BOLTON School fought out a draw in their prestigious fixture against MCC.

The visitors scored 200 which looked more than enough for victory until Bradley Wright and Will Lord dug in to produce a ninth-wicket partnership of 39 runs to earn the School a share of the spoils.

London-based old boy Jonathan Shaw led the way for MCC with the bat, reaching 39 before falling victim to 15-year-old Kurtis Watson.

MCC declared on 200 after 40 overs, meaning the School would have around 165 minutes to bat.

Bolton needed an average of around four an over to be competitive – although much of that would depend on one of the top order trio producing a big innings.

And they were in trouble when that did not happen. Captain Fraser Kay was out early, and when Will Davidson and Dan Southworth were not able to make a significant impact, Bolton were struggling at 56-5 after 20 overs.

Ben Milnes, who had earlier bowled a huge spell of 17 overs, showed some left-handed lustiness in scoring 27, but when the 40-run partnership between him and Watson ended three wickets tumbled and Bolton were in serious trouble.

Faced with the task of saving the match, Bolton finally found an unexpected pair to rise to the challenge in the shape of Wright and number 10 Lord.

They buckled down and showed composure and quality to add an undefeated 39 runs for the ninth wicket to take the score to 147-8 and earn their team a draw.