IF Lancashire needed any extra motivation to go full tilt for the Championship next year, they received it yesterday evening with the sight of Adam Hallioake lifting the trophy on the Old Trafford balcony.

Hollioake's Surrey team took the point they needed to clinch their second consecutive title shortly after lunch, when Sourav Ganguly was brilliantly caught -- by Hollioake at third slip -- off Alex Tudor to leave Lancashire on 121 for three.

But Lancashire fought back impressively as they aim to prove a point to Surrey following their heavy defeat at the Oval.

They slipped to 154 for seven with Pakistani spinner Saqlain Mushtaq deceiving Neil Fairbrother, Chris Schofield and Glen Chapple.

But then Warren Hegg continued his superb form as captain by sharing stands of 187 with Gary Reedy, and 54 with Mike Smethurst.

Hegg was left seven runs short of a second consecutive century, when Peter Martin holed out to deep square leg.

But with a total of 324, Lancashire had still managed three batting points -- two more than Yorkshire, their rivals for second place, picked up at Hampshire.

That meant that Lancashire needed to pick up six wickets in Surrey's first innings to secure second place for the third consecutive season -- and with it a £50,000 pay-out from sponsors PPP Healthcare, to share among the players.

But Lancashire are going for a win, and Martin and Chapple had Surrey racking at 13 for two last night before bad light stopped play with a poor weather forecast threatening the prospects for today.

Hegg's unbeaten 93, which came from 130 balls with 10 fours, took his tally for the season beyond 600, leaving him as Lancashire's third highest run scorer behind only John Crawley and Fairbrother.

Reedy, whose batting has improved so much over the last two years, provided superb support with 34, a new career best.

And Smethurst, another tail-ender who has worked hard with the bat, played imperious straight drives off Tudor and Saqlain to score 17, one away from his best score.

Earlier Mike Atherton had gone lbw in the third over, but Ganguly and Mark Chilton then frustrated Surrey by putting on 89 for the second wicket -- until Chilton was left stranded by Ganguly's refusal to respond to his call.

Ganguly went on to a classy half century, but that would have been little consolation to Chilton, who was looking on course for a much-needed 50 of his own.

And he is far from the first Lancashire batsman to be run out by Ganguly this season.