LIVE BLOG: Lancashire v Kent, Day One
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6.40pm CLOSE Day 1
Lancashire 1st inns 17-2 (9 overs) Bohannon 0 Bailey 0 trail by 161 runs.
Lancashire lose a second wicket, ten balls before the close when Keaton Jennings was lbw playing no shot to Keith Dudgeon.
Josh Bohannon and Tom Bailey have survived the remaining deliveries to reach the close safely.
6.20pm
Lancashire 1st inns 9-1 (5 overs) Jennings 9 Bohannon 0 trail by 169 runs.
Lancashire have nine overs to face today, but they have lost Harry Singh bowled by Keith Dudgeon for a duck.
5.50pm
Kent 1st inns 178 all out (69 overs)
Liam Livingstone finishes with his second five wicket haul in first-class cricket with 5-55 as Matt Parkinson is well caught on the midwicket boundary by Tom Aspinwall.
What a comeback by Livi!
5.37pm
Kent 1st inns 163-9 (65 overs) Parkinson 2 Mahmud 0
Make it four for Liam Livingstone as Matt Milnes skies a catch to Tom Bailey going back at long-on for 22.
5.23pm
Kent 1st inns 145-8 (61 overs) Milnes 7 Parkinson 0
Liam Livingstone has a third wicket as Keith dudgeon dances down the wicket and stumped by Joe Moores for 3.
5.10pm
Kent 1st inns 137-7 (57 overs) Dudgeon 1 Milnes 0
Liam Livingstone strikes again as Ekansh Singh sweeps into the hands of Josh Bohannon at backward short leg for 17.
4.58pm
Kent 1st inns 132-6 (53 overs) Singh 13 Dudgeon 0
It's Liam Livingstone who gets a wicket as Bertie Foreman drives but is caught by Tom Bailey at backward point for 6.
Liam's previous first-class wicket, incidentally, was Sam Hain caught for 48 v Warwickshire at Emirates Old Trafford in 2021
4.55pm
Kent 1st inns 126-5 (53 overs) Singh 6 Foreman 7.
No further success for Lancashire since that sensational three-in-three as Ekansh Singh and Bertie Foreman keep the Red Rose bowlers at bay.
Liam Livingstone and George Balderson are currently hunting a breakthrough.
4.08pm
Kent 1st inns 111-5 (44.2 overs) Singh 0 Foreman 0.
It's incredible how often a break can bring about a wicket and that has happened from the sixth ball of the first over and from the first two balls of the second over after tea!
First Daniel Bell-Drummond has edged behind off James Anderson for 33 and then Ben Dawkins was lbw to Tom Bailey for 54 before Chris Benjamin was bowled first ball.
Three wickets in three balls has suddenly transformed the day.
3.40pm, TEA Day 1
Kent 1st inns 111-2 (42 overs) Dawkins 54 Bell-Drummond 33.
Ben Dawkins goes to his half century from 114 balls with his partnership with Daniel Bell-Drummond worth 87 by the interval as these two have turned the afternoon around for the visitors.
3.25pm
Kent 1st inns 96-2 (36 overs) Dawkins 46 Bell-Drummond 26.
Ben Dawkins and continue to build their third wicket partnership, now worth 72 runs as we head towards the tea interval at 3.40pm.
Dawkins has thumped another four to the midwicket fence when Livingstone dropped short, but gets away with a bottom edge after a wild heave at Tom Aspinwall.
3.00pm
Kent 1st inns 80-2 (28 overs) Dawkins 35 Bell-Drummond 22.
There has been an explosion of runs in the last thirty minutes with 48 runs coming off 9 overs as Ben Dawkins and Daniel Bell-Drummond have played some good shots.
That includes the first six of the game when Dawkins hit Liam Livingstone over cow corner, but Livingstone is finding some turn to trouble the batters.
2.30pm
Kent 1st inns 32-2 (19 overs) Dawkins 11 Bell-Drummond 1.
The first boundary of the day has finally been struck in the 19th over, Ben Dawkins square driving at Tom Bailey. That gives you some idea of how much the Red Rose attack have been on top in the opening exchanges.
2.10pm
Kent 1st inns 25-2 (16 overs) Dawkins 4 Bell-Drummond 1.
Lancashire's bowlers have kept things tight during the first hour, and that pressure brings reward for George Balderson who nips one away to bowl Sam Northeast for 4.
1.50pm
Kent 1st inns 20-1 (11 overs) Dawkins 3 Northeast 7.
Both James Anderson and Tom Bailey have come close to adding to that early wicket for Anderson, the Kent batters playing and missing on a number of occasions.
George Balderson has replaced Bailey at the South end while Anderson is through six overs with figures of 1-5.
1.26pm
Kent 1st inns 11-1 (4.1 overs) Dawkins 1 Northeast 0.
Keaton Jennings takes a brilliant catch over his head at gully to give James Anderson the first wicket of the day, Harry Finch out for 2.
1.10pm
Kent 1st inns 0-0 (1 over) Dawkins 0 Finch 0.
Play getting under way in gloriously sunny conditions, a sharp contrast to the weather we had earlier in the day.
James Anderson starts with a maiden from the South (pavilion) End and it will be Tom Bailey sharing the new ball from the North End.
12.40pm - PLAY TO START AT 1.10PM (80 overs)
Toss: Lancashire have won the toss and elected to bowl.
Teams
Lancashire: Keaton Jennings, Harry Singh, Josh Bohannon, Marcus Harris, Ben McDermott, Liam Livingstone, Joe Moores (wkt), George Balderson, Tom Bailey, Tom Aspinwall, James Anderson (capt).
Kent: Harry Finch, Ben Dawkins, Sam Northeast, Daniel Bell-Drummond (capt), Ekansh Singh, Chris Benjamin (wkt), Keith Dudgeon, Bertie Foreman, Matt Milnes, Hasan Mahmud, Matt Parkinson.
12.00pm - EARLY LUNCH TO BE TAKEN AT 12.30
I'm pleased to say we have blue sky and sunny conditions at Stanley Park.
The covers have been removed and practise nets set up for the players, so a prompt start after lunch looks quite likely.
11.20am - EARLY LUNCH TO BE TAKEN
While we wait for the inspection, it has been decided that the players will take an early lunch at 12.30pm.
10.45am
At last, some better news.The rain has stopped, and the umpires are out in the middle in conversation with the groundstaff who are now starting to remove the covers.
The umpires will return for a further inspection at 11.30am.
10.15am
Rain continues to fall at Blackpool, so clearly there will be a delayed start, and nothing much has changed since the earlier post at 9.30pm - except that we have all got a bit wetter!
9.30am
There has been no change in conditions since the 8.45am post, as the rain continues to fall at Stanley Park.
Here is a current view of conditions.
8.45am
Good morning from Stanley Park, Blackpool ahead of our Rothesay County Championship match against Kent.
Current conditions are wet, with cloud cover and some steady drizzle that has forced the groundstaff to replace the covers on the square. It had been dry prior to 8.30am before the latest shower arrived.
It means we will have to wait for the rain to stop before the umpires can make an inspection of the conditions.
Team News
Lancashire
Lancashire have named the following 13-man squad: James Anderson (Capt), Tom Aspinwall, Tom Bailey, George Balderson, Josh Bohannon, Marcus Harris, Tom Hartley, Keaton Jennings, Liam Livingstone, Ben McDermott, Joe Moores (wkt), Harry Singh, Ollie Sutton.
Liam Livingstone plays his first County Championship match since 2021, answering the call from James Anderson and head coach Steven Croft following an impressive run of form for Lancashire Lightning in the Vitality Blast.
Joe Moores is set to become Lancashire’s eighth-youngest first-class cricketer when the 17-year-old takes to the field, while overseas batter Ben McDermott will also make his Red Rose first-class debut in this game.
Kent
Kent also have a squad of 13 that includes Ben Dawkins and Ekansh Singh, both returning after England Lions duty in their white-ball series against South Africa A this past week.
Bangladesh Test fast bowler Hasan Mahmud has joined Kent and makes his debut, while Sam Northeast and Mikey Cohen return to the squad, along with Harry Finch. Grant Stewart, who made a comeback from injury during the first block of T20 fixtures, is also included.
Daniel Bell-Drummond (Captain), Chris Benjamin (wkt), Mikey Cohen, Ben Dawkins, Keith Dudgeon (Overseas player), Harry Finch, Bertie Foreman, Hasan Mahmud (Overseas player), Matt Milnes, Sam Northeast, Matt Parkinson, Ekansh Singh, Grant Stewart.
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