TRENT BRIDGE

(day two of four; Lancashire won toss)

Lancashire 113 and 233 (PJ Horton 37, F du Plessis 36; CE Shreck 5 for 40). Nottinghamshire 202 and 33 for one

Lunch

Yesterday evening, we were under the impression that Gary Keedy had come out to open the innings for Lancashire as a nightwatchman. To judge from this morning’s evidence, however, he may have been promoted from his first-innings position of No11 to the top of the order. Given Lancashire’s depressing plunge to 113 all out in the first innings, reversing the batting order might not have been such a bad idea.

Having repelled the one over that Lancashire had to face last night, Keedy survived all but five minutes of the morning session today. He even outscored Paul Horton, his partner, for much of the morning, stroking boundaries straight and through the covers before he was caught behind off Paul Franks.

With Tony Pigott, the pitch inspector in attendance, the wicket has been less lively than yesterday, although Darren Pattinson has just started to make the ball bounce disconcertingly again. He had Horton dropped on 28, an edge that Chris Read, reaching to his right, should have clung onto with some comfort. But the miss did not prove too costly, as Horton was bowled by Franks just before lunch, a second wicket in three overs that gave the home side some succour after a challenging morning.

Tea

Three crucial wickets in the session from Charlie Shreck have propelled Nottinghamshire into a position from which they will hope to push for victory after tea. Shreck, swinging the ball from a good length, dismissed Mark Chilton, Mal Loye and Stuart Law, all to catches behind the wicket from Chris Read, who has been responsible for five of the six wickets to fall so far. It could have been one more if he had not dropped Paul Horton before lunch.

Although Nottinghamshire are in control, only 91 behind with six wickets down, any fourth-innings target of more than 150 would be viewed with some apprehension on this unreliable pitch. The variable bounce that had been evident on the first day has not been so conspicuous today, but it has tended to get worse as the day has gone on. The home side will await the verdict of Tony Pigott, the pitch inspector, with interest.

Close

Nottinghamshire have been set a target of 145 to complete their second championship victory of the season, not a straightforward task on this pitch, but they have made a decent start. Better news still for the home side came from Tony Pigott, the pitch inspector, who pronounced that the cracked surface was “some way from being a poor pitch”. Whether Luke Sutton agreed with him is another matter. While he was batting, the Lancashire wicketkeeper was twice struck painful blows on the knuckles.

Lancashire were bowled out for 233 in their second innings, as Charlie Shreck took the last two wickets to finish with five for 40. Matthew Wood then gave Nottinghamshire’s innings a cracking start with six boundaries, but Will Jefferson was caught at slip off Sajid Mahmood before the close. If Lancashire are to have any hope of sneaking a win, there will have to be much more of that from Mahmood tomorrow morning.