MATCH REPORT: Bohannon makes unbeaten 190 as match with Durham ends in a draw
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Josh Bohannon made the highest score by a Lancashire batter at Emirates Old Trafford against Durham as this final Rothesay County Championship match of 2026 ended in a draw with Lancashire making their highest total of the season, 397-6, in reply to Durham’s 493.
Bohannon passed the previous best of 158 made by John Crawley in 1999 and he went on to finish unbeaten on 190 as the final day largely developed into one of watching the hosts steadily reduced the first innings deficit and of milestones being chalked off.
Lancashire resumed their first innings on 267-5 but only 37 balls were possible during the morning session due to a combination of rain and bad light.
After an early lunch, Bohannon and Ben Walkden posted their fifty-partnership off 115 balls with Bohannon pulling Shafiqullah Ghafari for four to midwicket to reach his 150 from 321 balls. It is the seventh time Bohannon has scored 150+ runs for the Red Rose and he is the fifth-quickest to achieve this feat behind Stuart Law, Keaton Jennings, John Crawley and Sir Clive Lloyd.
Walkden hammered Ghafari to midwicket to notch his fifth four but having made his best first-class score of 36, top-edged a pull off Parkinson that went high to Brydon Carse at backward point to end a good 83-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
George Balderson, who reached 2,500 first-class runs during his unbeaten innings of 29, helped Bohannon add 66 runs for the seventh wicket by the tea interval, but play was unable to resume after the break with bad light and rain forcing the match to be abandoned as a draw at 3.45pm.
George Balderson reflected on this game and the season.
“We spoke about trying to make it feel like a 15-game season, use this game as the first one of next year and get out of it what we can.
“It was sort of an old-school, Old Trafford pitch. It was fairly nice to bat on and fairly slow.
“And we were all buzzing for Bosh (Josh Bohannon) to get that time in the middle and get a big score because he's been working so hard over the last six months.
“It was great to see him get some runs. Some other lads have got some time in the middle too.
“It's been a really, really poor season from pretty much all of us in the team. And hopefully, that's a little bright spot that we can take into next year.”
“It's a long winter and a lot of things might look very different by the time we get to April. We've got to stay positive, work hard over the winter, whether that be going away, or in the indoor school, whatever individuals are doing.
“We've got to, as individuals, become better cricketers and then come together at the start of April and start putting some performances together, which is what the members deserve and what we know we're capable of doing.
“I didn't know I was doing it (captaincy) until about half an hour before the toss. We were waiting on Jimmy's fitness and he was a bit sore, so he tapped me on the shoulder and said I was doing it.
“It was good fun, although it wasn't always fun when we're fielding for 140 overs and you're trying to think of solutions.
“It’s a big honour to captain a club like Lancashire having come through the Academy.
“Hopefully it's not the last time I get to do it.”
“I think the nature of the game is you always look at what you haven't done and start thinking where you can improve on that.
“Most of the conversations will go on to what we can do to get better, because that's all we can do now. We've got to find out where we can get better, what areas we can improve on as individuals, as a team, and then come back and put some performances in next year.
“I've enjoyed the responsibilities of bowling all my overs. I feel more like a senior bowler in the side these days, which is good fun, and hopefully that can continue.
“The fact that I've finished the season averaging no more than 15 with the bat is really disappointing for me. As well as I've done with the ball, I've always been an all-rounder, and I want to be a genuine all-rounder, so I'll be putting in as much work as I can to put that right next year.”
Ken Grime
Photos: Luke Adams & Dan Adams
