LANCASHIRE Cricket Year Book 1999, edited by Rev Malcolm G Lorimer, price £7.00

Last year the Lancashire Cricket Year Book was described by many critics as "simply the best".

Now the 61st edition of that indispensable work is with us once again the editor Malcolm Lorimer has followed in the steps of the title Lord MacLaurin's blueprint for a brighter future for English cricket for he had raised the standard to even greater heights.

The 380 pages are crammed with interesting articles.

One of the most pertinent to Lancastrians is Andrew Hignell's look at the heavens to assess the effect of weather on cricket at Old Trafford.

He tells us that the ground did suffer the loss of the highest percentage of total playing time in 1998, a hefty 37.82 per cent of time lost to rain and bad light, but, contrary to popular belief, it is not top of the list of the grounds where county championship cricket has been abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Overs the years it is Lord's which has that dubious distinction with 14 abandonments: whisper it quietly, Lancashire does sit (un)comfortably in second place with 13!

Eric Midwinter looks at WG Grace's excursions into the County Palatine.

A little published fact is that he was once contracted to come to Blackpool with his England X1 but the amateur's fees were too exorbitant!

He did, however, feature in one unique match at Old Trafford in 1884.

The game was abandoned due to the death of Martha Grace - WG's equally famous mother - and "no other first-class match had been halted for such a poignant reason".

Murray Hedgcock reviews the Aussie connection at Old Trafford with particular empasis on fast bowler Ted McDonald "a cold spear, flexing to destroy".

After his county career was over Sir Lindsay Parkinson brought McDonald to Blackpool installed him as licensee of the Raikes Hotel and he was able to play for Blackpool in the Ribblesdale League as an amateur.

In four seasons he was the scourge of Ribblesdale League batsmen and he took 258 wickets at the low average of 11.22 before his tragic feath in an automobile accident on his way back to the Raikes after a charity game in Manchester.

The Oxbridge connection at Lancashire is assessed by Leonard Jenkinson.

AG Steel and GR Bardswell were the Victorian forerunners of Michael Atherton and John Crawley, the last named pair being regarded as " two of the best".

To complement the interesting variety of features there is the usual mix of statistics, match reports, pen pictures, obituaries and everything else required to while away the pleasant summer days should the cricket get a little dull and uninteresting!

The book is available from Old Trafford or it can be purchased at the county shop at Stanley Park when Glamorgan visit for the county championship game between July 14 and 17.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.