FOR the first half of this contest Lancashire’s cricketers had just about resisted the pressure applied by a Nottinghamshire side that was both stronger and in better form.

Yesterday, faced with a fearsome assault by Mark Wagh and David Hussey, they buckled, and today, barring a high-quality rearguard action or a thunderstorm of biblical proportions, they will lose this match.

Needing 393 to win the game, surely a fanciful prospect of merely statistical significance, Lancashire’s innings got off to a disastrous start when Paul Horton was run out by the inspired Wagh off the third ball of the innings. The remaining 10 batsmen must survive a severe 96-over examination today. It will be interesting to see if they are up for the fight.

From a broader perspective, Lancashire’s plight is unsurprising. Remove Jimmy Anderson, Andrew Flintoff, Sajid Mahmood and Tom Smith from the Old Trafford attack and you are left with Glen Chapple and Gary Keedy, plus bowlers who have not really earned their spurs at first-class level.

It was scarcely a shock that they wilted in the face of the butchery inflicted by Wagh and Hussey, whose 141-run fourth-wicket partnership in 24 overs either side of tea extended Nottinghamshire’s lead to 323.

Indeed, it was Chapple, clubbed for three boundaries in one over by Hussey, and Keedy, lifted for a massive six onto the Trent Bridge TV gantry by the same batsman, who did most of the heavy lifting and, consequently, suffered the brunt of the punishment.