THE opening day of Lancashire’s County Championship match with Hampshire was a washout.

The four-day clash at Liverpool never looked like starting on time after heavy rain swept in from the River Mersey - and at 4pm, the umpires decided that no play would be possible on the day.

But there was time for Andrew Flintoff to continue his recovery from injury and he managed to bowl several practice overs.

Flintoff is stepping-up his training ahead of the Ashes, which start in 20 days.

He is included in the squad for the Hampshire game and officials hope that the covers will be taken off Aigburth in time for the match to commence this morning.

There was some good news for the county and the Liverpool club, however.

The final 150 tickets for Lancashire Lightning’s Twenty20 Cup match against Leicestershire on Monday have been snapped up.

This means that all 4,500 tickets have now been sold for the county’s first Twenty20 Cup match away from Old Trafford.

Meanwhile, the Lancashire Cricket Board over-50s team were also frustrated yesterday.

They were due to face Northumberland in the ECB 50+ County Championship - Group 1 at East Lancs.

But that game, which was due to feature Lancashire League legends Ian Haworth and Mike Ingham, was also abandoned without a ball being bowled at Alexandra Meadows.