Jones happy with position after day two at Lancs
11 May 2015
Gloucestershire took four wickets after tea to damage Lancashire’s first-innings response to 388 during day two of their LV= County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford.
Paul Horton’s 15th Championship century had helped the Division Two leaders into a position of strength at 207 for two in the 52nd over of their reply, shortly after tea.
Horton shared 134 inside 28 overs for the third wicket with Ashwell Prince either side of tea, but Prince’s departure for 57 was the first of four wickets to fall for 58 as Lancashire slipped to 265 for six in the 76th over.
They closed on 276 for six from 81 with Horton unbeaten on 134 from 242 balls.
Gloucestershire started the day by advancing their first innings from 322 for seven, with Kyle Jarvis taking two of the three wickets to fall to finish with four for 121 from 31 overs.
Opening batsman Horton and in-form Prince then prospered in good batting conditions through the majority of the afternoon, with Prince going beyond 430 runs for the season.
Craig Miles, Kieron Noema-Barnett and Liam Norwell picked up a wicket apiece after tea.
Earlier, Norwell and Miles struck either side of lunch to get rid of Luis Reece and Alviro Petersen cheaply to boost the Nevil Road county, but Horton and Prince were rarely troubled until the latter drove loosely at Miles and was caught behind.
Norwell had Reece caught behind off a bottom edge as he attempted to pull in the 12th over, with the score on 27, before Petersen chopped on to Miles as Lancashire slipped to 73 for two after 24.
Horton and Prince built their partnership at a healthy rate of 4.84 runs per over before the latter fell in the third over after tea.
Prince is the division’s leading run-scorer at present, while Horton also went beyond 300 runs for the campaign.
The 32-year-old finished last season with high hopes of being named Lancashire’s new captain in place of Glen Chapple, and there were concerns that his disappointment at missing out may affect his form.
But he has responded in the best way possible, adding his first Championship century in 12 innings to scores of 71 and 67 not out in a recent win against Kent on this ground and 49 in last week’s draw at Northamptonshire.
He reached his century off 150 balls in the closing stages of the afternoon.
Horton and stand-in captain Steven Croft later shared 40 for the fourth wicket before Croft and Alex Davies fell in successive balls in the 68th over, leaving the score at 247 for five.
Noema-Barnett’s medium pace trapped Croft lbw before Davies was run out from point by a Will Tavare throw to the striker’s end.
Norwell ensured Gloucestershire ended the day on a high by trapping Jordan Clark lbw as he offered no shot.
Gloucestershire captain Geraint Jones said: "The initial bit where we got beyond 350 was what we wanted to do. We were probably a bit disappointed with that middle session. The partnership between Ashwell and Horts was a good one, so fair play to them. But we had a good chat at tea about the discipline side of things, how we needed to tighten our bowling up and make it hard for them to score. That's what we did.
"We got Ashwell flashing outside off stump and we picked up a few wickets. A run out always helps. At this stage, to have a 100-run lead with only four wickets left and a new ball in our hands in the morning, it's a good position to be in."
