Cricket: Warwickshire resist as Lancashire press for win

Sep 13 2007 by Our Correspondent, Liverpool Daily Post

AT some stage over the next two days Lancashire should secure the victory needed to sustain their championship hopes – but Mark Chilton’s players will probably need to exhibit plenty of patience after Warwickshire’s batsmen re-established their powers of resistance at Old Trafford yesterday.

Facing a deficit of 205 on first innings, the Edgbaston side had reached 125 for two when the low sun at the Stretford end persuaded the umpires to take the players off 13 overs early.

Perhaps it is fortunate that in these tense times Red Rose supporters could be comforted by a home batting performance which was dominated by the languid grace of VVS Laxman’s first century for the county.

The Indian batsman took his score from 22 to 103 and ensured his side’s total of 311 all out would give them a healthy lead to take into the second half of the game.

Old Trafford fans will value his contribution on those terms alone, but devotees of cricket’s finer arts treasured the quality of his strokeplay.

Yesterday Laxman always seemed to have an abundance of time in which to play his shots, which were all examples of high-quality batsmanship. His innings of 103 included 16 boundaries, some of them sublime examples of a sportsman near the height of his powers.

Then news came through that Sussex were struggling at the Riverside and people’s attention was refocused on bonus points, winning the match and the possibility that maybe, just maybe, this was Lancashire’s year.

Lancashire cricket manager Mike Watkinson had to stand as square-leg umpire for 45 minutes yesterday morning after Nigel Cowley complained of chest pains and was unable to resume his duties.

An ambulance was later called and Cowley was detained overnight in hospital while tests were carried out.

LV County Championship Div One: Riverside Sussex 291 (R S C Martin-Jenkins 77 no, M W Goodwin 66, O D Gibson 4-78) & 85-4 v Durham 316 (M D Stoneman 101, D M Benkenstein 67, Saqlain Mushtaq 4-59) The Rose Bowl Kent 495 (M van Jaarsveld 112, R W T Key 84, G O Jones 63, J C Tredwell 62, J L Denly 54, S K Warne 4-134) v Hampshire 186-7 (J C Tredwell 4-46) Old Trafford Warwickshire 106 (S I Mahmood 4-21, G Chapple 4-42) & 125-2 (I J Westwood 50) v Lancashire 311 (V V S Laxman 103, P J Horton 71, N M Carter 5-62) Div Two Southgate Middlesex 176 (E C Joyce 74, J E Taylor 6-35) & 206-4 (E T Smith 101 no) v Leicestershire 190 (J K Maunders 58, M Kartik 6-85) Northampton Glamorgan 280 (M A Wallace 120, L Klusener 5-40) v Northamptonshire 369-8 (S D Peters 104, D J G Sales 78, R A White 75, R D B Croft 4-130).