Lancashire 295 for 7 (Balderson 94*, Bailey 75*) vs Warwickshire
George Balderson bailed out Lancashire's misfiring top order on his return to the team for the LV=Insurance County Championship clash with Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Back in the side in place of the departed Colin de Grandhomme, Balderson struck a correct and composed unbeaten 94 off 202 balls to lift his side to 295 for 7 on the opening day.
The 22-year-old went in with Lancashire in deep trouble at 91 for 5 and showed the concentration and shot selection required on a slow pitch which was used for Vitality Blast Finals Day last Saturday.
He received excellent support in the last session from Tom Bailey, with a career-best 75 not out from 134 balls, as the eighth-wicket pair added an unbroken 145 against an attack which lacked the sustained incision to press home their early advantage. It was a hard-fought cricket as a pitch which, four days earlier, had delivered 821 runs, 71 fours and 23 sixes, surrendered runs grudgingly as it aged.
The sense of transition surrounding the Lancashire side at the moment was illustrated by five changes from the team beaten by Essex at Blackpool last week. Balderson, Daryl Mitchell, George Bell, Jack Morley and Danny Lamb came in for de Grandhomme Dane Vilas, Rob Jones, Tom Hartley and Jack Blatherwick. Lamb was called up late after Luke Wood and Blatherwick reported injuries in the warm up.
Warwickshire chose to bowl first and soon broke through when Luke Wells feathered a leg-side catch to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess off Chris Rushworth. Josh Bohannon's fluent 33 off 43 balls, in a stand of 47 with Keaton Jennings, ended with an inside edge to the keeper off Ed Barnard before the pressure increased either side of lunch with the loss of three wickets for 16 runs in 27 balls. Phil Salt dragged on a loose drive at Olly Hannon-Dalby, Jennings edged debutant Mir Hamza to second slip and Bell edged Hannon-Dalby to third.
Mitchell and Balderson added 58 in 19 overs, the former striking Danny Briggs and Rushworth for sixes, before another two wickets fell in eight balls. Mitchell (35) top-edged a sweep at Briggs and Lamb, drawn into playing away from his body, edged Barnard behind.
With Lancashire 150 for 7, the home side looked well-placed to build on last week's crushing of Kent, which has had some in the West Midlands talking of a surprise title push, but Balderson and Bailey dug in deep. The Red Rose know how to fight back against Warwickshire and the eighth-wicket pair invoked the spirit of Southport, 1982, when the Bears declared their first innings on 523 for 4… and lost by ten wickets.
Balderson passed 1,000 first class runs and Bailey surpassed his previous career-best 68 as the new ball failed to inflict damage. Hamza's first day as a Bear - with 1 for 89 - was one to forget but Balderson's day was one to remember with pride, especially if he acquires the six runs he needs to complete his maiden century in the morning.
