LANCASHIRE followed up a magnificent championship win with a dismal CGU National League defeat.

Worcester Royals, so badly hit by injuries and illness that they had to use 41 year old coach Bill Athey, strolled to a six wickets win with 28 balls to spare to embarrass the league title holders at Old Trafford yesterday.

Yet only 24 hours earlier Lancashire had fought back magnificently to reach a formidable target of 332, beating Notts by three wickets.

Coach Dav Whatmore said: "It's hard to take in. We gained a lot of credit for how we performed in the championship, but we deserved nothing for this defeat in front of our own fans."

Lancashire call themselves Lightning for league purposes, but there have been few flashes of inspiration in their last two matches. They snatched defeat from the jaws of victory at Bristol three weeks ago, and this latest setback pushed them into the bottom four of the First Division.

There were no excuses for the way they allowed Royals to dominate the game.

Mark Chilton and John Crawley steered them to a useful 82-1, but they struggled from then on until the last two overs when Warren Hegg and Richard Green blasted 29. Even so, a total of 186-8 from 45 overs isn't going to scare many sides.

Royals, fresh from a good win over Warwicks Bears, had the best possible start, a seven an over blitz from openers Paul Pollard and Reuben Spiring and the result was never in doubt despite a careful spell from Gary Yates which earned him three consecutive wickets.

Athey, looking as sprightly as anyone on the field, wrapped it up with an unbeaten 22 and said: "You always expect a tough game at Old Trafford, but I thought we controlled this one."

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