Bancroft secures Sedbergh draw

Day Four

Result: Lancashire (337 & 247; Vilas 85; Rimmington 4/42) drew with Durham (281 & 194/6; Bancroft 92*; Mahmood 3/58)

A battling innings from Durham captain Cameron Bancroft earned his side a determined draw against Lancashire on the final day at Sedbergh School.

Bancroft held the Lancashire attack at bay for the whole of Durham’s innings, with the Australian finishing the day unbeaten on 92 to continue his good form with the bat at his new county who have rallied after a difficult start to the season.

Lancashire were full of hope at tea, having taken five wickets throughout the morning and afternoon sessions, but with both James Anderson and Liam Livingstone missing from their attack through injury, it became increasingly clear their threadbare line up did not have the firepower to trouble the brilliant Bancroft, who led his team to the close, alongside an equally committed Ben Raine.

Earlier in the day, a blistering spell from young paceman Saqib Mahmood had put Lancashire in pole position to claim the final day win at Sedbergh School’s inaugural First Class game.

Taking the new ball in place of the injured Anderson, the 22-year-old claimed two victims in his first two overs, clipping Alex Lees’ off stump after the scoreless batsman had shouldered arms, before bowling Gareth Harte for no score.

That left Durham 11 for two and they had progressed to 39 for two by lunch after Bancroft was joined by Jack Burnham, the pair surviving Mahmood’s onslaught to leave the north easterners requiring another 265 runs to win with eight wickets remaining.

Lancashire continued to push for victory through the middle session, claiming three wickets after lunch, with Burnham becoming the second batsman to be clean bowled shouldering arms when he misjudged a Graham Onions delivery and was dismissed for 20.

However, Lancashire’s bowling options were beginning to look limited and Durham took advantage, with Bancroft and Graham Clarke constructing a fourth wicket partnership of 69, before Josh Bohannon bowled Clarke for 26 with a delivery that kept low and hit his off stump.

Liam Trevaskis followed soon after with Onions picking up another wicket when the all-rounder edged to Rob Jones at second slip for three.

Bancroft remained unbeaten on 57 at tea with Ned Eckersley joining him on three not out as Durham prepared to face 35 overs requiring another 182 runs to win with five wickets remaining.

30 minutes after tea, the host’s hopes were raised again when Eckersley played on to Mahmood, who finished with three for 58, but it was not to be as Bancroft and Raine (19no) steered Durham to 6pm when the players shook hands with four overs left and with the score 194 for six.

The draw means Durham have now gone four games unbeaten & sit in eighth.

Day Three

Day Two

Day One

A crucial fifth wicket partnership of 87 runs between Rob Jones and skipper Dane Villas ensured it was Lancashire’s day against Durham as Sedbergh School hosted its inaugural First Class game.

The hosts reached 275 for 5 at the close of play on a demanding pitch on which they were rescued by the fifth wicket pair who showed great patience in the face of some accurate bowling from the Durham attack.

An overcast morning at Lancashire’s 13th First Class home venue saw Durham elect to field first after an uncontested toss, with opening bowler Chris Rushworth making an early breakthrough when he clean bowled Keaton Jennings for 11 in the ninth over of the day.

Jennings had looked in decent order, getting off the mark with a four through gully off Rushworth, before the same bowler induced him to edge a chance to Jack Burnham at third slip which was dropped.

Rushworth made amends the next delivery, hitting Jennings’ stumps with a ball that kept slightly low judging by the England opener’s rueful glance at the pitch as he departed.

At the other end, Alex Davies was in pugnacious form as he looked to drive down the ground at every opportunity with the wicket keeper batsman reaching lunch following a flurry of boundaries.

It was a shock then, when resuming on 71 for 1 after the break, Davies fell quickly after he received a brute of a ball from Brydon Carse, which bounced and left the batsman who edged through to keeper Ned Eckersley for 38.

Using the short-pitched delivery to good effect, Durham proceeded to put the squeeze on Lancashire who struggled to find any gaps on the picturesque if rather chilly ground on the edge of the Yorkshire Dales.

Haseeb Hameed was the next batsman to fall, edging Ben Raine to Durham skipper Cameron Bancroft at second slip for 24, with the score 81 for three and the North East outfit well on top.

With the day’s play in the balance Lancashire began a patient rebuild, with Liam Livingstone and Rob Jones progressing the score to 136 for 3 by the time the players departed the field due to bad light at 3.50pm, with Jones taking full advantage of his let off on 12 when he was badly dropped by Eckersley off Chris Rushworth.

Livingstone had reached a painstaking 35 runs from 95 balls when he became Nathan Rimmington’s first victim soon after tea, following a vociferous lbw appeal, which left Lancashire 141 for 4 and Durham with another chance of making further inroads.

Instead, Villas joined Jones, and the pair dominated the final session, until the latter was trapped in front by Rushworth for an excellent 52 from 150 balls.

Rushworth should have had his third victim when new batsman Steven Croft edged an easy chance to Alex Lees at first slip, but Croft survived and had progressed to 29 not out by the close of play with Vilas unbeaten on 67.