County Championship: Karl Brown makes 80 on rain-hit day

Karl Brown has hit seven half-centuries for Lancashire this summer

Lancashire opener Karl Brown hit a gritty unbeaten half-century, as the Division Two leaders put themselves in a decent position on a rain-hit opening day against Glamorgan at Old Trafford.

The 27-year-old made 80 out of the hosts' 161-3 when rain brought an early close just after 17:00 BST.

All-rounder Graham Wagg bowled well for the Welsh county, claiming 2-40.

The left-armer took the crucial wicket of Ashwell Prince for four, shortly before the players were taken off.

With opener Paul Horton left out of the side after it was announced on Thursday he had not been offered a new deal by Lancashire, 18-year-old Haseeb Hameed was given his debut at the top of the order.

The England Under-19 batsman made 28 off 119 balls in difficult batting conditions before he was trapped lbw by Wagg.

However, Brown batted with resilience for more than four hours to move in sight of his second first-class hundred.

Lancashire need a maximum of 33 points from their final four games to win promotion to Division One.

Glamorgan all-rounder Graham Wagg told BBC Radio Wales Sport:

"One caught at short-extra cover, the other caught off a long-hop off me, but we'll take them as they come.

"For those two players to get out is a huge bonus for us because they've proved up in Colwyn Bay (with a stand of 501) that when they get in, they're really hard to get out.

"The scores here aren't as big as people think they should be on a flat wicket. If we can pick up two wickets in the morning and restrict them to anything under 300, it would be a fantastic effort."