Surrey match abandoned as a draw
Our Vitality County Championship match with Surrey was been abandoned as draw following further rain at Emirates Old Trafford.
With no play on the opening day and just 3.3 overs bowled yesterday, It means a total of 300.3 overs have been lost to the weather across the four scheduled days.
In the play that was possible, Lancashire made 202 in their first innings with Josh Bohannon top-scoring after making 84, and Surrey spinners Dan Lawrence and Cam Steel sharing nine of the wickets taken.
Surrey had reached 15 without loss in reply before rain and strong, high winds combined to halt proceedings at 12.45pm on the third day.
Further heavy overnight rain meant no play was possible today with the umpires making a number of inspections before eventually abandoning the game at 2.15pm.
“It wasn’t ideal but there’s a few grounds where it has been worse,” said Head Coach Dale Benkenstein, reflecting on a game in which only 80.1 overs were bowled.
“At least we got some play. We got some positives out if it and there were a few areas that we can do better,” he added.
“A lot has been said about the wicket and not being able to get ten wickets or bowl sides out because it’s too flat. We saw there was really nice turn and bounce, which I think is a great sign – especially for the makeup of our team.
“Their spinners made it tough for us and showed you can get it to spin and there was nice bounce. It’s a pity we didn’t get the overs in to see Nathan (Lyon) and Tom (Hartley) get into their spells.
“There wasn’t a lot of grass on the wicket and with all the (poor) weather we thought there might be a bit of movement for the seamers. But there wasn’t much movement off the wicket or from the slightly flatter seam of the Kookaburra ball.
“Although there wasn’t a lot of cricket played out in the middle, the nets have been great. Everybody’s managed to get a good bowl outside, and there has been a lot of batting in the nets on grass which helps us top up and get ready for the Hampshire game.”
“I hope not” exclaimed Benkenstein when asked if this game counted as one of Nathan Lyon’s seven-game stint. “We have asked the question and hope common sense prevails. Two overs doesn’t constitute a match. But we are waiting to hear back from Cricket Australia.”
Lancashire take 8 points from the match and Surrey 11.
We travel to Southampton later this week for our next Vitality County Championship against Hampshire, starting on Friday.
The next cricket at Emirates Old Trafford is the Second Eleven Championship match against Durham on Monday 15-Thursday 18 April, 11am start.
Our next home Vitality County Championship match is against Kent and takes place at Emirates Old Trafford on Friday 3-Monday 6 May.
Ken Grime
Photos: Barry Mitchell and George Franks
