Damp squib closes out Lancashire's forgettable summer

Josh Bohannon made an unbeaten 190 to ensure Lancashire ended a disappointing Rothesay County Championship campaign with a draw against Durham on a rain-affected last day of the first-class season at Emirates Old Trafford.

Resuming on 267 for 5, the home side had progressed to 397 for six in the 38 overs that could be fitted in between spells of poor light and rain. And Lancashire's total was largely the work of Bohannon, whose runs in this innings represent over a third of his aggregate for the season.

The cricket played on this final day did not affect the teams' league positions in the slightest. Durham took 13 points from the game and have won the division by 47 points from Kent, a margin which reflects their superiority this season. The surprise is not that Alex Lees's team won the Division Two title; the surprise is that they were in domestic cricket's second tier in the first place.

Lancashire, by contrast, end the season next to bottom on 114 points, 17 ahead of Gloucestershire but 36 shy of sixth-placed Derbyshire. There is clearly plenty for the county's officials to reflect upon as they enter the close-season and consider reorganising the county's coaching structure.

Bad light and slight drizzle meant that play began 45 minutes late on the final morning of the season at Emirates Old Trafford. And only 6.1 overs were possible in the first session before the gloom returned and an early lunch was taken at 12.15 with Lancashire on 295 for 5.

However, the rain stayed away long enough to allow nearly two hours' play during the afternoon session in which the home side scored 102 runs for the loss of Ben Walkden's wicket. Bohannon reached 150 for the seventh time in his Lancashire career off 321 balls but he lost his batting partner, Ben Walkden, for a career-best 36 when the Newton-le-Willows all-rounder attempted to pull Callum Parkinson to leg but only skyed a catch to Brydon Carse at backward point.

By that stage, however, Walkden's sixth-wicket partnership with Bohannon had yielded 83 runs and taken Lancashire to within 14 runs of avoiding the follow-on. That landmark was reached by George Balderson's unbroken 66-run stand with Bohannon, during which the cricket acquired the gentle aimlessness often associated with end-of-season games when nothing, not even a point, is at stake.

The umpires came off for bad light at 2.35 and an early tea was taken at 2.50. However, the murk continued and a draw was quickly agreed at 3.45.