Another Hooper 100 for Lancs

MANCHESTER, England: Former West Indies captain Carl Hooper added another marvellous innings to his first-class career with a century for Lancashire against Surrey in the English County Championship on Wednesday.

Hooper scored a magnificent 114 to take Lancashire to 341 all out, past Surrey’s first innings (337) total, a prospect that had seemed unlikely for most of the day. Pacer Peter Martin swiftly ended the Surrey innings at the start of the day, ending with three for 54 off 14.4 overs as opening batsman Johnathon Batty finished undefeated on 154 for Surrey. Hooper bowled 18 tidy overs without taking a wicket, while conceding 38 runs. Lancashire lost Iain Sutcliffe (8) early on but Mark Currie (56) and Australian Stuart Law (67) both made half centuries and advanced the score by a further 109, before both departed in quick succession. Wickets tumbled as Lancashire lost their way, falling from 169 for two to 183 for six.

Warren Hegg (19) and Hooper steadied the ship with a 38-run stand until Hegg perished hooking at Azhar Mahmood (4-76). Martin (8) and John Wood (6) offered brief resistance but when Gary Keedy joined Hooper, Lancashire looked set for a substantial first innings deficit at 262 for nine. But Hooper expertly framed the bowling and hit anything short or loose to devastating effect. The 36-year-old Guyanese, who stroked a double century (201) against Middlesex last week, faced 147 balls and his knock was laced with 11 fours and five sixes. A rivetted Old Trafford ticked off each of the targets — 300 for a batting point, 312 for the fifty partnership, and then 337 as the teams drew level. Hooper finally perished just before the close, caught on the third man boundary, for a quite breathtaking 114 and there was plenty of credit for Keedy, who scored just one not out of a last wicket partnership of 79 and contributed hugely to an entertaining afternoon.