Day 4
Luke Robinson took two wickets in two balls before rain intervened to end the game as a draw between Durham Second XI and Lancashire Second XI at Old Trafford.
George Lavelle and Tom Aspinwall retired overnight for the hosts on their respective scores of 107 and 27* to give time in the middle to the rest of the lineup.
That brought England international Saqib Mahmood to the crease, who made a quickfire 20 before Luke Robinson sent his middle stump flying with a great yorker as the Lancashire skipper looked to clear the ropes. Robinson was on a hattrick as he cleaned up Cian Dickinson for a golden duck, but the new batter survived the hattrick delivery.
It then fell to the spinners to take some wickets Nathan Sowter got in on the action as Joe Moores top edged a sweep shot off the leg-spinner to George Darwood, before Darwood removed Josh Boyden to give him his first wicket of the match.
Ollie Gibson removed Corey Flintoff as he hooked a short ball to George Drissell on the boundary, before Rocky Flintoff reached a half century before the lunch break and Lancashire declared on 391/7, a lead of 41 runs.
Drissell jumped up the order to open Durham’s second innings alongside first innings centurion Michael Jones before being dismissed for 13. That left Jones and Jonny Bushnell to renew their exploits from the first innings, before rain brought a premature end to the afternoon session.
An early tea was taken but the rain persisted at Old Trafford and the game ended in a draw just before 4:30pm.
Day 3
Michael Jones scored a magnificent 194 for the Durham Second XI on day three of their game against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Jones carried on where he left off on day two with plenty of attacking strokes emphasising the positive approach, quickly moving on from his 92 overnight.
The opener went to three figures with a clip off his legs before unleashing more powerful shots for the rest of his innings, including hitting Josh Boyden for two sixes in three balls.
Lancashire’s bowlers faced Jones’ onslaught throughout the first session as he made use of a relatively benign wicket and utilised all scoring areas to dominate the period.
He eventually fell just shy of his double tonne, an under edge through to the keeper bringing his innings to a close as he tried to clear the boundary to bring up the milestone. He was supported by Jonny Bushnell with the pair sharing a 236 run partnership.
Bushnell made a fine unbeaten 80, his innings providing the perfect foil to Jones from the other end. His innings contained six fours featuring a variety of pulls and drives.
Mitchell Killeen hit one four following Jones’ dismissal to bring up the 350 and skipper Ben McKinney promptly declared, leaving Lancashire to defend a single over before lunch.
Keshana Fonseka and Harry Singh shared a 50 partnership before Bas de Leede got the first wicket, tempting Fonseka into a clip off his pads and George Drissell took a fine diving catch at leg slip to break the partnership.
Singh reached 50 post tea and shared a 153 run partnership with George Lavelle before Drissell pinned Singh lbw for 74.
Lavelle reached his century before the end of play and alongside Tom Aspinwall saw Lancashire to the close 264/2, 84 runs behind Durham.
Day 2 Durham 181/2 (55)
Michael Jones enjoyed a strong start to Durham’s opening 2XI Championship game of the season with an unbeaten 92* in another day affected by the rain.
Following a wash out on day 1, play got underway promptly on day 2 and Durham won the toss and elected to bat at Emirates Old Trafford.
With England and Lancashire quick bowler Saqib Mahmood making his return from injury, Durham openers Ben McKinney and Michael Jones took a cautious approach to the speedster, with his first spell going for 6 from 4 overs.
McKinney was the first to fall, being dismissed by England under-19s teammate Charlie Barnard for 22.
Rain then returned to Emirates Old Trafford, with Jones unbeaten on 32* and Bas de Leede on 16*, with an early lunch being taken at 10 past 1, with play not resuming until 4:10pm and 40 overs remaining in the day.
A 76-run partnership from Joes and de Leede took Durham to 110/2 as de Leede pulled a ball from Mahmood falling for 35.
Bushnell was the new man at the crease, and he closed unbeaten on 25 from 86 balls while Michael Jones ended day 2 on 92* with 9 fours and 2 sixes.
Day 1 – no play possible rain.