Paul Horton being greeted happily by lots of Lancashire fans, he was captain of Sefton Park for many years, and played for them this weekend.
It has stopped raining at Headingley, play will strike up, but you’ve time for a coffee. And the pitter patter restarts on the canvas roof.
Arrived at Aigburth station, to find a sun and the birds tweeting (is there a more technical term?) in the Triffid-sized horse-chestnuts frowning over the rose-filled front gardens. The teams are warming up on the outfield, Leicester disconcertingly all in black, and after an inspection, play will start at a civilised 11.15.
START OF PLAY SCORES
Division One
Somerset 344 v Surrey 0-0
Warwickshire 181-3 v Nottinghamshire
Yorkshire 289-6 v Essex
Division Two
Durham 254-8 v Derbyshire
Lancashire 347-7 v Leicestershire
Middlesex 138 & 9-0 v Sussex 481-9 dec (after day two)
Middlesex trail by 334 with 10 wickets remaining
Northamptonshire 209 v Glamorgan 452-9 (after day two)
Glamorgan lead by 243 with one wicket remaining
Preamble
Good morning! A confession: it is wet and ch-ch-ch-ch-ch-chilly so I’m writing this in the relative warmth of Liverpool Lime Street before dragging anorak et al to the canvas confines of the Aigburth tent.
The forecast round the grounds today is fair-to-miserable, so expect stop-start-stop with a sprinkling of stardust.
Lots of intriguing cricket to keep an eye on – can Somerset’s bowlers stick it to Surrey at Guildford (where Jack Leach was concussed by Morne Morkel last year)? Can Warwickshire’s batsmen move into first gear? Yorkshire v Essex is in the balance, as is Durham v Derby. I think Lancs are on top at Aigburth, while Middlesex and Northants can expect to pack their bags tonight with a sad face and a lesson learnt.
If you’re still tingling from Pakistan’s take-that-and-party yesterday, don’t forget to keep an eye on Afghanistan v Sri Lanka at Cardiff, OBO here with your two crackers Tom Davies and Rob Smyth.
And finally, how can it be 26 years since this?
Lancashire Cricket
(@lancscricket)#OnThisDay in 1993, @ShaneWarne did this at Old Trafford…
The ball of the century. 👊
Limited Ashes tickets remain ➡️ https://t.co/vAwSfM6JnG pic.twitter.com/i5b3KYBwBM