**Lancashire 2006 thread**

Did you get your season ticket in the end?

You might well be able to have a crack at the Championship, although you'll obviously miss Hodge, Flintoff and Anderson when they're not there. Luke Sutton looks like a useful signing, and haven't you got a few very good youngsters coming through as well?

Your first away game in the CC is up here at Durham and I am counting down the days. It will be a tight match and could go either way. Harmison, Plunkett and Collingwood may all be available for that match and put them alongside Gibson, Mick Lewis, Maher and Benkenstein and we will walk it. But knowing the ECB the three Egnland players wont be there so it will be close

Are you coming to the game at Durham by any chance?

Lancashire feature regularly in Sky Sports coverage of the domestic cricket season-the first year of cricket’s new TV deal.

In the matches announced so far, Mark Chilton’s side can be seen in action on Bank Holiday Monday, May 1st, when they travel to New Road to face Worcestershire in the group stages of the C&G Trophy.

The Red Rose side then feature in three Twenty20 Cup games; against the Leics Foxes at Grace Road on Thursday 29th June followed by the OId Trafford clashes with Yorkshire Phoenix on Friday 7th July and Notts Outlaws on Sunday 9th July.

The TV cameras travel to Trent Bridge on Sunday 22nd July when the Outlaws are our opponents again for the first Pro40 League game of the season, and Lancashire’s first home game in this competition, against Middlesex Crusaders on Wednesday 16th August, is also being broadcast.

As the climax to the Pro40 League approaches in September, Lancashire feature twice in three days. The Sky cameras are at Chelmsford for the day/night match on Thursday 7th September and then return to Old Trafford for the match against Warwickshire Bears on Saturday 9th September.

yes please.

i am not going to hants tommorow as it looks like its going to pour it down

its been lashing down so ive stayed at home to enjoy the warmth. They are going to inspect the pitch once the rain comes to a halt, which looking like it ould be a long time.

Here are the teams:

Lancashire: Chilton (capt.) Sutcliffe, Loye, Law, Horton, Sutton, Chapple, Cork, Hogg, Smith, Newby, Keedy, Mahmood.
Hampshire: Udal (capt), Adams, Brown, Bruce, Carberry, Crawley, Ervine, Lamb, Logan, Mascarenhas, Pothas (wk), Thornley, Griffiths.

i know....

lucky i don't live there, id be as white as a sheet

Lancs are looking good. As I said above I see Hampshire's main weakness this season being getting runs. I have a soft spot for Lancs actually and its nice to see them making a good start to their first match back in the big time.

Wow

I said that I though Lancs would beat Hampshire.....but I never expected such a quick haul of wickets in the limited amout of play we have had today. Young Smith is on fire
13-4-29-3

139/7

SLEDGER WROTE - Raining in Manchester , who'd believe it -  These words don't suprise me cause i always know old trafford to be raining.

I am a lancashire fan as well. Lancashire should slip back this year without the likes of muralitharan, no flintoff and anderson because of international duties.

I also love the old trafford stadium and the crowd is the best in england i think. Manchester is also my favourite city in england because i also support manchester united.

Well bowled lads, just need to get used to the season again with our batting, we will sharpen up i have no doubt, im slightly nervous going into day 3 but i could easily see this game heading to a draw. I could also see either team winning, preferably lancs although we opened our season with 1 day of cricket v yorkshire in a C&G style match.

DAY 2 V HAMPSHIRE AT OLD TRAFFORD:

Iain Sutcliffe was Lancashire's hero on another rain-shortened, but incident packed second day of the Championship match against Hampshire. The left hander held the Lancashire innings together with a determined 39 as Lancashire reached the close on 148 for 6, 46 runs behind.

Hampshire's Zimbabwean all-rounder Sean Ervine was the man who did his best to deny Lancashire with a fine all-round display that set Mark Chilton's side back in their quest for Championship victory.

Glen Chapple, Dominic Cork and Oliver Newby took the remaining three wickets to polish off Hampshire for 194, after play resumed at 1.45pm following more rain in the morning. Tom Smith added a stunning diving catch to his dream debut to dismiss Logan off the bowling of Chapple. But things would have been a lot better if Ervine hadn't hit an unbeaten 44
towards the end for the visitors.

And it was Ervine who did the damage later on with the ball, removing Stuart Law and Paul Horton, both caught behind by Nic Pothas after Richard Logan had removed Mark Chilton and Mal Loye cheaply. The ball to Loye in particular was a beauty, lifting and leaving the right handed batsman to give Nic Pothas one of five catches in the innings.

Sutcliffe's determined innings ended with an edge to slip from a Bruce delivery slanted across the batsman, but Glen Chapple played a positive innings with several attacking shots in an innings of 37 not out to keep Lancashire in contention.

this is heading for a draw i think now.

DAY 3 V HAMPSHIRE AT OLD TRAFFORD:

Glen Chapple became only the tenth Lancashire player to reach 5,000 first-class runs and take 500 wickets for the County, as rain hit proceedings on the third day of the Championship clash.

After rain had halted proceedings early in the day at Old Trafford, Chapple reached the 5,000 run mark when he reached 54-having passed the 500 wickets mark last year-to move alongside the likes of Jack Simmons, David Hughes and, most
recently, Mike Watkinson.

And it was Chapple who helped steer Lancashire past Hampshire's first innings total with a fine innings of 70 before becoming the eighth man out with the score on 199. The all-rounder was aided and abetted by youngster Tom Smith who continued the fine start to his Lancashire career with a battling 24 that helped the Red Rose side to a total of 224 - and a first innings lead of 30.

When Hampshire came out to the bat in the afternoon, openers James Adams and Michael Brown moved steadily on to 54 without loss before the rain returned to prevent any play after tea.

SAJID MAHMOOD comes into the reckoning for Lancashire’s Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy clash against Leicestershire at Old Trafford on Sunday.

The 24 years-old paceman, who figured in England’s ODI series in India recently, missed the Liverpool Victoria County Championship game against Hampshire this week while he recovered from his trip to the sub-continent. But he was named today (Friday) in a squad of 15 for the C&G Trophy opener along with Steven Croft, Andy Crook and Kyle Hogg plus the 11 players on duty against Hampshire.

Lancashire (from): Chilton (capt), Sutcliffe, Law, Loye, Horton, Croft, Sutton, Chapple, Crook, Cork, Hogg, Smith, Mahmood, Newby, Keedy
Leicestershire (from): Robinson, Maddy, Ackerman, Mongia, Maunders, Snape (Capt), Nixon (Wkt), Henderson, Masters, Broad ,Mohammad Asif, Sadler, Cummins.

Sunday will be the first taste of 50-over cricket for many players this season with the first round of matches in the new format Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, although Lancashire and Yorkshire did play one 50-over friendly last week.

The C&G Trophy now has two conferences, North and South, with the winners from each meeting at the Lord’s Final on Saturday August 26th. The Trophy is the only limited overs competition ahead of the NatWest Series providing the opportunity for players to press for England places.  It will also provide a chance to assess the summer opposition with Pakistan duo Shahid Afridi and Saqlain Mushtaq playing for Ireland and Mohammad Asif set to make his Leicestershire debut.

Holders, Hampshire, will travel to Dublin for their opening C&G Trophy defence match as Ireland enter the competition for the first time. Sunday’s C&G matches are:
Kent v Somerset
Essex  v Glamorgan
Nottinghamshire  v Worcestershire
Gloucestershire v Middlesex
Lancashire v Leicestershire
Yorkshire  v Derbyshire
Ireland v Hampshire