Anderson gives England a boost but Broad struggles

Round-up

While one England bowler will fly to the Caribbean tomorrow with confidence high, another may feel he still has some work to do ahead of the ICC World Twenty20.

Nine wickets in the match as Lancashire thrashed Essex represented as good a warm-up as James Anderson could have wished for. By contrast, Stuart Broad's dramatic five-wicket burst for Nottinghamshire on Thursday evening seemed to have been deceptive as a form indicator.

Broad struggled for control yesterday, just as he had in Somerset's first innings on Wednesday, when his 19 overs cost 79 runs. This time Somerset's Damien Wright shot him out of the attack before he had time to inflict any more damage after the visitors, who had been 33 for 5 the previous evening, resumed at 120 for 6.

Three back-to-back fours by the Australian all-rounder persuaded Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read that the best place for the England man was on the outfield after he had conceded 25 in three overs.

His five wickets in 28 balls on Thursday had shown how effective he can be but figures of 5 for 84 from 14 overs were not what his side needed as Somerset threatened to build a big lead.

Broad's team-mates Luke Fletcher and Paul Franks came to the rescue, the former taking out Wright's leg stump to end a 71-ball barrage worth 78 before Franks left Marcus Trescothick still without a century at Trent Bridge, the former England opener cutting straight to Ally Brown, standing wide at slip when on 98.

Nottinghamshire were left a target of 250 to win that proved to be within their reach after a second-wicket stand of 125 between Bilal Shafayat and Mark Wagh. It then took an unbeaten 64 from Hashim Amla to steer his side home by two wickets.

Lancashire matched Nottinghamshire in making it two wins from two matches at Chelmsford where Essex were bowled out cheaply for the second time in the match before the visitors chased down a target of 38 for the loss of two wickets. Anderson added three wickets to his first innings 6 for 44, while Saj Mahmood's 3 for 18 included two in three deliveries to dismiss Ryan ten Doeschate and Tim Phillips.

Sussex maintained their 100 per cent record in Division Two with a third wide-margin victory, defeating Gloucestershire by 207 runs at Bristol with almost five sessions to spare.