MATCH REPORT: Bohannon and Croft steer Lancs to a draw with Surrey
A battling century by birthday boy Josh Bohannon and equally resolute half century from Steven Croft headed a great fightback by Lancashire to force a draw in this LV= County Championship match with Surrey.
The pair batted from mid-morning through to the middle of the evening session in a 173-run partnership to frustrate the visitors who had hoped to force a win following their declaration yesterday but only managed to take three wickets.
Having been set a notional target of 444 runs and starting the day on 37-0, Red Rose openers Luke Wells and Keaton Jennings started circumspectly – apart from when Wells clipped an over-pitched leg side delivery from Dan Worrall for six over square leg in the sixth over of the morning.
The opening pair were in fact progressing calmly and confidently until both were out within seven balls with the score on 65 after an hour’s play.
Jennings was bowled by Clark for 16 after chopping-on, while Wells was left hanging his head in despair after top-edging a pull off a short ball from Kemar Roach straight to Dan Worrall at fine leg to depart for 45.
That double-dismissal put a new complexion on the morning session with the now 26-year-old Bohannon and Croft producing some resolute defence to keep the newly energised Surrey attack at bay.
Bohannon had an escape when he had scored just two, Ollie Pope failing to hang on to a diving catch after the batter had edged to first slip off Sean Abbott.
Unperturbed Bohannon then square drove Abbott for four in the same over, and he went on to play some eye-catching drives off front and back foot as the day progressed to make the visitors rue their missed opportunity.
Croft provided rock solid support at the other end, and having safely reached lunch the pair steadily picked their way through the afternoon session against an increasingly demoralised visiting attack who found it hard to get any encouragement from a good pitch.
The century partnership arrived from 220 balls with, perhaps, the latter statistic the more important as Bohannon and Croft steadily worked their way through overs to reach tea on 196-2.
The arrival of the new ball seven overs after the break made little difference, save for the unexpected dismissal of Bohannon bowled for 108 by Worrall, soon after reaching a fabulous century from 173 balls that included 14 fours.
Croft remained there until the end, unbeaten on 56, with Lancashire 247-3 when the players shook hands on the draw that earned Lancashire 9 points and Surrey 12.
Josh Bohannon hailed the support he received from Steven Croft during their lengthy alliance today. “It was a great partnership,” he said, “especially given the way they bowled.”
“The pitch didn’t have much in it for the seamers, spinning was hard work due to the pace of the it, but they way we fought against an attack like that in the second innings was really good,” he added.
“Credit to our groundstaff who have managed to keep it so dry after the recent weather we’ve had. I don’t think anyone expected it to play the way it has done.
Bohannon was pleased how the team fought back second time around.
“I think it showed some learnings from the first innings where, myself included, we chucked away what could have been a first innings score. So there was some frustration from that, but we can take a lot of positives from the second innings performance.”
Bohannon admitted to a few concerns heading into 2023.
“There were a few technical things I was trying to get right, so I wasn’t in the best frame of mind before the start of the season,” he said. “But having chatted to our coaches and getting some reassurance, that’s allowed me to play quite freely and just play what’s in front of me.”
Having earned a hard-fought draw Bohannon is positive about what lies ahead.
"There are a lot of good bowlers around on the county circuit and everything is a challenge - no first-class runs are easy,” he said. “The attack with which we've come into this game shows we're in a great position and the lads are up and about, having fun and enjoying their cricket - it's a great environment to be part of at the minute. When everything clicks as a unit I think we're going to be pretty hard to beat.
"We talked all winter about how we're obviously playing really good cricket to have come second in all formats last season. There are little one per centers here and there which we are trying to get better at as a team and individuals and when we do that I think that will be the missing piece."
Ken Grime
Photos: Barry Mitchell & Luke Adams
