LANCASHIRE could barely have made a worse start to their LV= County Championship title defence against Sussex in Liverpool yesterday.
The Red Rose County were skittled for 124 and were already trailing before stumps on day one as Sussex, beaten in their opener at Surrey last week, reached the close on 137 for three. Sussex seamer Joe Anyon (five wickets for 36 runs) crashed through Lancashire’s title winners and only Steven Croft’s 50, and a battling 23 from veteran skipper Glen Chapple, avoided complete embarrassment for the champions.
Lancashire made immediate inroads when they then reduced Sussex to 15 for three but an unbeaten 122-run stand between skipper Michael Yardy (70) and Ed Joyce (48) ensured the visitors were in full control.
On a rainy day, in which wickets tumbled all across the country, Somerset barely fared better after skipper Marcus Trescothick elected to bat against last season’s runners-up Warwickshire.
Trescothick was soon ruing his decision as Chris Wright’s four for 47 helped knock his side over for 147 in 39.5 overs.
After a rain delay an unbeaten 35 from opener Varun Chopra ensured the Bears finished the day in the ascendancy at 111 for three.
Durham also benefited from bowling first as they skittled Nottinghamshire for 161, with England seamer Graham Onions taking four for 42, before advancing to 55 for three.
Middlesex improved marginally on developments elsewhere as they reached stumps on 225 for nine against fellow newly-promoted club Surrey at Lord’s.
Left-hander Dawid Malan typified the required patience with an unbeaten 62 from 172 balls, while Jade Dernbach took three for 33 for the visitors.