THE relegation of such a strong Lancashire side has left many of cricket's pundits scratching their head.

The fact that an already strong squad had been boosted by the arrival of former England all-rounder Dominic Cork from Derbyshire suggested that the Red Rose were on their way to a season of taking the silverware.

However, that was not the case and Accrington's former Lancashire and England star Paul Allott was left dumbfounded.

"To be honest I am flummoxed by what has happened," said the Sky TV Sports commentator.

"I am sure there will have been an inquest amongst the players within the dressing room.

"They will know that they are the ones who carry the responsibility and they will be looking long and hard at why they have been relegated."

The former pace bowler was at a loss as to why a side with seemingly abundant talent had not clicked in the County Championship.

"The bowling doesn't seem to have been a problem, even though at times they lost experienced players like Peter Martin to injury," said Allott.

"The batting seems to have been the root cause and not enough runs were scored to ensure games were won.

"But that shouldn't have been a problem because there was enough quality there.

"The good thing is that they will still have that quality in the second division next year and you would think Lancashire will have what it takes to come straight back."