By the final day of the penultimate round, all attention was focused on Old Trafford, where defeat for Somerset would hand the title to Surrey, while defeat for Lancashire would mean relegation to the Second Division – an ultimate high-stakes match. Lancashire, put in to bat, had folded to 140 all out in just 40 overs on the first day, but then struck back with similar force to dismiss the visitors for only 146, and there was still time for a first second-innings wicket to fall before the e...
