A fine 76-ball fifty from Mike Yardy helped to give Sussex the platform they need in their quest for maximum batting points against Lancashire at Old Trafford.
Another squally day of heavy winds restricted play to 28.2 overs, precluding any chance of a result in this match without contrivance after the overall loss of 167 overs. A full hand of bonus points would still do much to allay Sussex’s relegation fears.
When proceedings at last got under way at 3.30pm, Joe Gatting was soon bowled by a beauty from Sajid Mahmood, who unearthed an inswinging yorker to uproot both middle and off stumps. That was, however, Lancashire’s only success of the day as Yardy and Ed Joyce combined to score freely, adding 92 at nearly four an over.
There was bounce but no untoward seam movement for the Lancashire pace bowlers. Yardy, having top-edged an attempted pull off Kyle Hogg for six, was a master of discretion thereafter, leaving the ball well outside off stump. Joyce worked the ball well through the leg side and went past 800 runs for the season in the LV County Championship.
After the Twenty20 fiasco on Tuesday evening, which cost Lancashire tens of thousands of pounds in lost bar and other takings, the club are set to make a big profit from a sell-out Coldplay concert at Old Trafford a week today. Earlier this year, Take That performed for five evenings at the ground in front of full houses. Kent, by contrast, lost a substantial sum this summer when Sugabes played to small crowds at the St Lawrence Ground.
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Lancashire: First Innings 236 (M B Loye 58, F du Plessis 54; R S C Martin-Jenkins 5 for 43)
Sussex: First Innings (overnight 11-0)
*M H Yardy not out 64
J S Gatting b Mahmood 10
E C Joyce not out 39
Extras (nb 6) 6
Total (1 wkt, 34 overs) 119
M W Goodwin, C D Hopkinson, D R Smith, †A J Hodd, R S C Martin-Jenkins, O P Rayner, P P Chawla and C D Collymore to bat.
Fall of wicket: 1-27.
Bowling: Mahmood 10-3-33-1; Hogg 7-2-26-0; Chapple 6-1-21-0; Newby 7-0-26-0; Keedy 4-1-13-0.
Umpires: N A Mallender and D J Millns.