Ashwell Prince warmed to the task on a cold, wet, blustery day at Northampton, powering on to 153 as Lancashire took a first-innings lead of 51 in the English County Championship on Tuesday.
He resumed his stand on 104 off 154 balls after the start of play on day three was delayed, and moved on rapidly in trying conditions to reach 153 off 217, with 21 fours. The wind was so strong that the bails had to be left off the stumps.
Lancashire were still making heavy weather of it at 221-6 after Rory Kleinveldt ran through the middle order, but then Prince and old rival Peter Siddle put on 100 runs for the seventh wicket, when Prince was caught off the bowling of Steven Crook. But he had done his job well, considering he came to the crease with Lancashire on 3-2
Siddle, the former Australia paceman, went on to 89, when he was last man out, lbw to Kleinveldt, which gave him five wickets for 99.
Northants were 42-2 in their second innings, dropping Richard Levi from his opening role to No 5. They trail by nine runs.
Meanwhile, whatever hopes Keaton Jennings‘ Durham had of securing a third consecutive win disappeared in a clatter of wickets at Lord’s as James Harris took 9-34 off 12 overs, dismissing Durham for 71. They had given themselves a fighting chance after bowling out Middlesex for 89 (after the home side scored 463 in the first innings), leaving them a target of 259. It took just 24 overs to put paid to that. Jennings scored 98 in Durham’s first innings of 294, but was one of four dismissed for a duck in the second.
In the rain-ruined match between Derbyshire (205) and Glamorgan, only 4.5 overs were played, but that was enough time for Colin Ingram to be dismissed for 12 as Glamorgan declared at 103-4, still 102 behind, in the hope of forcing a contest.
In Worcester, the home team celebrated an innings win after bowling out Somerset for 90 in their second innings. Johann Myburgh, who scored 11 in the first innings, was able to add just six in the second in trying to counter Worcestershire’s 402
Compiled by Mark Salter
