Hegg inspires Lanashire fightback

Warren Hegg may be something of a forgotten man in English cricket but that failed to stop him from playing an innings to remember at Headingley this afternoon. Against a persistently accurate Yorkshire attack, Hegg was the one batsman to capitalise on a good start, his innings the difference between mediocrity and competitiveness as Lancashire's soared to a mark of 267 - against Yorkshire's 4/0 - on another two-paced Leeds pitch.

It was Hegg's chanceless 75, spiced as it was with nine well struck boundaries, which proved the defining factor in a fightback much needed by the visitors. With only a solitary half century to show from nineteen previous appearances at the crease this county season, the former England 'keeper chose an opportune moment to turn his form around in what shapes as one of the most crucial matches of the summer. Stern late resistance also came in the form of a painstaking 19 in a shade under two hours from Glen Chapple (whose concentration on occupation of the crease enabled him to share in a vital 88 run stand for the seventh wicket with Hegg) and a handy unbeaten 29 from number nine, Richard Green.

Undone by some excellent bowling, principally from the redoubtable Matthew Hoggard (4/70), the Lancastrians had looked to be tumbling deep into the mire as they surrendered five wickets for fifty runs to find themselves teetering at 128/6 an hour after lunch. Enter their enterprising wicketkeeper-batsman, whose ability to tuck and chip the ball into gaps not only slowed Yorkshire's momentum but also evinced increasing signs of frustration. Michael Atherton (21), John Crawley (23), Sourav Ganguly (28), and a characteristically aggressive Andrew Flintoff (28), had all made decent enough starts to raise hopes of a solid top order performance, but they failed to a man to continue on with a job that, in the end, was by far best left to Hegg.