Roundup: Essex's Lawrence sends Ashes reminder
Dan Lawrence bashed a brutal hundred at Blackpool, grinding Lancashire hopes with his big boots and entertaining thespectators watching from their fold-up seats high on the tiered banks. Exquisitely timed too, with England in need of a No 3 and the Old Trafford Test coming up fast on the inside, just a week away.
A salty seadog in the queue by the coffee van sniffed a force seven gale and at times it felt like that, as the wind skated up the coast and over the ground. But it did not put Lawrence off his stride, squatting his considerable frame into a Z before cracking the ball with huge power. He hit nine sixes: three of them lost over the wall into Stanley Park, one pancaked straight back past Will Williams over the press tent; one to reach his third hundred of the summer over wide long-on.
Lawrence hit even more freely and monstrously after reaching three figures, finally out for 135 off 125 balls in the last over of the day. Earlier. Lancashire had lost seven wickets in the morning session, and two more soon afterwards, just avoiding the follow-on, with four wickets to Sam Cook and three to Paul Walter.
Essex then had a disastrous start to their second innings, as both Nick Browne and Alastair Cook were out for nought, before Lawrence came in and turned the game upside down. In 100 first-class matches at Blackpool, the highest run-chase is 301; with the Essex lead now 429, Lancashire have their work cut out tomorrow.
Close of play scores
DIVISION ONE
Canterbury: Warwickshire 549-7dec BEAT Kent 171 and 332 by an innings and 46 runs
Blackpool: Lancashire 145 v Essex 282 and 292-8
Merchant Taylors’ School: Middlesex 277 v Northamptonshire 219 and 372-7
Taunton: Somerset 500 v Hampshire 330 and 34-2
The Oval Surrey 355 and 200-5 v Notts 399
DIVISION TWO
The Riverside: Durham 453 and 52-1 BEAT Gloucestershire 316 and 188 by nine wickets
Sophia Gardens: Glamorgan 403-9dec v Leicestershire 28-0
Hove: Sussex 402 and 193-5 v Derbyshire 407
New Road: Worcestershire 242 and 22 v Yorkshire 407
