Lancashire ground out a dull draw at Old Trafford to leave Northants in even deeper relegation trouble.

Red Rose skipper John Crawley prolonged his team's second innings until shortly before tea, declaring on 243 for seven to leave the visitors needing an impossible 349 to win in only 140 minutes.

They reached 13 for the loss of Tobin Bailey, opening in place of the injured Mal Loye, when rain stopped play and the match was abandoned shortly after tea.

The draw suited Lancashire more than Northants, as they extended their lead over the Midlands county to 23 points by "winning" the game on points 11-10 - although Northants, and the other three teams below Lancashire in the first division table, have a game in hand.

Off-spinners Jason Brown and Graeme Swann had each taken three wickets in the Lancashire second innings.

Brown even raised hopes of an unlikely victory after Lancashire had resumed on 64 without loss, having Mark Chilton and Andy Flintoff caught behind in the space of three balls and then trapping John Crawley lbw for 68.

Despite a total of 348 runs in the match from their captain, that left Lancashire on 115 for three and only 220 ahead.

But Neil Fairbrother and Joe Scuderi then linked up in a fourth-wicket stand of 55 which effectively killed off Northants' victory chances.

Fairbrother went soon after lunch for 44, the first of Swann's wickets, but Scuderi moved on to an unbeaten 61 following his first innings 89 before Crawley declared. Brown ended with three for 89 from 30 overs, and Swann had figures of 27-7-75-3.

But the draw leaves Northants needing to win their last three matches to have a realistic chance of avoiding the drop, while Lancashire could now secure their safety by beating Essex in Colchester next week.

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