CHRIS SCHOFIELD showed why Lancashire are keen to keep him with a five-star show under the Old Trafford floodlights last night.

But Neil Fairbrother, who like Schofield is out of contract at the end of the season, followed yet another one-day masterclass with a worrying hint that he is going to retire.

Schofield collected five of the last six wickets as Lancashire skittled Derbyshire for 150 to complete a 60-run victory in their penultimate National League game of the season.

It was the 22-year-old leg-spinner's first five-wicket haul in one-day cricket, and his best performance of a disappointing season - triggered by another reminder of his brilliant fielding ability as he ran out Derbyshire debutant Steve Selwood from backward point.

But Lancashire's win was set up by Fairbrother, who stepped up to open the innings with John Crawley and hit 78 from 98 balls.

It continued the 37-year-old's superb form in both Championship and one-day cricket this summer. But on his way back to the Old Trafford pavilion, Fairbrother saluted the 5,524 crowd in a way that suggested he was making his farewell.

He waved his bat to all corners of the ground with far more enthusiasm than Mike Atherton's sheepish acknowledgement of the Oval crowd's reaction to his Test farewell 10 days ago.

Fairbrother says he will not make any decision on his future until the end of the season but it could be that he, like Atherton, now has only next week's Championship game against Kent, followed by the National League return at Derby on Sunday week, to bring down the curtain on a superb career.

Lancashire went on to reach 210 for six with Crawley, who had won an important toss, making 28 in an opening stand of 80 with Fairbrother, and handy contributions from Andy Flintoff, Graham Lloyd and Warren Hegg.

Derbyshire then made a good start until 18-year-old Kyle Hogg broke their opening stand by having Steve Stubbings lbw. Hogg ended with one for 14 from six overs on his one-day debut, but the spinners did the rest of the damage with Gary Yates earning two for 21 from nine typically tight overs before Schofield mopped up the tail.