LANCASHIRE seem certain to be playing Second Division one-day cricket again next season.

And the harsh, depressing truth is, that is where they belong.

Last night at Old Trafford, they were completely outclassed in all aspects of the game by a Worcestershire side who moved four points clear at the top of the Norwich Union table after a crushing 109-run win.

In contrast Lancashire are now 10 points adrift of third-placed Hampshire having played a game more.

The Royals batted sensibly to compile a formidable total of 236 for five in their 45 overs, shrugging off the early loss of skipper Graeme Hick to a run-out with former Warwickshire opener Anurag Singh top-scoring with 80.

Then their seamers bowled a good line and length to destroy Lancashire's batting, with Kabir Ali winning lbw decisions against Andy Flintoff, John Crawley and Glen Chapple in the decisive spell.

Admittedly, Flintoff looked unlucky to be given out to a ball which was

heading down the leg-side.

But Lancashire know that there can be no excuses for this defeat.

The sad fact is that their bowlers must wish they could bowl at their

batsmen, and their batsmen must wish they could face their own bowlers - and indictments do not come much more damning than that.

Seamers John Wood and Peter Martin deserve to be exempted after sharing a tidy new ball spell after Hick had won the toss and chosen to bat.

And Chapple continued his encouraging form as a pinch-hitting opener with 34 from 47 balls.

Graham Lloyd also took a rare chance at the crease to make 23, Lancashire's second top score, although by then the game was lost.

On the other side of the ledger Lancashire's nine overs of spin from Chris Schofield and Gary Keedy cost an expensive 76 runs.

And then the fragility of Lancashire's batting line-up was again exposed.

To complete a depressing night for the club, a crowd of 4,028 was well

below their break-even figure for floodlit matches, following on from

Sunday's embarrassing washout against Durham.

That made it even more important that they bounced back in the Championship against second-placed Somerset at Old Trafford today.