Sadler frustrated by Northants' failure to build bigger lead at Lancashire

The County had looked in a strong position after they finished day one of the LV= Insurance County Championship Division One clash on 302 for five.

But they were bowled out for just 342 early on the second day before hosts Lancashire racked up 121 for one by the time rain forced the close.

"Yesterday was such a good day but it only counted if we backed it up today, so it’s a bit frustrating that we’ve gone from 266 for three to 342 all out," Sadler said.

"It’s not good enough but that takes nothing away from the way Emilio (Gay) and Luke (Procter) played yesterday.

"It was disappointing we lost that first session by getting bowled out and then they were a hundred for none.

"We managed to get a wicket towards the end but a dropped catch didn’t help us. That was a tough one to watch go down.

"We should be sitting here with 400 on the board. If we’d done that, it means we could have kept catchers in a little bit longer, the spinners could have had an extra man round the bat and we could have been a little more attacking,

"So as good a score as 342 is, we should be sitting here with a four in front of it, not a three."

Lancashire are now in position to launch a real fightback on day three, with opener Luke Wells unbeaten on 61.

And Wells said: "Batting was quite hard work, but it was nice to get a good partnership with Keaton (Jennings).

"We’ve haven’t had as many of those as we would have liked so far this season so it was nice to get some runs on the board.

"There’s a lot of rough, especially for us left-handers. It comes with the territory.

"When the spinners landed it there, especially (Alex) Russell, it was hard work.

"We tried to put him under a bit of pressure and he started missing his length a bit more as a result which meant we could get a few scoring shots away.

"The cracks have started to open up a bit more now.

"The seamers became harder work as it went a bit more up and down.

"Keaton got hit pretty hard from a ball that was just length. It reared up at him. That gets the heart-rate going when you see things like that.

"The pitch has spun a lot out of the rough but it didn’t do a lot more than yesterday. If you throw the ball nice and wide there are some craters there where it will really jump.

"We’re really pleased with the position we are in.

"The ball is a bit softer now, which makes a big difference.

"If we can bat well tomorrow, bat all day and get any sort of lead, I’d back ourselves to bowl them out cheaply."