Andre Adams’ 600th first class wicket was the highlight of another rain-interrupted day at Trent Bridge which saw Lancashire advance to 272-9 in their first innings.

Only 21 overs of play were possible, which saw the batting side add a further 69 runs for the loss of three wickets, one of whom was Ashwell Prince who fell to the former New Zealand international.

Adams has made a reputation for himself for dismissing left-handers, so it wasn’t surprising that another landmark wicket was obtained against a ‘southpaw’. 

“I guess that’s true,” he reflected. “But it was a bit of a freebie wicket from Ash,” said Adams. “You don’t get them too often from him so I’ll take them when you can.”

It’s just 13 months – and 19 matches – since Adams took his 500th wicket, a stat that he’s clearly proud of.

“It’s been a good year – obviously, for me personally,” he said. “It’s more important for the team who’ve started strongly and hopefully we can take it on from here. But 19 matches is pretty good. I like to be persistent, putting the ball in good areas and it’s paid off for me over those matches.”

After sterling work by Steve Birks and his ground crew, play got underway at 11.40am, defying all pundits who had forecast a total second day wash-out.

Resuming from their overnight 203-6 Lancashire were soon on the offensive, with Glenn Chapple playing some attractive shots during the opening half hour.

Prince had batted beautifully for his 80, holding the innings together whilst a cluster of scores in the twenties and thirties had been accumulated around him.

There was some satisfaction in the dismissal, in that it was taken by Alex Hales at first slip. The same fielder had spilled the South African on 51 but made no mistake when another offering came his way.

Paul Franks thought he’d trapped Glenn Chapple plum in front of his stumps but umpire Jeff Evans turned down the leg before wicket appeals.

The bowler responded in clinical fashion by firing one through the defences of Chapple (24) although it appeared as if the Lancashire skipper may have lost sight of the ball as it clattered into his middle stump.

After replacing Adams, at the Pavilion End, Harry Gurney collected his first wicket of the contest as a huge waft from Ajmal Shahzad (3) only succeeded in getting a thin snick as the ball flew into Read’s gloves.

Having inserted their opponents on the opening day, the minimum of Nottinghamshire’s aspirations would be to ensure maximum bowling points and this was duly completed although the last pair, Kyle Hogg and Simon Kerrigan, held things up by sharing nine runs together before steady drizzle forced the players off at around five minutes to one.

After lunch eight more runs were added but only around ten more minutes of play was possible before the next stoppage became terminal.