Luke gets a taste of the big time

LUKE PROCTER . . . climbing the cricketing ladder.

CRICKET:

ROYTON CC professional and captain Luke Procter made his LV= County Championship debut for Lancashire against Warwickshire at Edgbaston yesterday.

The 21-year-old product of the local cricket scene batted at number eight for his county, making 13 runs in a first-innings total of 323 for eight.

But a loophole in the rules means that Procter will be replaced during the match by James Anderson.

The England fast bowler was in the victorious Twenty20 squad in the Caribbean but, with Ryan Sidebottom preferred, sat out the entire campaign.

England’s selectors are keen for Anderson to get as much bowling as possible before next week’s first Test against Bangladesh.

He was expected to replace Procter today, but the local star’s first taste of four-day county cricket will have paved the way for further action at the higher level.

Procter, who had a successful pre-season trip to Barbados with Lancashire, has been knocking on the door for some time and recently travelled with the first team to Hove for their Clydesdale Bank 40 match against Sussex.

He did not play in that game, but his last-minute call-up meant Royton had to play their Saturday Lake Garage CLL match at Middleton without a professional.

With Procter increasingly in the reckoning for Lancashire, Royton are likely to find themselves looking for stand-in professionals during the CLL season.

And Procter’s absence would mean further stints as captain for batsman Matt Ward, who skippered the side to successive victories over Middleton and Crompton.

The latter fixture saw Royton secure the services of ex-Crompton paid man Mohammad Zaman Khan, who played a starring role in the team’s victory.