CRICKET: Lancashire were saved by centuries from Nathan Wood and Chris Schofield after running into trouble against the Boland Academy in South Africa yesterday.
The first day of a three-day match again exposed some fragile Red Rose batting after their struggle against the Western Province Academy earlier in the week. Captain John Crawley went cheaply for the third time on the tour, and Lancashire slipped to 131-6 before the steady Wood and the aggressive Schofield turned the tables, linking up in a stand of 164.
Wood crafted 126 off 255 balls with 17 fours and Schofield, better known for his leg-spin talent although also a useful left-handed batsman, cracked an unbeaten 100 from 133 balls with 13 fours. Thanks to the seventh wicket pair, Lancashire declared at 333-7 - and they got further encouragement when the Academy replied. Mike Atherton, trying to boost his World Cup fitness, guested for the South Africans and hammered an unbeaten 27 in their 39-1 off nine overs.
The only wicket to fall went to promising young seamer Mike Smethurst, his first as a Lancashire pro.
Boland Academy v Lancs (at Stellenbosch): 1st innings - Lancashire 333-7 dec (Wood 126, Schofield 100no), Boland Academy 39-1 (Atherton 27 no).
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
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