History for Michael Hill as Staffordshire are held by Lincolnshire

Hill became only the fifth player ever to achieve that feat for Staffs in the NCCA Championship.

However, a strong-willed second innings from Lincolnshire secured the hosts a draw and moved both teams into the top two spots in Eastern Division One – with Staffs three points clear at the summit.

Winning the toss and batting first, Staffs posted a score of 326-8 before declaring.

Strong scores from Alex Mellor (57), Matthew Morris (45), Hill (104) and debutant Jason Jakeman (48) put them in a strong position early on.

Early wickets for Alex Coates and James Cox had Lincolnshire at 82-2 at the end of day one and a steady stream of wickets the following day kept the reply down to 282, earning Staffs four bonus points to add to their maximum haul of batting points.

There were two-wicket hauls from Jakeman (2-37), Byrne (2-47) and Coates (2-49).

Staffs built on their first-innings lead of 44 runs thanks to scores from Morris (53), Hill (110) and Peter Wilshaw (50).

That took them to 306-5, a lead of 350 runs, before declaring.

But wickets for Scott Winnington (2-31), Jakeman (1-21) and Byrne (2-43) proved not to be enough as Lincolnshire battled through 72 overs to finish 196-5.

That meant Staffordshire had to settle for a draw, taking home 12 points to Lincolnshire’s 10.

The table-toppers’ next match is at home against Norfolk from Sunday, July 24 (10am) – with the match taking place at Longton Cricket Club.