Brown ends tonless run as Lancashire push on

Glamorgan 48 for 1 trail Lancashire 462 (Brown 132, Davies 95, Croft 67, Faulkner 63, Meschede 4-101) by 418 runs
Scorecard

Karl Brown scored his first century for over four years but Alex Davies fell five short of a maiden hundred as Lancashire's batsmen dominated the second day of their Division Two game against Glamorgan.

Lancashire amassed 462 in their first innings before being dismissed 13 overs after tea and Glamorgan were 48 for 1 off 16 overs in reply at the close of play.

However, the morning session will remain memorable for Brown, who reached his first century in 96 first-class innings stretching back to April 2011 when he clipped Michael Hogan through midwicket for four. Having got to three figures off 217 balls with 13 fours, Brown went on to make 132, his highest score for Lancashire's first team before pulling David Lloyd to Chris Cooke at midwicket five overs into the afternoon's play.

Steven Croft, who helped Brown add 132 for the fourth wicket, departed half an hour later for a 164-ball 67 when a rather wild cut off Craig Meschede only edged the ball to Mark Wallace behind the stumps.

However, Lancashire's attacking intentions were not so much maintained as intensified by Alex Davies and James Faulkner, who put on 128 for the sixth wicket in 22 overs before Faulkner's pull-drive off Meschede found the safe hands of Lloyd at long on when he had made 63 off 70 balls.

That dismissal began a period of less than seven overs in which Lancashire lost their last five wickets for 27 runs, the chief beneficiary of the home side's brief and cheerful slog being Meschede, who finished the innings with four for 101. Part-time legspinner Colin Ingram also enjoyed himself, picking up the wickets of Davies and Arron Lilley in a 3.1 over spell.

The departure of Davies occurred when, having made 95 off 104 balls with 11 fours and two sixes, the 20-year-old came down the wicket to the slow bowler but only skied the ball to Wagg running round to cover from point.

The successes of Meschede and Ingram were hard on Michael Hogan, who had battled against a groin strain to bowl 30 good but wicketless overs, and they were particularly tough on Graham Wagg, whose figures of 2 for 82 off 30 overs did him no justice whatsoever. However, it was not a particularly good day for Glamorgan's fielders, at least four catches going down on a day when the bowlers both needed and deserved more support.

In the 16 overs of Glamorgan's first innings, Jacques Rudolph and Will Bragg added 40 for the first wicket before Bragg was leg before to off-spinner Lilley's second ball for 27, umpire Rob Bailey judging that the ball had straightened sufficiently to beat the left-hander's forward push.

At the close Rudolph was 18 not out and nightwatchman Andrew Salter was unbeaten on a single. By that stage the spinners, Lilley and Simon Kerrigan, were bowling in tandem, a combination the Old Trafford spectators may have further opportunities to observe over the final two days of this game.