Hardinges

Mark Hardinges

Mark Andrew Hardinges is an English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and a right-arm medium-pace bowler....

reaching his first one-day century of his career, and in the process lifting his List A career batting average

Batting average

Batting average is a statistic in both cricket and baseball that measures the performance of cricket batsmen and baseball hitters. The two statistics are related in that baseball averages are directly descended from the concept of cricket averages.- Cricket :...

from 14.23 to 17.50, still below par for a specialist batsman like Hardinges. However, the pair added 221 runs in 116 minutes for the fifth wicket

Partnership (cricket)

, hitting six sixes along the way, as they guided Gloucestershire out of the relegation zone in the National League

National League (cricket)

.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Lancashire v Worcestershire (24 August)

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

Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle

Christopher Henry "Chris" Gayle is a Jamaican cricketer who currently plays international cricket for the West Indies. He captained the West Indies' side from 2007 to 2010. He plays domestic cricket for Jamaica, and has also represented Worcestershire, the Western Warriors and the Kolkata Knight...

, Worcestershire's

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

new overseas player after Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar

Shoaib Akhtar is a former Pakistani right arm fast bowler in cricket, who is regarded as the fastest bowler in the history of cricket. He set an official world record by achieving the fastest delivery, when he clocked in at 161.3 km/h in his bowling speed, twice at a cricket match against...

left to play in the 2005 Afro-Asian Cup

2005 Afro-Asian Cup

The Afro-Asia Cup was a cricket competition played for the first time in 2005 and which is intended to run for at least three years. The idea was to raise money for the Asian Cricket Council and the African Cricket Association, and the whole venture was given a massive boost when the ICC, somewhat...

, helped Worcestershire Royals to an important victory in the National League

National League (cricket)

, while Lancashire Lightning suffered their third one-day defeat in five days. Having won the toss and batted, Lancashire regularly lost wickets, and the innings of Australian Marcus North

Marcus North

was symptomatic - he made a 19-ball 2. Stuart Law

Stuart Law

, however, scored 82, and was along with Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

the only batsman to really keep up the scoring rate. Lancashire could only muster a total of 195 for 9, and defending that target quickly became difficult ash Gayle

Chris Gayle

slashed eight fours and a six on his way to a 41-ball 53. Despite Chapple

Glen Chapple

's returns of 9-0-23-4 and Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

taking two for 47, Worcestershire made it to the target with four wickets and 5.3 overs in hand.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

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

Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

recorded an innings victory at Stanley Park in Blackpool

Blackpool

Blackpool is a borough, seaside town, and unitary authority area of Lancashire, in North West England. It is situated along England's west coast by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre estuaries, northwest of Preston, north of Liverpool, and northwest of Manchester...

against Worcestershire

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

to go second in the Division Two table of the County Championship. Mal Loye

Mal Loye

and Stuart Law

Stuart Law

made centuries

Century (cricket)

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

Declaration and forfeiture

with a total of 562 for 8. Chris Gayle

Chris Gayle

played an innings in typical fashion, hitting eight fours from 25 deliveries

Delivery (cricket)

before he was bowled

Bowled

by Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

for 43. Cork also got Graeme Hick

Graeme Hick

for a duck, as Worcestershire closed the second day on 111 for 3. Ben Smith and Vikram Solanki

Vikram Solanki

Vikram Singh Solanki is an Indian-born English cricketer, who plays county cricket for Worcestershire. In 2007, he became the 24th Worcestershire batsman to pass 10,000 career runs for the county. He also captained Worcestershire from 2005 to 2010, before resigning mid-season...

fought back, however, pairing up for 140 for the fourth wicket, and Worcestershire looked confident of avoiding the follow-on

Follow-on

Follow-on is a term used in the sport of cricket to describe a situation where the team that bats second is forced to take its second batting innings immediately after its first, because the team was not able to get close enough to the score achieved by the first team batting in the first innings...

with the score on 330 for 4. However, two wickets from Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

and three from James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

ended the Worcestershire effort for 376, still trailing by 186.

Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

enforced the follow on, and things went from bad to worse for the visitors. No batsman passed 25, Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

got four wicket

Wicket

s for Lancashire, and by the close Worcestershire were 112 for 9 - needing 72 to avoid an innings defeat. However, with the tenth ball

Delivery (cricket)

of the fourth day Chapple dismissed Kabir Ali

Kabir Ali

Kabir Ali is an English cricketer who currently plays for Hampshire in the English County Championship. A right-arm seam bowler and useful lower-order right-handed batsman, outside cricket he works as a model...

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 Wantage Road in Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

, however, ended in defeat, as did a one-day game in Essex. Four days later they came back to defeat Essex in the Championship to secure promotion, before suffering their fourth consecutive League loss in succession - this time to Middlesex Crusaders - which left the relegation battle in Division Two wide open, with four teams tied on points from sixth to ninth place, thus Lancashire's match with Worcestershire on 25 September looked to be crucial. Lancashire lost their final Championship match of the season, as Leicestershire took a four-run victory, yet won the Division Two with a seven-point margin to runners-up Durham

Durham County Cricket Club

, and escaped relegation on the final day of the National League with a 75-run win over Worcestershire - sending their opponents down in Division Two.

County Championship: Northamptonshire v Lancashire (30 August-2 September)

Northamptonshire (19pts) beat Lancashire (6pts) by 285 runs

Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

recorded their fourth win of the season thanks to their top order batting and their spin bowling. They had won the toss and batted, placing themselves well at 224 for 4, but the last six wickets yielded only 63 runs, and Lancashire seamer Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

could take three late wickets to end with four for 27. Northamptonshire were bowled out early on the second morning for 289, but immediately hit back, Damien Wright

Damien Wright

Damien Geoffrey Wright is an Australian cricketer, who plays for the Victorian Bushrangers and Worcestershire County Cricket Club. Wright made his first-class debut for Tasmania in 1997. In 2002 he played in the Scottish cricket team as their one permitted overseas player—he also had...

dismissing Lancashire's

Lancashire County Cricket Club

captain Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

for 0. In a bowling effort dominated by spinners

Spin bowling

- Jason Brown

Jason Brown (cricketer)

Jason Fred Brown is a cricketer who has previously played for Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, England A and Staffordshire.-Career:...

and Monty Panesar

Monty Panesar

Mudhsuden Singh Panesar, known as Monty Panesar , is an English cricketer who currently plays for Sussex. A left-arm spinner, Panesar played Test and one-day cricket for England until 2009. In English county cricket he played for Northamptonshire until 2009...

sharing 68 of the 94 overs

Over (cricket)

bowled - Northamptonshire tugged away, and but for Stuart Law

Stuart Law

's 111, the hosts might have got a first innings lead. However, it was Lancashire who got a lead of 12, with Brown taking five for 113 from 36.3 overs.

James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

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

Usman Afzaal

Usman Afzaal is a Pakistani-born cricketer who has played three Test matches for England, all against Australia in 2001. He is a left-handed middle order batsman and occasional left arm slow bowler....

ran away to 147, adding 183 with Bilal Shafayat

Bilal Shafayat

Bilal Mustapha Shafayat is an English cricketer. He is a middle-order batsman, fast bowler and wicket-keeper. Shafayat was a former captain of the England under-19 side....

. Northamptonshire declared

Declaration and forfeiture

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

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

Dutch

Dutch cricket team

The Dutch cricket team is a national cricket team representing the Netherlands. It is administered by the Koninklijke Nederlandse Cricket Bond which is based in Nieuwegein in the centre of the country and is older than many renowned cricket clubs in the West Indies, Australia, and New...

-South African

South African cricket team

The South African national cricket team represent South Africa in international cricket. They are administrated by Cricket South Africa.South Africa is a full member of the International Cricket Council, also known as ICC, with Test and One Day International, or ODI, status...

Ryan ten Doeschate

Ryan Neil ten Doeschate is a South African-born cricketer who plays internationally for the Netherlands due to his Dutch ancestry. He has played cricket for Essex since 2003....

hammered a career-best 89 not out

Not out

as Essex Eagles

Essex County Cricket Club

powered their way to 273 for 6 at Chelmsford. His innings included five sixes and four fours, as Sajid Mahmood

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

was the main recipient of his boundary-hitting - ending with figures of two for 67 in nine overs. England Under-19 player Tom Smith

Tom Smith (cricketer)

Thomas Christopher Smith, , is a cricketer who currently plays for Lancashire County Cricket Club. He has also been a member of the England Academy team. In 2008, he played for Leicestershire on loan because he was unable to break into Lancashire's first team. He is an all-rounder, bowling...

, who had taken 15 Test wickets in three U-19 matches with Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka Under-19 cricket team in England in 2005

Sri Lanka Under-19s toured England in July and August 2005. They played three "One Day Internationals" and three "Tests" against the England Under-19 side. The England Under-19s were completely dominant, winning two of three ODIs and three Tests, and the third of the ODIs was declared a no result...

, proved that the gap between Under-19 cricket and List A cricket is huge, as he finished with 42 off his five overs. When Lancashire Lightning batted, Darren Gough

Darren Gough

Darren Gough is a retired English cricketer and former captain of Yorkshire County Cricket Club. The spearhead of England's bowling attack through much of the 1990s, he is England's highest wicket-taker in one-day internationals with 234, and took 229 wickets in his 58 Test matches, making him...

got an early wicket of Ian Sutcliffe, and despite scores in the 30s from Andrew Crook

Andrew Crook

and Mal Loye

Mal Loye

, Lancashire lost their first four wickets for 91 runs. Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

rebuilt with Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

, but once Symonds was bowled

Bowled

by Gough - who ended with four for 31 - there was nowhere to hide for Lancashire. Kyle Hogg

Kyle Hogg

blitzed his way to 36, lifting Lancashire to 218, but they still suffered a comprehensive loss.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

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

Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

's Indian

Indian cricket team

The Indian cricket team is the national cricket team of India. Governed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India , it is a full member of the International Cricket Council with Test and One Day International status....

spinner

Spin bowling

Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik is an Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the India national cricket team since 2000...

got match figures of ten for 168 at The County Ground, Chelmsford, helping them to promotion in Division Two of the County Championship with two weeks to spare. Essex

Essex County Cricket Club

won the toss and chose to bat first, and were bowled out for 267, Kartik taking five and James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

three wickets. They struggled to 145 for 7, despite Alastair Cook

Alastair Cook

's 64, but James Middlebrook

James Middlebrook

James Middlebrook is an English first-class cricketer, currently playing for Northamptonshire County Cricket Club. He is an all-rounder, who bats right-handed and bowls off spin.-Career:...

and Andre Adams

Andre Adams

rescued them to two batting points in the first innings. Ian Sutcliffe and Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

added 94 for the first wicket, but Adams and Danish Kaneria

Danish Kaneria

Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer . Danish Kaneria has continued the tradition of great Pakistani leg spin bowlers and possesses a very well disguised googly...

fought back with two wickets each, as Lancashire ended on 139 for 4. On the second day, Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

and Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

both made fifties, sharing a 136-run stand with sent Lancashire to 340 - before spinners Middlebrook and Danish Kaneria

Danish Kaneria

Danish Prabha Shanker Kaneria is a Pakistani cricketer . Danish Kaneria has continued the tradition of great Pakistani leg spin bowlers and possesses a very well disguised googly...

removed the last four wickets for no further score.

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

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

then took two on the third day to finish Essex off for 227, setting Lancashire 155 to win, and a 106-run opening stand

Partnership (cricket)

between Mark Chilton

Mark Chilton

and Ian 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

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

Middlesex Crusaders' middle-order batsman Jamie Dalrymple

Jamie Dalrymple

James William Murray "Jamie" Dalrymple is a Kenyan-born English cricketer. He is a right-handed batsman and off-spin bowler....

took the Lancashire Lightning bowlers on to hit 63 from 33 balls in the late overs of the match at Old Trafford, as the Lightning were sent into the relegation zone in Division One. Middlesex batted first, with Paul Weekes

Paul Weekes

Paul Nicholas Weekes is an English cricketer. He is a left-handed batsman and a right-arm offspin bowler.Born in Hackney, Weekes made his first-class debut for Middlesex in 1990. He is the only English cricketer to have scored more than 150 runs in both innings of a first class game. He has twice...

and Ed Smith

Ed Smith (cricketer)

Edward Thomas Smith is an English author and journalist, and former professional cricketer.-Background:He is the son of the novelist Jonathan Smith...

adding 90 for the first wicket, before Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik is an Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the India national cricket team since 2000...

broke through thrice - ending with three for 43. Owais Shah

Owais Shah

Owais Alam Shah is an English cricketer. A middle-order batsman, he played for Middlesex between 1996-2010, before joining Essex CCC in the winter of 2010. He has represented England in all forms of the games.Between 2001 and 2009, he played 71 ODIs and 17 Twenty20 Internationals...

and Dalrymple added 76 for the fourth wicket, however, hitting 21 boundaries on their way to half-centuries, and Middlesex posted a total of 263 for 4. Mal Loye

Mal Loye

swatted two sixes and a four before being caught by Dalrymple for 19, who took four catches in the Lancashire innings - including one off his own bowling. The Lightning fell to 94 for 5, with four Middlesex bowlers getting one wicket each, and despite all-rounder

All-rounder

Glen Chapple

recording his first one-day half-century of the season with 71, and they were bowled out for 219 an over before the end.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

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

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

Leicestershire

Leicestershire County Cricket Club

prevailed in a match at Old Trafford where 726 runs were scored in four completed innings and Leicestershire's young bowler Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad

Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...

and captain HD Ackerman starred. Leicestershire chose to bat after winning the toss, and were taken apart by Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

and Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik is an Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the India national cricket team since 2000...

, who shared nine wickets, while the highest partnership for Leicestershire was worth 53. The lack of veteran bowler Dominic Cork

Dominic Cork

did not seem to bother Lancashire

Lancashire County Cricket Club

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

Mal Loye

out with an injury, Lancashire posted 191, Maunders taking four for 28 and Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad

Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...

three for 57 to limit Lancashire's lead to 26 runs. An opening partnership of 63 saw Leicestershire take the lead, but spinners

Spin bowling

Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik is an Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the India national cricket team since 2000...

and Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

took two wickets each, while the three seamers Chapple, Sajid Mahmood

Sajid Mahmood

Sajid "Saj" Iqbal Mahmood is an English cricketer of Pakistani descent...

and Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

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 bowled

Bowled

by Anderson, who took three wickets on the third day to end with innings figures of four for 45. Lancashire were set 175 to win, and at one point needed 102 with nine wickets in hand. However, England Under-19 prodigy Stuart Broad

Stuart Broad

Stuart Christopher John Broad is a cricketer who plays Test and One Day International cricket for England and is currently the captain of their Twenty20 team...

removed three men for five runs with his seam bowling, and wickets fell regularly after that - Dinesh Mongia

Dinesh Mongia

and Charl Willoughby

Charl Willoughby

Charl Myles Willoughby is a South African cricketer who played two Tests and three ODIs for South Africa between 2000 and 2003. He played for Boland and Western Province before spending two seasons with the Cape Cobras. He has also played English county cricket, and after a season with...

taking two each. Lancashire eventually needed 18 for the last wicket to win, and Mal Loye

Mal Loye

stepped in to bat despite an injury - he battled for half an hour, scoring three runs, but his batting partner Anderson was caught by David Robinson

David Robinson (cricketer)

David Robinson was an English cricketer. He was a right-handed batsman and wicket-keeper who played for Dorset. He was born in Alfreton, Derbyshire....

, leaving Lancashire all out for 170, five runs short of victory. However, despite the loss, Lancashire were almost assured of the Division Two victory, as their main competitors Yorkshire

Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Yorkshire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Yorkshire as one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure....

were still trailing in their match with Northamptonshire

Northamptonshire County Cricket Club

.
(Cricinfo scorecard)

National League: Worcestershire v Lancashire (25 September)

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

Lancashire Lightning

Lancashire County Cricket Club

ensured continued survival in Division One of the National League with a victory over Worcestershire Royals

Worcestershire County Cricket Club

Worcestershire County Cricket Club is one of the 18 major county clubs which make up the English and Welsh domestic cricket structure, representing the historic county of Worcestershire...

in a rain-shortened match that was cut down from 45 to 33 overs

Over (cricket)

. David Leatherdale

David Leatherdale

David Antony Leatherdale is a former English cricketer. He played county cricket for Worcestershire....

and Gareth Batty

Gareth Batty

Gareth Jon Batty is an English cricketer, more specifically a spin-bowler. He is the younger brother of the former Yorkshire and Somerset off-spinner, Jeremy Batty.-Life and career:...

took early wickets, as Lancashire lost their first four wickets for 65 runs, but Glen Chapple

Glen Chapple

and Stuart Law

Stuart Law

added 84 for the fifth wicket, and Kyle Hogg

Kyle Hogg

also provided quick runs as Lancashire ended on 186 for 8. The six Lancashire bowlers then shared out wickets, as James Anderson

James Anderson (cricketer)

ended with three for 12 including England batsman Vikram Solanki

Vikram Solanki

, while spinners Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik

Murali Kartik is an Indian cricketer who sporadically represented the India national cricket team since 2000...

and Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds

Andrew Symonds is a former Australian cricket team all-rounder. A two-time World Cup winner, Symonds is a right-handed middle order batsman and alternates between medium pace and off-spin bowling....

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)

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