[themaclad]

Keaton Jennings held together Lancashire’s second innings with a patient half-century on a truncated day’s cricket at Chelmsford.

The Lancashire captain batted throughout the 36 overs possible before rain returned at tea leading to a premature end of the day. By that time Jennings, the leading LV= Insurance County Championship run-scorer last season, had racked up 80 runs from 170 balls.

Lancashire lost three quick wickets before 20-year-old wicketkeeper George Bell joined Jennings for an unbeaten fifth-wicket stand of 56 in 23 overs.



When play was finally called off at 4.45pm, Lancashire were 167 for four with a lead of 155 going into the final day. Bell was unbeaten on 30 from 78 balls.

Heavy overnight rain had left puddles in the outfield and the umpires required two morning inspections before deciding play could resume after an early lunch.

There was an immediate surprise as Jamie Porter and Sam Cook switched from their more familiar bowling ends. Porter quickly acquainted himself with the River End and with the fourth ball of the day had Josh Bohannon playing down the wrong line and losing his off-stump.

The change did not inconvenience Cook either and in his third over he found the edge of Steven Croft’s bat with Dan Lawrence taking a smart diving catch to his right at third slip



Dane Vilas showed attacking intent with a straight drive, a flick off the legs and a hook for boundaries before he miscued a massive heave and skied Doug Bracewell to mid-on.

The sun made a welcome appearance during the afternoon to turn it into a one-sweater day; even Simon Harmer had dispensed with the snood he had worn for the first two days.

After losing three wickets inside six overs, Jennings and Bell bedded down into preservation mode partnership that was enlivened by a perfectly-time straight drive off Porter by Jennings and a rare boundary off Harmer through the covers from Bell.

Essex had an injury scare when Cook limped off mid-over as a precaution after landing awkwardly on his left ankle. They were already reduced to fielding Michael Pepper as replacement wicketkeeper after Adam Rossington damaged his hand.

[themaclad]

Saw the morning session, Hartley sent virtually everyhing into orbit, excellent innings

Essex captain Tom Westley weighed anchor for two and three-quarter hours to deny Lancashire the LV= Insurance County Championship victory their batting fireworks looked to have set up.
Westley faced 120 balls in scoring 43 as Essex batted for two sessions to save face, and the game, after a dispiriting morning when they regularly lost balls out of The Cloud County Ground.

Lancashire had set a nominal target of 340 in 68 overs thanks to a perfect example of the Bazball ethos by scoring 184 runs in the 28-over morning session with 137 coming in the final 15 overs. The big-hitting trio of Tom Hartley (73 not out), Colin de Grandhomme (38) and Tom Bailey (25 not out) hammered nine sixes during a sustained period of carnage.



Essex did not rise to the bait, though, and turned the McCullum-Stokes blue-sky thinking on its head as they settled in with the sole intention of saving a game that had lost 103 overs because of the weather. They had reached 128-4 from 58 overs when handshakes were exchanged on the draw at 5.52pm, both teams taking eight points.

Of greater significance in the wider scheme of things, James Anderson bowled 13 overs in bite-sized spells on the first leg of his domestic warm-up tour ahead of the Ashes. While not as venomous as in Essex’s first innings, England’s premier seamer still had the opposition playing and missing with some regularity.

However, anything other than a draw soon became moot, but not before Sir Alastair Cook fell lbw for the second time in the match to Anderson, tucked up without scoring and just five runs on the board.



Essex crawled along to 23 from the first hour when Nick Browne was doubled up by Bailey and became another lbw victim.

Westley and Dan Lawrence saw Essex through to tea two wickets down and 29 overs used up. But four balls after the interval, Lawrence shuffled across his stumps to be undone by an inswinger from Bailey.

Westley’s vigil ended just as the final hour began when he was the fourth to go lbw to de Grandhomme after which he was left to Matt Critchley and Adam Rossington to see out time.

It had been significantly more exciting earlier. Keaton Jennings and George Bell set up the platform for the blitz to come as they took their fifth-wicket partnership to exactly 100, adding 44 in the first three-quarters of an hour’s play, before both fell to Simon Harmer.



Bell had just reached his second half-century of the game by straight-driving Snater, when he misjudged the next ball after sweeping Hamer for a ninth boundary, and was lbw for 56.

Jennings, having started his innings in mid-afternoon on Friday, was finally out for 96 after just shy of six hours at the crease when he had an uncharacteristic rush of blood and lofted Harmer to deep mid-on.

It proved to be the point at which Lancashire went into complete overdrive as they took advantage of a depleted Essex attack shorn of Sam Cook, off the pitch with a hamstring injury.



De Grandhomme launched three sixes from four balls he faced from Harmer. However, when the New Zealander had reached 38 from 31 balls – having put on 56 in seven freewheeling overs with Hartley – he went for one swing too many and had two of his stumps knocked out of the ground by Doug Bracewell.

Incredibly, the tempo increased as Hartley and Bailey put on 81 runs in the eight overs during an unbroken eighth-wicket stand before the declaration at lunch. At one point the pair shared six sixes in a 20-ball spree against Porter and Snater.

[themaclad]

SOMERSET V LANCASHIRE

TAUNTON 4 DAYS 20/4/2023 TO 23/4/2023

somersetcountycc.co.uk/

The County Ground, known for sponsorship reasons as Cooper Associates County Ground,[2] and nicknamed Ciderabad,[3][4] is a cricket ground in Taunton, Somerset. It is the home of Somerset County Cricket Club, who have played there since 1882. The ground, which is located between Priory Bridge Road and St James Street, has a capacity of 8,500.[1] The ground was originally built as part of a sports centre by Taunton Athletic Club in 1881, and became the home of the previously nomadic Somerset County Cricket Club soon after. Having leased the ground for ten years, the club bought the ground in 1896, under the guidance of club secretary Henry Murray-Anderdon. The ground ends are the River End to the north and the Somerset Pavilion End to the south.

Somerset played their first match of first-class cricket on the ground over 8–10 August 1882, beating Hampshire County Cricket Club by five wickets. Later in the same month, the touring Australia national cricket team played a match against Somerset, becoming the first international side to play at the ground. The first international cricket to be played on the ground was in the 1983 Cricket World Cup, for a group-stage match between England and Sri Lanka. The ground also hosted two group-stage matches during the 1999 Cricket World Cup and venue for the tournament in 2019. Since 1997, women's international cricket has been played at the ground, and in 2006 it became the home of the England women's cricket team. The ground saw (men's) international cricket in 2017, with a Twenty20 International (T20I) tie between England and South Africa.[5]

[themaclad]

Unbeaten centuries from Tom Abell and James Rew helped Somerset fight back from a perilous 80 for four to dominate the first day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Lancashire at Taunton.
By the close, the hosts had posted 311 for four after losing the toss, Abell contributing 119, off 242 balls, with 13 fours and a six, and 19-year-old Rew 114, from 240 deliveries, including 16 fours and a six, to an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 231.

It was Abell’s 14th first class century and Rew’s second. They came together before lunch and batted for the rest of the day, barely playing a false stroke.

James Anderson was the most successful Lancashire bowler with two for 56 from 19 overs, but it proved a frustrating day for the visitors after a promising start.

Somerset’s new-look top order has yet to fire this season, with the three signings recruited to strengthen it struggling to make an early impact.

So it proved again under cloudless skies, Sean Dickson registering a third duck in five innings when lbw pushing forward to Anderson in the third over, with the total on five.



It was 24 for two when Tom Lammonby, on 15, was caught at second slip by Keaton Jennings off Anderson in the ninth over. Without a run added, Cameron Bancroft continued his low key start for Somerset, edging a defensive shot off Tom Bailey to wicketkeeper George Bell and departing for seven.

Tom Kohler-Cadmore, the third new player in Somerset’s top five this season, looked to be finding some form, striking a straight six off George Balderson and several crisp fours in a stand of 56 with Abell.

But having reached a fluent 38, the former Yorkshire player carelessly clipped a ball from Colin de Grandhomme off his legs in the air to fine leg where Bailey pouched a low catch.

At 80 for four in the 24th over, Somerset were in an all too familiar position and supporters in a 2,000 first day crowd at the Cooper Associates County Ground must have feared the worst.

But Abell and Rew took the score to 91 for four at lunch and went on to flourish the afternoon session on a pitch offering little encouragement to Lancashire’s seamers.



Anderson’s four overs at the start of the session went for 26 runs, Abell producing one of the shots of the day with a sweetly-timed on drive for four off the England bowler.

Rew, who impressed greatly on his debut season for Somerset last year, punished anything overpitched on his legs or delivered short outside off stump.

Abell was typically unflustered in reaching a 109-ball half-century, with 7 fours, before Lancashire turned to the left-arm spin of Tom Hartley at 165 for four.

The century partnership was brought up off 34 overs and Rew moved to his fifty with a boundary to long-on, having faced 119 deliveries and hit 10 fours.

By tea, the scoreboard read 199 for four, with Abell on 74, having swept a six off Hartley, and Rew on 57.

An Abell four to third man off de Grandhomme in the final session extended the partnership to 147, a record for Somerset’s fifth wicket against Lancashire.



Rew had also been involved in the previous record of 145, compiled with Lewis Goldsworthy against the same opposition on his Championship debut at Southport last summer.

The England Under-19 and Lions player made 70 in that game, displaying an early appetite for batting long in red ball cricket, which was evident again in a patient knock.

Abell went to his hundred with two boundaries in an over from de Grandhomme. He had faced 203 balls and hit 13 fours and a six, rarely looking in the slightest discomfort.

The same over saw Somerset claim a first batting point. Lancashire took the second new ball at 251 for four, but it made no impact.

An exquisite cover-drive off Saqib Mahmood for his 14th boundary took Rew to three figures off 223 balls and he quickly celebrated with a pulled six off Balderson.

[themaclad]

Keaton Jennings piled more agony on Somerset’s bowlers with a flawless century as Lancashire hit back strongly on the second day of the LV= Insurance County Championship match at Taunton.
Having notched a triple hundred against the same opponents at Southport last season, the experienced opener cruised to 124 not out, off 174 balls, with 19 fours, in a total of 302 for one. Luke Wells made 82 and Josh Bohannon an unbeaten 73.

Somerset started the day by extending their first innings score from 311 for four to 441 all out, overnight centurions Tom Abell and James Rew falling for career best scores of 151 and 117 respectively, while James Anderson finished with five for 76 from 28 overs.

That total was soon made to look below par on a pitch offering nothing in the way of uneven bounce, seam movement or spin.



The day began well for Lancashire with two quick wickets, Anderson having Rew caught behind with only three added to his overnight score and pinning Lewis Gregory lbw for five.

A cut single by Abell off Anderson took Somerset to a third batting point, while Lancashire had to be content with two bowling points as the 110th over ended with the score 356 for six.

When Kasey Aldridge, on 14, edged Anderson to Jennings at first slip it meant a 54th five-wicket haul in first class cricket for the evergreen England seamer.

Abell guided a four to third man off George Balderson to reach 150 off 280 balls, with 19 fours and a six, equalling his previous best first class score.

The Somerset captain had batted for 14 minutes short of seven hours when, having added another single, he moved across his stumps and fell lbw to Balderson.



At 370 for eight, the home side looked like falling short of 400. But Jack Leach demonstrated his batting prowess with a quality innings of 40 not out, packed with sweetly-timed orthodox shots.

Aided by some lusty blows from Peter Siddle and Jack Brooks, the last two wickets added 71.

Soon it was the Somerset bowling attack, deprived of favoured new ball pairing Craig Overton and Josh Davey by injury, who were struggling on the unforgiving surface as Wells and Jennings set about Lancashire’s reply.

Wells deposited Gregory over mid-wicket for six in adopting the role of aggressor as the 50 stand was brought up in the 18th over. Two overs later, Somerset turned to the spin of Leach, a move which only served to increase the run-rate.

Wells reverse swept three boundaries off successive deliveries from the England left-armer, the third of those shots sufficiently well timed to clear the ropes.

Another reverse sweep for four off Leach took Wells to a 78-ball half-century, featuring 8 fours and 2 sixes. He then collected a third maximum by hitting the spinner back over his head and another boundary in the same over brought up the century partnership.



Jennings was largely content to play a supporting role, but progressed smoothly to a third fifty in as many Championship games this season off 105 balls, with 7 fours.

It was a major surprise when Wells surrendered his wicket in the over before tea, clipping a short ball from Brooks off his hips to Cameron Bancroft, perfectly positioned to take the catch at backward square leg.

The interval followed with Lancashire 151 for one. There was no respite for Leach at the start of the final session as Josh Bohannon launched him for six with his first scoring stroke and soon followed up with another maximum over mid-wicket.

Somerset suffered a new blow to their already injury-hit seam attack when Aldridge pulled up with cramp midway through his ninth over and hobbled off.



It had become a no-contest between bat and ball as Jennings moved serenely to a chanceless hundred off 158 balls, with 16 fours.

None of the Somerset bowlers posed any threat, Jennings and Bohannon effortlessly sharing a century stand off 102 balls and Bohannon reaching 50 off just 58 deliveries.

It was a relief to the bowlers when, with the floodlights on, the umpires ended play for the day ten overs early because of bad light.

[themaclad]

omerset 441 and 41 for 0 trail Lancashire 554 (Jennings 189*, Bohannon 85, Wells 82, Gregory 3- 81, Siddle 3-97) by 72 runs

Wickets, which retains its status as the best breakfast shop on the circuit, seemed to be thronged with Lancastrians this morning. "Hope you enjoyed yesterday," was the general tenor of their conversation and you can imagine the sort of response that might have received from Somerset supporters with the scoreboard informing us that the visitors were 302 for 1. Even more to the point, Keaton Jennings was unbeaten on 124 having taken his aggregate in two innings against one of his favourite opponents to 442.

There was, therefore, every good reason for the locals to be gloomy before play began and even the omens were hardly propitious. For example, it was Emergency Services Day at the County Ground, which seemed something of an overreaction to the home team's unimpressive draw and its loss at Trent Bridge. But maybe seeing Jack Leach hit for five sixes and going for 103 runs in 17 overs had decided things.

And so cricket, like the lovely old witch she is, served up two sessions to pickle expectations. After a day on which the fall of a single Lancashire wicket seemed a rude aberration, the visitors lost nine batsmen, eight of them to the bowlers and the other to a torn hamstring which Jennings suffered when completing a single at around 12.30pm and which the ministrations of physio, Sam Byrne, could not calm. Luke Wells came out to serve as runner but it turned out that Jennings could not complete the most gentle of defensive shots without pain. After facing two balls from Leach, he hobbled off for the day with 189 high-quality runs against his name.

This mattered partly because it occurred in the 80th over. Four deliveries after Jennings had left the field, Tom Abell took the new ball and Lewis Gregory bowled an excellent over with it. His first delivery shaded away from Dane Vilas, who nicked a catch to James Rew; his fourth had Colin de Grandhomme driving loosely but only edging another catch to the keeper. At this point, Somerset supporters could see Lancashire batters leaving the field with pleasingly unexpected regularity and with the score reading 413 for very few, the locals didn't give a monkey's what had prompted their departures. There are times when you pick apples from the tree and times when they drop of their own accord but they all go into the pie.


The day got better for Somerset's seamers and better for Rew, who had taken six catches and dropped none by the time Lancashire were bowled out for 554. Yes, a deficit of 113 left them on the sharp end of affairs but it was rather better than had seemed probable when Jennings, Wells and Josh Bohannon were scampering along at six an over on Friday afternoon. The cloudy conditions helped, of course, but so did the simple common sense of Gregory and Peter Siddle, who shared six wickets by keeping the ball up to the bat. For the plain truth was that the bowlers who stuck to the disciplines of line and length on or around off stump enjoyed success. That probably sounds like something one might have found in The Daily Telegraph when E W Swanton was in the pulpit but it happens to be the bald truth. Having made 85, Bohannon had been beaten when fencing at Siddle and George Balderson was to depart when cutting at Gregory half an hour after lunch. George Bell made a pleasing 36 before falling to Siddle but Lancashire's innings was now composed of such modest contributions and the change in tempo after Friday's carnage was obvious, even to those spectators getting stuck into the cider on Thatchers Terrace

The weather was closing in as well. Russell Warren and Richard Illingworth took the players off in mid-afternoon and we needed folklore to help us weigh up the likelihood of a resumption. One local made use of St James' weather vane, a Taunton pavilion and a range of local hills: "If the cock's arse is facing the Colin Atkinson and you can't see the Blackdowns, you can put your feet up for a couple of hours," he said.. The first of these conditions was met in mid-afternoon in Taunton but not quite the second, so we came back for the one ball that Leach needed to bowl James Anderson, who was trying to reverse sweep.

It would be eleven overs before the rain returned and that brief session brought further comfort to Somerset. Rather than lose their top order to Anderson and Tom Bailey, as they had done on Thursday morning, they reached what became close of play without mishap, Tom Lammonby batted competently, as the locals know he can, and Sean Dickson made an unbeaten 15 which might seem like manna to him after scores of 5, 0, 0 and 14. At the very least, home supporters can arrive at the County Ground on the final morning with reason to hope their team can avoid a second defeat in three games. The rest of us will have to be mummy's little soldiers and cope with the fact that Wickets doesn't open on Sundays.

[themaclad]

Kasey Aldridge hit his maiden first class half-century to bat Somerset out of trouble as the LV= Insurance County Championship match with Lancashire at Taunton ended in a draw.
The home side looked in danger of defeat when slumping from an overnight 41 without loss in their second innings to 169 for six, a lead of only 56, Tom Bailey claiming three of the wickets.

But 22-year-old all-rounder Aldridge, making his first appearance of the season, displayed a calm temperament to score 58 not out in an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 87 with Lewis Gregory, who contributed 34.

Lancashire were left to count the cost of some dropped catches and had to be content with 12 points after having the better of a contest played on a true batting pitch at the Cooper Associates County Ground. Somerset took 10 points.

The players shook hands at shortly before 5pm at the end of a final day played with the floodlights on from the second over, despite long spells of sunshine.



Somerset began the day needing 72 more runs to make Lancashire bat again and soon their suspect top order was proving fragile again.

Tom Lammonby, Sean Dickson and Cameron Bancroft fell for the addition of only 12 runs, Lammonby, on 23, starting the slide by edging Bailey to second slip where Colin de Grandhomme took a sharp catch moving to his right.

Dickson’s miserable start to the season following his move from Durham continued when he fell lbw to James Anderson moving across his stumps, having added only four to his overnight score of 15.

Bancroft has also struggled to make an impact at his new county and soon followed, caught behind pushing forward to Bailey for four to make it 53 for three.



Tom Abell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore took the score to 90. But when Kohler-Cadmore departed for 16 to another de Grandhomme catch at second slip off George Balderson it meant another failure by one of Somerset’s three new batting recruits.

Between them, Dickson, Bancroft and Kohler-Cadmore have contributed just 256 runs this season in a combined total of 18 innings, without a single half-century between them.

First innings centurions Abell and James Rew again proved more resolute.

Rew survived a straightforward slip chance to de Grandhomme in the slips on nine off Saqib Mahmood before a shower brought an early lunch at 12.50pm with Somerset 121 for four, a lead of eight runs.



The start of the afternoon session brought an even more fortunate escape for Rew, on 28, when Anderson spilled a top-edged sweep at backward square leg off Tom Hartley.

Rew then went on the attack, hitting a six and two fours off a Hartley over to help take the total to 157 for four. At that point, Abell was bowled by a full delivery from Bailey, having looked in little trouble facing 92 balls.

Rew’s luck ran out when he attempted to drive left-arm spinner Hartley through the covers and edged to Luke Wells at slip. But it had been another important contribution from the 19-year-old wicketkeeper following his career best 117 in the first innings.

Aldridge made his way to the crease with plenty of time left for Lancashire to force a victory. Mahmood was soon testing him with a series of short-pitched balls, but the tall youngster was up to the task on the placid wicket.



He and Gregory took the total to 197 for six at tea, a lead of 84, with the second new ball just eight overs away.

It was taken at 227 for six, Aldridge having brought up a half-century stand with Gregory by sweeping successive fours off Hartley. With a possible 27 overs left in the day and Somerset 114 in front, Lancashire needed to strike quickly.

But even Anderson’s fund of skills and know-how proved ineffective on the surface as Aldridge stroked him for two back-foot fours through the covers, the first taking him past his previous best first class score of 41, made against Yorkshire at Taunton last season.

[themaclad]

Nottinghamshire v Lancashire

Trent Bridge 4/5/2023 to 7/5/2023

Notts sit seventh, level on 29 points with Lancashire, who are eighth in the early table having drawn all three games so far - the latest being against Somerset at Taunton the week before last.

Amidst the battle for points, and ultimately prizes, this fixture should see a meeting of England’s two leading wicket-takers in Test Match Cricket, the new ball partnership of Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson.

Between them, they have taken 1,261 Test wickets and sit inside the top five wicket-takers of all time. In fact, no other fast bowlers have taken more than Anderson (685) and Broad (576).



Opponents:
Since being relegated from Division One in 2019, Nottinghamshire have had to be patient for another bite at the top-flight cherry in the Championship.

Coronavirus forced a couple of years of Conference based cricket - one under the guise of the Bob Willis Trophy in 2020 and then in the Championship in 2021.

Last summer, they were promoted as the champions of Division Two, winning eight of their 14 matches. It was success for the county’s leadership duo of coach Peter Moores and captain Steven Mullaney, the ex-Red Rose pair.

There is, of course, a further Lancashire flavour to the Notts team in the form of batter Haseeb Hameed, who has so far scored two fifties in three matches and should open the batting with current England Test opener Ben Duckett.

South African overseas seamer Dane Paterson is their leading wicket-taker with 13.

Notts lost their season opener at Hampshire before beating Somerset at Trent Bridge. Last time out, they lost out in a thrilling finish to Middlesex at Lord’s.

Middlesex chased 249 in the final 40 overs of the match to win by four wickets. It was a finish Broad said was a privilege to be involved in, despite defeat.

Like Lancashire, Notts have since had a week’s break from Championship action.



Opposing player to watch:
Haseeb Hameed, the England fringe opener and the captain of the Lions, is playing a different way to what Lancashire fans would have seen from him during his time at Emirates Old Trafford.

Before being released and signing for Nottinghamshire at the end of 2019, his first-class batting was built on defence and wearing down bowlers.

Now, he has become more expansive to fall in line with England’s attacking brand of Test Cricket.

For example, in a winter three-day friendly between the England senior team and his Lions side in the UAE in late November, he scored 145 off 172 balls. Ironically, he was trapped lbw by Jimmy Anderson.

Hameed, 26-years-old, has posted 217 runs in the opening three Championship matches of the season, including scores of 65 and 55.



What they said:
Tom Bailey has spoken of a satisfying start to Lancashire’s season, admitting of this week’s trip to Nottingham: “If we can get a win, we’d have taken that start (to the summer).”

The county’s leading wicket-taker with 12 across the first three rounds of the Championship believes he and his team-mates have been unrewarded for their endeavours.

In two of the draws, Lancashire have driven the game and been the ones searching for the win - at Essex and at Somerset. In the opening round against Surrey at home, they had to battle back during the second half of the fixture to avoid defeat.

“We’re playing better cricket each week as we go on,” said the new ball seamer, 32.

“We went to Somerset wanting to win the game, but I don’t think Somerset did. They seemed happy with a draw on a flat wicket. That’s just the way it is.

“It felt like we were pretty dominant at Taunton. We’d have liked a few more runs with our middle order, but it felt like we were the guys on top for most of the game.

“We’ve played on three decent wickets, and it’s been tough trying to force a result.”

On this week’s fixture, Bailey added: “It will be a tough game - Notts have got a strong side. But hopefully it’s a result wicket and we can manage to get our first win on the board.

“We’d have liked to have had a couple of wins on the board already, but the lads are playing pretty strong cricket. I feel like we’re going in the right direction.”



How’s Stat!
Jimmy Anderson has a stunning first-class record at Trent Bridge, claiming 86 wickets there at an average of 18.19 with eight five-wicket hauls and two 10-wicket matches.

Anderson’s 18.19 average at Trent Bridge is his lowest at any venue at which he has taken more than 50 wickets.

He has, for example, taken 177 first-class wickets at Emirates Old Trafford at 22.84.

Seventy three of Anderson’s wickets at Trent Bridge have come in Test Matches for England, the other 13 across two Championship appearances for Lancashire against Notts.

Unfortunately for Anderson and England, there is no Ashes Test at Trent Bridge this summer.

[themaclad]

[themaclad]

England fast bowlers Stuart Broad and Jimmy Anderson faced each other in LV=Insurance County Championship action for the first time in five years yet it was Brett Hutton who was the dominant figure with ball in hand on a day of 15 wickets at Trent Bridge.
Hutton finished with five for 66 as Lancashire were dismissed for 214 inside 45 overs after being asked to bat first on what looked a bowler-friendly pitch, although the home side have work to do if they are to secure a first-innings lead.

After John Bohannon’s 68 was supplemented by an unbeaten 48 by Tom Bailey late in the innings, Nottinghamshire were 119 for five when bad light brought an early close, of which Haseeb Hameed had made 57 not out.

Broad took two for 41 and another England bowler Olly Stone two for 58 in the Lancashire innings. Anderson has sent down just seven overs in the contest so far and is yet to take a wicket.

It had looked like being Lancashire’s morning until the last 26 balls of the session saw them slip from 109 for two to 118 for five.

Nottinghamshire initially struggled to find the right lengths, with Broad and Hutton conceding easy boundaries, and though Lancashire lost a wicket in the sixth over when Luke Wells tickled one to the wicketkeeper off Hutton, Bohannon and George Balderson - the latter promoted to open alongside Wells in the absence of the injured Keaton Jennings - added 59 in 53 balls for the second wicket.

As Lancashire rattled along at upwards of five an over, Olly Stone proved no more effective at checking the rate at first change, conceding five boundaries in his first four overs, Balderson helping himself to three in the same over.

Luke Fletcher, the first Nottinghamshire bowler to look as though he could give his captain some control, found the edge to have Balderson caught at first slip, but it was after Steven Croft drove loosely at Broad to be caught behind that the wheels came off somewhat for the Red Rose.

Dane Vilas, skipper in place of Jennings, perished at first slip first ball pushing at one from Hutton, who followed up by drawing George Bell into a shot that had him taken at second slip.


After lunch, Colin de Grandhomme chased a wide long hop to gift Broad a second wicket, before Hutton produced the ball of the innings to remove the threat still posed by Bohannon, nipping one back off the pitch to rattle off stump.

Hutton’s second five-for of the season at Trent Bridge was completed when Tom Hartley fell into a trap set for the hook, Ben Slater diving to hold a fine catch 10 yards inside the rope, and at 155 for eight, Nottinghamshire had Lancashire where they hoped they would be after winning the toss, which .

Yet they had reckoned without Bailey, who took the view that he might as well stick out his chin and throw the bat, even as Stone wound up the hostility. Bailey hit two sixes, one each off Fletcher and Stone, and six fours, three of them in one over by Stone despite one short delivery striking him a painful blow on the upper arm.

Stone ultimately picked up the last two wickets, Lyndon James holding a catch at third man the equal of Slater’s earlier, before Anderson looped one to Ben Duckett at second slip. But 59 runs had been added.

When Bailey then saw off Duckett and Slater in his first three overs, yorking the England left-hander before Slater gave a cheap catch to square leg, Nottinghamshire were 14 for two and Lancashire had their tails up.

Hameed picked up some boundaries as Bailey neared the end of his spell and cut Anderson for another with some authority as he and Matt Montgomery plotted a careful path to tea, but the home side suffered a double setback soon after the resumption.

Bailey was off the field immediately after the interval, but Balderson stepped into the breach, thudding one into Montgomery’s front pad to win an lbw verdict and then having Joe Clarke caught behind off an inside edge.

Nottinghamshire lost their fifth wicket for 85 when James, driving, edged De Grandhomme to second slip, at which point much seemed to depend on Hameed and his skipper and fellow Lancastrian Steven Mullaney if the home side were to come close to the Lancashire total.