A strong looking Lancashire lead the County Championship over-60 Division 1A after the first round of fixtures played at Carlton Le Willows when all counties played four matches.

The Lancashire quartet of Keith Williams, Phil Bowen, Brian Clements and Brenda Buoey appeared to be the standout team before proceedings and so it proved as 9-1 wins over Yorkshire seconds and Worcestershire followd by a 10-0 win over Lincolnshire – and in their final match they had to play without the services of Buoey and still completed a 7-3 win.

Warwickshire first team stand level on points after the first round of matches as they too also won all their four matches with wins over Cheshire No 3 (8-2), Lincolnshire (10-0), Cheshire 2 (6-4) and ended the weekend with a 7-3 win over Nottinghamshire.

Yorkshire seconds completed the weekend on eight points, the same as Lancashire and Warwickshire but Yorkshire played an extra match in this nine-team division and despite their thumping by Lanachire they won their other four matches 7-3 over Cheshire seconds, 9-1 over Warwickshire seconds, 10-0 over the home county and 8-2 against Cheshire 2.

In this division of nine teams, the next round of fixtures due to be played just before Christmas will see the counties broken down to three groups of three to play their nearest rivals and the the division will be completed on one day at Halifax on March 10, with all counties playing their remaining two matches. With Warwickshire first due to play both Yorkshire and Lanashire on that day, the destination of the title is expected to be determined then.