Date-stamped : 09 Aug97 - 14:26 Martin on song again By Barrie Fairall at Blackpool First day of four: Lancs (194-3) lead Warwicks (139) by 55 runs CAUGHT out on a steamy seamer and with the ball swinging around for good measure, Warwickshire were blown away inside 50 overs by a Lancashire attack spearheaded by Peter Martin. Most of which could have been Lancashire`s problem if they had won the toss. Instead, Neil Smith called correctly in his first cham- pionship match as captain and it was not long before he was trekking back to the pavilion a second time as Martin`s fourth victim before lunch. Martin, the 6ft 4in bowler discarded by England, took 13 for 79 against Middlesex at Uxbridge last month, the best match fig- ures so far this season. Here he finished with six for 46 as Warwick- shire were dismissed for their lowest total of the sum- mer. The umpires, including Dickie Bird, who has just heard from Lord`s he will be retained as a first-class umpire next season, were then spared the call to HQ they would have had to have made if 15 wickets had fallen in the day. Lancashire, benefiting from the heavy roller and some good fortune, laid firm foun- dations with a stand of 125 by Neil Fairbrother and Graham Lloyd. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Giles assault only delays inevitable By Barrie Fairall at Blackpool Second day of four: Warwicks (139 & 241-8) lead Lancs (362) by 18 runs A BURST of three wickets in 10 balls, costing three runs, from the rangy and raw fast bowler, Darren Shadford, allowed Lan- cashire to come within a whisker of wrapping up Warwickshire, who in two days at Stanley Park have all but disappeared on the wrong end of a collective clatter of 28 wickets. Warwickshire had begun their second innings in much the same vein as their first with Mark Wagh, previously leg before to Ian Austin, now offering no shot and losing his off stump. Dominic Ostler, though, survived to the 17th over, scoring only 11 before Shadford yorked him, but helping to raise 46 for the second wicket in company with David Hemp. By now, Shadford, having collected his first championship wicket since late June, was suitably fired up. The 6ft 3in right- hander is 22 and he came charging in, in the steamy conditions, to whistle past Anurag Singh and Hemp. At that point, Warwickshire were 59 for four but Neil Smith and Trevor Penney, hit on the helmet earlier by a short ball from Shad- ford, stood their ground for 13 overs. When they went, Dougie Brown, top scorer with 42 first time around, played an- other bold innings to help hold up Lancashire with a 50-ball fifty. Though Shadford struck again with his first ball back to re- move Graeme Welch, Ashley Giles struck him for three boundaries in an over to ensure that Lancashire have to bat again for victo- ry and that Warwickshire avoided their first defeat in two days since 1993. Earlier, Austin built on half-centuries from Neil Fairbrother and Graham Lloyd with one of his own, his sixth this summer. It was that sort of application on a wicket causing Warwick- shire so much trouble that enabled Lancashire to work their way to a lead of 223. Such luxury appeared improbable first thing. Lloyd had added on- ly five to his overnight 70 when he was snapped up by Ostler at second slip in Brown`s opening over. Mark Harvey soon followed, Allan Donald the bowler and Wagh pocketing the slip catch. Lancashire were then five down for 205 and only 66 ahead, but Austin now found an ally in his captain, Mike Watkinson. The pair had added 69 in 16 overs before Warwickshire made a double break- through, Watkinson pushing forward to be caught behind for 22 off Welch, who then dismissed Warren Hegg for a duck in simi- lar fashion in his next over. There was no shifting Austin, though, the left-hander mixing caution with aggression to reach his fifty. He had made 68, spread across 2.5 hours, and put away 10 fours, before Welch had him caught be- hind. Welch now cleaned up the tail, finishing with a career-best six for 115. Warwickshire, however, had let off the hook a Lan- cashire side happy to lose the toss. They were especially gener- ous in their approach considering they conceded 59 extras. Lan- cashire, in- deed, had just about everything handed to them on a plate. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Lancashire edge home By Barrie Fairall at Blackpool Third day of four: Lancashire (362 & 91-7) bt Warwickshire (139 & 310) by 3 wkts AS Warwickshire would say, thanks but no thanks to our friends in the North. In the event, though, they at least had the satis- fac- tion of shaking Lancashire to the core before the events of day one caught up with them nearly two hours into the second session at sunny Stanley Park yesterday. Whistled out for a song on a sporting wicket after winning the toss and showing a deficit of 223 on first innings, just staving off defeat by an innings would have been applauded as a major achieve- ment. Instead, they managed to set Lancashire a target of 88 to win and at one stage had them reeling at 45 for six. It was fighting and thrilling stuff before a holiday crowd in excess of 1,000 who departed well satisfied, having gained free ad- mission. At first, Warwickshire had to build on their slen- der overnight advantage of 18 runs, though with eight wickets down, few expected to be here very long. But Ashley Giles in particular and Tony Frost clearly had oth- er ideas, the pair adding 107 in 17 overs of fine shot selection before Darren Shadford took a superb caught and bowled to send Frost on his way and achieve a first first-class five-wicket haul. Giles went in the next over, caught at point off Ian Austin. He had faced 75 balls in making a valiant 72, striking 12 bound- aries and benefiting from four overthrows as he scampered a sin- gle. The twists in this tale were far from over as Lancashire not so much chased the 88 runs they needed for the 24 points and a fourth championship win in five matches as scrambled them. With Allan Donald and Graeme Welch bowling unchanged through to lunch, Lancashire dined nervously on 28 for four. When Welch struck twice more on the resumption, he was left with a career- best 11 for 140 in a match. But Nathan Wood, who played and missed countless times against Donald, scored an agonising 26 and Lancashire won through, with but relief all round. Lancashire now move on to Old Trafford for a Sunday League showdown with Warwickshire, who share the leadership. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)