da cassino online： It may not have been regarded as the most significant result of thesummer but Lancashire have gained important momentum from last week’sbattling draw at Edgbaston to deliver their best batting performanceat Aigburth this season.
Myles Hodgson at Aigburth23-May-2012
ScorecardAshwell Prince spent almost five hours at the crease for his century•Getty Images
It may not have been regarded as the most significant result of thesummer but Lancashire have gained important momentum from last week’sbattling draw at Edgbaston to deliver their best batting performanceat Aigburth this season.Seven matches into their title defence and still without a victory isnot the start Lancashire had anticipated, particularly afterstrengthening their mis-firing batting line-up by re-signing SouthAfrican batsman Ashwell Prince. But they showed character in abundanceto turn around their fortunes from another shaky start.Deciding to bat first after winning the toss, they slipped to 55 for3 and were facing yet another failure to record a competitivetotal in a season where they have passed 300 only twice in the last 10innings. Building on the spirit developed against Warwickshire lastweek, when the saved the game after following on 360 runs behind,Prince’s first century in county cricket since 2009 ensured theyfinished on top at the end of an absorbing first day’s play.”We needed this,” admitted Prince, who finished unbeaten on 121 aftera disciplined innings spanning nearly five hours at the crease. “Wehad to dig deep at Warwickshire, we didn’t want to roll over.”If we are honest we put in a way below par performance in the firstinnings there on a good pitch. This is what we needed to do tokick-start our season.”Having battled through the first hour’s play, Lancashire providedMiddlesex with encouragement when Stephen Moore pushed to cover andset off on a quick single only for Joe Denly’s brilliant throw to runout Paul Horton. Karl Brown lasted only two balls before falling inthe next over, rewarding Tim Murtagh’s excellent new ball spell byedging behind.To compound Lancashire’s disappointment at having their solid startundermined, Moore was all too eager to make up for a run of 15 firstclass innings without a half century by mis-timing an attempted hookoff Gareth Berg to long leg.Having been dismissed for 250 and 124 in the first innings of theirprevious two matches at Aigburth this season, Lancashire knew theyneeded a partnership if they had any hopes of posting a competitivescore against a Middlesex line-up including Eoin Morgan, who wasplaying his first championship match since July, 2010.They were provided with a 176-run stand between Prince and StevenCroft, who were both forced to play within themselves for longperiods. They compensated for a 23-over spell without a boundary byscampering between the wickets and both used their feet to combatOllie Rayner’s off-spin intelligently.”Steven has played very well this season and he always seems to cometo the party when the team needs him and he did it again,” enthusedPrince. “It was a nice partnership and I enjoy batting with him.”He’s really maturing as a batsman. We really had to knuckle down andget a partnership together to get ourselves out of a bit of trouble. He played the situation perfectly.”Croft, a naturally aggressive batsman, hit only one four and a slogsweep for six off Rayner in his half-century, but fell for 78 to thefirst delivery with the new ball when he edged Murtagh behind.Prince remained defiantly, however, and progressed to his firstcentury in county cricket since scoring an unbeaten 135 againstNottinghamshire at Old Trafford three years ago, reaching the landmarkwith a push for three through mid-wicket off Corey Collymore.”I have been close a few times this season so it is nice to get overthe milestone of getting a hundred,” he conceded. “People won’trealise that the last 10 times I have been passed 50 I haven’t beenable to convert and that has been on my mind. It has been afrustrating season for me back home, so it is a bit of a relief.”