MARK Harvey enjoyed his taste of first team cricket with Lancashire on Wednesday at Edgbaston - and now he is hoping for more.

The 24-year-old Padiham pro was called up to replace the injured Neil Fairbrother, and was Lancashire's top scorer with a battling 39 in the 27-run defeat.

He is again on stand by for next Wednesday's NatWest Trophy second round tie against Yorkshire at Old Trafford, if Fairbrother fails to recover.

That will bring back memories of Harvey's best first team score so far, when he made 86 and was named man of the match in the first round victory over Berkshire at Old Trafford last year.

But since making his debut in 1994, he has played only six championship matches and three in the AXA League.

"I finished university last year and I'm hoping to play a lot more first team cricket," he said.

"I made my debut in 1994. I haven't had that many chances since.

"But I know it's up to me."

The Edgbaston game was the first time he has played under floodlights. "But I didn't have any problems with then," he added.

"The main problem was the pitch - a bit slow, and not easy to bat on. There weren't many boundaries, and it was a question of working for every run. And me and Graham Lloyd just had to stick around.

"It was disappointing that we weren't able to win the game, but I definitely enjoyed the experience."

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