Lancs relegated after batting fails at Worcester

Lancashire captain Keaton Jennings is far and away his side's top scorer this season with 1,000 runs but he was dismissed for just one at New Road

Vitality County Championship Division One, Visit Worcestershire New Road (day three)

Worcestershire 180: Waite 60, Van Beek 48; Phillip 5-65, Bailey 3-22 & 0-0:

Lancashire 177: Wells 38, Balderson 38; Waite 3-38

Worcestershire (3 pts) lead Lancashire (2 pts) by three runs

Match scorecard

Lancashire had their expected relegation to Division Two confirmed as they were bowled out for 177 at Worcester.

The Red Rose's failure to pick up any batting bonus points from New Road ensured that Warwickshire were safe.

And, once Nottinghamshire had taken three wickets in their meeting with the Bears at Trent Bridge and Worcestershire had taken the 10th wicket, that sealed Lancashire's relegation.

This is now the fourth time Lancashire have gone down since winning the title in 2011 - and their fifth since two-division cricket began in 2000.

It had all looked increasingly likely that they would go down for some weeks - especially after a record three successive innings defeats when the season resumed in August. But the end came with a whimper as they failed to collect any batting bonus points for an astonishing ninth time in this season's 14 Championship games.

Their total of 15 batting points is the second lowest in this year's top flight, ahead only of Kent, who were relegated nine days before - and, to rub salt in the wound for Lancastrians, they will again swap places with promoted rivals Yorkshire - just as they previously did in 2012.

After resuming on 119-7, following Friday's washout, hosts Worcestershire eked out a further 61 runs to reach 180 - largely thanks to some hefty hitting from Matthew Waite (60), Logan van Beek (48) and also a few lusty blows from last man Jack Home.

Short-term signing Anderson Phillip finished with a 5-65, while Tom Bailey took 3-22.

Then it was down to see if the visitors could overhaul the Pears, who had already guaranteed their own safety with a game to spare and now have their sights on sealing a sixth-place finish - which would be their highest in English county cricket's two-tier era.

But Worcestershire had paceman Joe Leach, in his final match before retiring. And, fired up by a guard of honour as the Pears players came out to field, he took two of the wickets as Lancashire slumped to 30-4 either side of lunch.

Skipper Keaton Jennings was taken head high at second slip by Lancashire old boy Rob Jones off Waite before Harry Singh pushed forward to Leach and was caught behind.

Josh Bohannon attempted to work Leach to leg and was lbw, as was 16-year-old Rocky Flintoff, attempting a straight drive at Van Beek.

Wicketeeper Matty Hurst and George Bell repaired some damage with a stand of 43. But Hurst gave his wicket away when he tamely clipped Waite to mid-wicket where Home took a catch before then getting his first wicket in first-class cricket when he removed Luke Wells' middle stump for 38.

Waite picked up a third scalp when Bell missed a straight ball and was lbw before Ethan Brookes struck in his first over after tea when Bailey became another lbw victim to a delivery which cut back.

Phillip and Balderson added 56 for the ninth wicket - but it was all over when Balderson was caught low down at mid-on for 38 off Brookes, who also had Phillip (30) caught at cover.

Bad light then ended play just one over into Worcestershire’s second innings.

Retiring Pears paceman Joe Leach walked out to a guard of honour at Worcester before taking two more wickets to take his tally to 469 in 237 first-class matches

Lancashire head coach Dale Benkenstein told BBC Radio Lancashire:

"The first division has got some very experienced teams and we had lost a little bit of experience in key areas. We probably didn’t realise what a difference not having Steven Crofty and Dane Vilas would make. Not just on the field but what they also give off the field.

"The last game gave us a glimmer of hope. But, over six months of Championship cricket, it's a marathon and consistency is really important.

"We just haven't been able to put consistent performances together and there's a few reasons you can go into, but the bottom line is we're in this position because we haven't consistently performed well.

"You come in as a coach with a whole new coaching team and you try to learn a lot of things in a short space of time.

"With the history of the club, you know it's a very strong, ambitious club so when you're bringing in young players, and there's debuts being made, with some good senior players in the team, you're expecting them to be at a decent level."

Worcestershire's Matthew Waite followed his 60 with the bat to take three wickets with the ball

The retiring Joe Leach had a guard of honour at Worcester prior to extending his career haul of wickets for the Pears to 469 in 137 first-class matches