HARD hats are compulsory for the builders on the massive development at the Radcliffe Road end here, but they might well have been issued to everyone in the crowd yesterday while Wasim Akram was stirring memories of Sir Garfield Sobers and imagined pictures of the most legendary of Nottinghamshire hitters, George Parr. Off his last 14 balls, the Lancashire captain and 1998 beneficiary hit 56, including five sixes and five fours.
Wasim and Warren Hegg scored 52 off the last two overs from Alex Wharf and Andy Oram - 26 off each of them - thereby inflating a total which had hitherto been limited on a beautiful pitch for batting by keen Nottinghamshire fielding. Their bowling was tidy but, Paul Strang apart, unexceptional and despite all the local optimism, it is unlikely to be good enough to win trophies.
Lancashire's win, by contrast, revives fading hopes that the final of the Benson and Hedges Cup might yet be within their grasp. John Crawley, at his flowing best, and the more powerful, if cruder, Adam Flintoff were the first to cash in, putting on 91 in 20 overs for the second wicket after Michael Atherton had failed again. Graham Lloyd was scoring even faster when Matthew Dowman ran him out, but that was the cue for the remarkable final assault by one of the most gifted of all the gloriously talented Pakistani players.
The construction workers had to field the biggest and straightest of the eight sixes Wasim struck in his 43-ball innings - the ball had to be changed as a result - but most of them were dispatched on bended knee with wonderfully clean hits to midwicket. Several fell close to the very spot where Parr's tree - the one he used regularly to pepper - once stood. It is gone now, alas, along with many other Trent Bridge landmarks but the ground is marching confidently into the next century and that the spirt of adventure lives on was amply demonstrated by Nottinghamshire's brave attempt to chase Lancashire's 298 for five.
They fell 58 runs short. Dowman, timing the ball sweetly off the full face of the bat, shared productive stands in turn with Paul Pollard, Jason Gallian and Paul Johnson, who all took the attack to Lancashire's vastly experienced bowlers on a pitch which was not only true but had some bone in it. Nottinghamshire might well have got away to an even better start had Ian Austin not bowled his first seven overs for 22 runs. If the England coach were the sole selector, Austin would be in England's one-day side; and not undeservedly.
Despite his typically accurate performance, Notts were on course at 147 for one in the 28th over when Gallian, having bowled and batted well against his former team-mates, got a leading edge to a ball from Gary Yates which curved away as he shaped to push through mid-on. Dowman kept the impetus well after that but there is no weak link in Lancashire's bowling, their catching was faultless and there was a hint of freneticism about the decline which gathered pace when Dowman drove to extra cover in the 39th over.
Lancashire therefore join Leicestershire and Warwickshire on six points and tomorrow's final zonal matches will decide which two gain a quarter-final place. Lancashire's main concern, one which is widely shared, must now be the paucity of runs from Atherton. Leg-before, once again, in the second over, his highest score in six innings this season is 33 not out against declaration bowling.
Faith in him may be faltering but it is far from abandoned. He will have the home match against Northamptonshire tomorrow and then two championship matches, against Kent and Essex, to confirm his right to a place in the first Test.