The 19-year-old wicketkeeper Duke contributed 52 of Yorkshire‘s 159 all out, but Lancashire looked more fluid at Old Trafford and were 95/1 at the end of day oneIn the early years of the 20th century, when county cricket was the main driver of the summer game, England’s selectors were once roasted for picking players for representative matches and ignoring the county game. In 1905, seven Lancashire and Yorkshire cricketers were picked for England against Australia and some folk either side of the Pennines were not best pleased. This year’s clash is missing five England contracted or IPL players, but no one has raised an eyebrow. The presence of Joe Root, Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan, Jimmy Anderson and Jos Buttler would have raised the standard to levels once seen, but those days are long gone and Buttler is a Lancashire player in name only. He has not played a first-class fixture for the

Source: The Times May 27, 2021 22:52 UTC