MATCH REPORT: Balderson and Anderson give Lancs upper hand against Gloucestershire
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George Balderson and James Anderson combined with five wickets to give Lancashire the upper hand on the opening day of this Rothesay County Championship Division Two match at Emirates Old Trafford.
Gloucestershire, having won the toss, were 164-6 at the close with Daaryoush Ahmed (33 not out) and Sai Kishore (20 not out) providing some late resistance with the highest partnership of the day in an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 45.
Anderson, who struck with the second ball of the match in a fine opening nine-over spell of 1-13, finished with 2-33 while Balderson was excellent with his three wickets in the afternoon session putting the visitors in early trouble after most of the morning had been lost to the weather.
Balderson ended the day with 3-35 and also produced a great pick up and throw from mid-on to run out Miles Hammond in the evening session to cap a fine performance on a day where 35 overs were lost to rain.
Ed Middleton, moved up to open with Cameron Bancroft having returned to Australia, edged both of the two balls he received from Anderson, the first bringing two runs to third man with the second nestling in the gloves of Matty Hurst after the batter feathered an outswinger.
Joe Phillips, dropped on 0 off Anderson, and Ollie Price survived a testing opening thirty minutes to reach 11-1 from seven overs before rain took the players from the field until after lunch.
The Lancashire attack continued to enjoy the upper hand with Anderson, Balderson and Mitch Stanley finding assistance from the pitch in blustery conditions not particularly suited for batting and it was 57 balls before the first boundary arrived, Price clipping Stanley to midwicket before he pounced on a rare loose ball from Anderson to punch it for four through cover point.
Price, who struck a double century on his previous visit to this ground, dominated the scoring in a second-wicket partnership of 42 with Phillips before Balderson’s introduction into the attack after lunch brought reward for the Red Rose side.
The Lancashire all-rounder nipped one back to bowl Phillips through the gate for 8, and two balls later produced a seaming delivery that Price edged to Hurst for 29.
And Balderson returned after a further thirty-minute delay for rain to claim the wicket of the in-form James Bracey when the stand-in Gloucestershire captain edged behind for 21 to leave the visitors on 69-4.
Miles Hammond and Kamran Dhariwal staged a mini-recovery either side of tea, adding 37 runs with Dhariwal, making his first-class debut, confidently striking boundaries off the first two deliveries from Anderson after the break.
The wily Lancashire skipper soon found an inside edge to give Hurst a fourth catch after the debutant had made 20 and worse was to follow for the visitors when Balderson’s direct hit ran out Hammond for 19 as the batters attempted a quick single.
More rain then took 45 minutes out of the day, and in the remaining 15 overs Ahmed and Kishore produced a nicely constructed partnership of 45 before play ended at 6.23pm in brilliant sunshine.
George Balderson, said:
“It was good fun. I think there was a little bit there early doors, especially for the seamers, and then as the ball got a bit softer it got a little bit slower. I think we're pretty happy with where we are in the game.
“I've been bowling nicely at the moment, so I just want to keep that going as much as I can up until the end of the season, see how many wickets I can get and see if I can contribute to a couple of wins.
“I think when you know you're bowling well, you relax and everything just falls into place, and when you're struggling, you have to try and remind yourself of times like this when you're feeling good and what are you doing well.
“So, at the moment I'm just trying to think about what I'm doing in terms of when it's good, because I know there'll be a point at some time where I don't feel great and I want to switch back and look at what I was doing at this moment in time.
“The only way we're going to improve as a team is by the individual performances improving, so we know as individuals we've got to be better and if we can take some confidence out of the rest of this season, going into next season, that every single one of us can be that little bit better, then we're going to be in a better shape as a team. “
“Personal milestones aren't a priority really in terms of our season and where we want to be - and we're disappointed with where we are - but I think going into these last couple of weeks, if a few personal milestones can be ticked then that's a good thing. I’ve never done 50 wickets in a season before.
“Me and Jimmy noticed last week that we were both on the same number of wickets and we were having a little joke about it, but I was thinking he might take me off if I got on a bit of a roll today, but yeah, it's good fun.”
Ken Grime
Photos: Luke Adams & Dan Adams
