The Lancashire skipper has taken 700 first-class wickets

Lancashire head coach Peter Moores has defended the decision to rest captain Glen Chapple for the Clydesdale Bank 40 home defeat against Somerset.

Three weeks into the season, the Red Rose county have already completed six games in all competitions.

Moores told BBC Radio Manchester: "Our strike bowlers, we expect them to rocket it out at 85 mph and above.

"It's very difficult to keep them on the park if they play too much cricket, as it's maximum strain on the body."

He added: "We took the decision to rest Glen so he's fresh for the Championship game and hopefully then he should be fine to play at Sussex as well.

"We're really trying in this the busiest part of the season, the first six weeks, to get him through.

"It was a tough decision to leave Glen out, it really was a tough one, but we've got a lot of cricket.

"We're in this run of cricket where we go straight into a four-day game and at the end of that we travel down to Sussex and play another one-day game.

"We do know it's not just Glen who needs looking after, as we had a similar thing with Saj (Mahmood)."

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