Lancs move another game to Liverpool

By Graham Hardcastle

Lancashire have moved their final LV= County Championship match of the season against Surrey from Old Trafford to Liverpool, citing continued poor weather as the reason for the latest alteration to their fixture list.

It means the Red Rose county, who last month made the same switch for their forthcoming match against Durham (August 27-30), will have played six of their eight home matches at the Merseyside venue, the same number as last season.

The match (September 11-14) could be key in the battle to avoid relegation with both teams struggling towards the bottom of Division One. It starts the day after two Twenty20 internationals are hosted at Old Trafford, the women’s match between England and the West Indies and the men’s match between England and South Africa.

Last week, Old Trafford hosted the first of two unofficial Test matches between England Lions and Australia A. The draw was played out on the same pitch that will be used for next summer’s third Ashes Test match.

Lancashire cricket director Mike Watkinson said: “The period of extremely wet weather, which forced us to move the Durham game to Liverpool, hasn’t sufficiently improved to re-establish the grass cover on the newer pitches on the square. We have also got the international T20 matches the day before.
 
“Taking these factors into consideration, and the fact that we have made a significant investment in the facilities and pitches at Liverpool, we felt that this was the correct decision.
 
“I would like to apologise for any inconvenience this may cause, but I am sure that our members and supporters will understand the need to prioritise cricket.”    


Date: 16/08/2012 14:18:48 by Graham Hardcastle
In: Today | Lancashire |