Report
Brown, Swann plot home team's demise
Notwithstanding the late surrender of its first two second innings wickets, Northamptonshire has continued to defy its underdog status on day two of an absorbing County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston
Staff and agencies
29-Jul-2000
Notwithstanding the late surrender of its first two second innings wickets,
Northamptonshire has continued to defy its underdog status on day two of an
absorbing County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Buoyed by an inspired display of off spin bowling from Jason Brown and
Graeme Swann, the visitors had forged their way to an overall lead of 126
by the time that stumps were drawn.
It was Brown and Swann's effort in snaring nine Warwickshire wickets
between them - around an innings of steely resolve from Dominic Ostler -
which was the main story of another day of fluctuating fortunes. On a dry
pitch, the spin twins initiated a mid-afternoon collapse which saw their
opponents lose their last seven wickets for a mere sixty-eight runs and
plunge to an eighty-two run first innings deficit in the process. Brown
claimed 5/88 in what is only his fifth game since returning to the team
last month while Swann added lustre to what has already become another fine
all-round game for him with a return of 4/74. Both gained appreciable turn
from the wicket and neither was especially afraid to flight the ball.
Only Ostler's fine 88 held the innings together in retrospect. The young
opener, whose 818 runs make him easily Warwickshire's most productive first
class scorer to this stage of the season, had enjoyed himself yesterday by
holding four catches at slip to help Ashley Giles on his way to a haul of
6/118. But he must have pushed the boundaries of his delight even further
today with his enterprising innings. He indulged himself early on with
some beautifully timed drives through the off side before raising the tempo
even further with some punishing attacking shots through the middle stages
of his 192-ball stay. It was a measure of his centrality to his team's
cause that its innings subsided almost completely once he once he was
caught by Adrian Rollins at short-leg off Brown with the score at 188.
Full postBowler holds off Durham's charge
A stern half century from Peter Bowler (62*) has helped extricate Somerset from peril late on day two of his team's County Championship match against Durham at Chester-le-Street
Staff and agencies
29-Jul-2000
A stern half century from Peter Bowler (62*) has helped extricate Somerset
from peril late on day two of his team's County Championship match against
Durham at Chester-le-Street. Together with Graham Rose (15*), Bowler added
an unbeaten 56 for the seventh wicket to steer Somerset to relative safety
at 144/6 - in response to Durham's 292 - by the close.
Bowler's steadiness in a crisis has often seen him mount rescue acts for
the men from the south-west, but even he must have felt a certain sense of
frustration at his teammates' general inability to survive on a perfectly
reasonable pitch this time around. As the score plummeted toward 88/6,
Jamie Cox (5) lost his leg stump to a skidding ball from Melvyn Betts;
Marcus Trescothick (17) was bowled by one that Simon Brown seamed back into
him; the labouring Piran Holloway (14) was trapped on the crease by John
Wood; Neil Killeen found the edge of the bat of Keith Parsons (1); Rob
Turner (3) failed to ground his push off bat and pad to short cover; and
then Ian Blackwell (10) became Wood's third victim when wicketkeeper Gary
Pratt clutched a superb left handed catch. It was not a particularly
edifying performance and Rose's relative comfort in surviving until stumps,
while a badly needed development, said as much.
Earlier in the day, Durham had added seventy-seven runs to its own score
before last man Brown fell in the opening over after lunch. Typically
wholehearted commitment to the cause from both Brown (10) and Betts (33*)
had seen a valuable thirty-three runs added for the last wicket of an
innings which had threatened to subside quickly after the long vigil of
opener Jon Lewis (115) had ended only a matter of minutes into the day.
Full postTufnell renews Middlesex's ambitions
With the end result of a modest first innings lead secured, Sussex spent much of this day doing little more than trying to grind and claw its way on top of Middlesex in the teams' willing County Championship struggle at Southgate
Staff and agencies
29-Jul-2000
With the end result of a modest first innings lead secured, Sussex spent
much of this day doing little more than trying to grind and claw its way on
top of Middlesex in the teams' willing County Championship struggle at
Southgate. Their slightly more resourceful opponents, meanwhile, used the
occasion first to prevent this deficit from extending to hefty proportions
and then to launch a spirited second innings assault on the back of the
efforts of its best two batsmen.
Aside from three forceful cuts from Michael Bevan in the opening over of
the day, this was predominantly an occasion for the steady accumulation of
runs. The ray of hope offered by the Australian was dimmed in the second
over when Phil Tufnell (4/88) lured him out of his crease to have him
stumped; ended with Middlesex grimly preserving its remaining seven second
innings wickets; and generally offered little in the way of attacking
shotmaking in between.
For an action-filled day to have eventuated, the best prospects lay in the
emergence of substantial contributions to the Sussex first innings from
either of their two premier batsmen, Bevan and Chris Adams. That pair
scored just thirty runs between them though, they were both gone early in
proceedings, and the die was cast. The pitch, and the probing turn and
flight extracted by Tufnell in foty tight overs, rendered scoring difficult
and Sussex's batsmen in particular exhibited little willingness to dominate
at any stage. Robin Martin-Jenkins (44) and Tony Cottey (42) emerged as
their mainstays in a generally disappointing performance.
Full postLehmann lights up Leeds
Rain has ruined the scene at Headingley just when an intriguing conclusion to the second day's play looked in prospect between the home team and Lancashire in this vital Championship fixture
Staff and agencies
29-Jul-2000
Rain has ruined the scene at Headingley just when an intriguing conclusion to the second day's play looked in prospect between the home team and Lancashire in this vital Championship fixture. A relatively brief, but nonetheless torrential, deluge shortly before the scheduled tea break sent the players scurrying from the field - with the Yorkshiremen well placed at 203/4 in reply to their opponents' 267 - and there was never a realistic chance of their return.
In such play as was possible, it was Darren Lehmann who again lit up the dull vista. In marked contrast to most of the batting which has gone before him in this game, the South Australian was the one Yorkshire player who successfully allied the need for restraint on a difficult pitch with the ability to punish the loose ball. Even more impressive than the characteristically bruising repertoire of shots he included in his unbeaten 83 today was his capacity to make batting look easy, without offering a chance, on a pitch which has caused players to struggle all around him. His sparkling shotmaking, which left him seventeen runs short of his third century of the season and fifty-six short of reaching 1,000 runs in the championship this year, blossomed the further that his unbroken stand of ninety-five for the fifth wicket with captain, David Byas (31*), progressed.
As for Byas himself, he was frustrated at the early finish but delighted by his team's fightback: "This is a huge match for us (as it is for Lancashire too) and we need to press on tomorrow.
"The loss of the final session to rain was a disappointment but we are in a
position where we can go on and take a substantial lead and hopefully put
Lancashire under some pressure in their second innings."
Full postMcGrath the difference as Gloucestershire sinks
Another (overcast) day, another spectacular clatter of wickets at New Road
Staff and agencies
29-Jul-2000
Another (overcast) day, another spectacular clatter of wickets at New Road.
Even allowing for the intervention of further showers, fourteen more
figures perished today as Worcestershire and Gloucestershire's 'batsmen'
did their best to outdo one another in seeing just how rapidly they could
fritter their innings away. As it was, though, the former lost the battle
for mediocrity and their team now holds an overall lead of 229 runs with
one more second innings scalp in tact.
Again it seemed that the batting calamities were no fault of the pitch
alone: a view certainly shared by ECB pitch liaison officer Phil Sharpe,
who will not be initiating action against the club on account of the
quality or otherwise of the surface. For however lopsided the contest
between bat and ball has become in this match, it was indeed more the
combination of some fine bowling and some equally poor strokeplay that was
responsible. There was a suggestion too that the dull, bleak conditions in
which the day's play began also loomed large; a state of affairs about
which Glenn McGrath was hardly complaining. He used the bowler-friendly
weather to rise to his destructive best and captured all but three wickets
in the course of a demolition job that saw Gloucestershire slide
horrendously to 87. Believeable or not after their own ineptitude of the
day before, the locals had somehow seized a first innings lead of eleven
runs in the process. McGrath's rival Australian, Ian Harvey, admirably
tried to stop the rot with a plucky 27 - the highest score mustered by
anyone in the match until then - but even his ability to occasionally
pierce a tightly set attacking field became akin to an exercise in trying
to pile up sandbags in the face of a tidal wave.
McGrath was methodical, hostile and relentless. It is difficult to
comprehend the notion that he hasn't taken a five wicket haul on this
ground at any stage previously in the Championship season but then that has
probably had as much to do as anything with the loss of substantial
portions of a number of games to poor weather. In any case, his 7/29 here
- the third best figures of his brilliant first class career - redressed
the situation eloquently.
Full postTense victory at Cardiff as England take NatWest International Trophy
England's Under 19 team took the NatWest International Trophy with a tense, 2 run victory over their Sri Lankan counterparts in Cardiff
Ralph Dellor
29-Jul-2000
England's Under 19 team took the NatWest International Trophy with a tense, 2 run victory over their Sri Lankan counterparts in Cardiff. There were still 16 balls to go when Koushalya Weeraratne, the Sri Lankan captain, drove Peter Trego straight to long on where Tim Murtagh held the catch that sealed the series.
Earlier in the day, England had won the toss and batted first on a pitch not as friendly to the batsmen as the neighbouring strip on which England had won by 15 runs in the first match on Friday. Even so, they got off to a brisk start with Nicky Peng and Ian Bell again sharing a good partnership for the second wicket, taking the score to 95 in the 24th over before they were separated.
As in the previous match, the middle order disappeared quickly and cheaply and it was left to Peter Trego and his Somerset teammate Carl Gazzard to rescue the innings. Trego was left on 53 not out from 52 balls, while Gazzard's no less valuable 20 came from 27 balls as they put on 62 in an unbroken 8th wicket partnership in 10 overs.
Sri Lanka found it difficult to approach the required rate while wickets were falling at regular intervals. It was not until Weeraratne became established at the wicket that the England total appeared under threat. The captain reached his fifty from 56 balls in an over bowled by Kabir Ali that included a magnificent straight driven six.
Full postRest of the World Triumph in Wonderful Festival of Cricket
A crowd of 17,500, most of them British Asians, basked in glorious sunshine at the Oval Saturday, to watch the Rest of the World edge out Asia in a tightly fought contest
Sean Beynon
29-Jul-2000
A crowd of 17,500, most of them British Asians, basked in glorious sunshine at the Oval Saturday, to watch the Rest of the World edge out Asia in a tightly fought contest. The match, the brainchild of former Prime Minister and Surrey stalwart John Major, was an attempt to raise funds for further developments to the Oval. The capacity crowd did not just see an exhibition match: they saw a tightly fought contest go down to the wire, only for the World to triumph by 15 runs.
Whilst many were disappointed that Sachin Tendulkar was ruled out of the Asian side due to an untimely bout of chicken-pox, those who watched the match will be delighted that they made the effort.
The Rest of the World won the toss and elected to bat. Batting in England is a very different prospect to batting in Dhaka, and runs were always going to be hard to come by. The Asian openers, Wasim Akram and Javagal Srinath turned the screw, nipping out the World's openers with the score on only 16. Nasser Hussain and Nathan Astle launched a recovery mission, putting on 97 in fine style. Both men looked intent on attacking, and both pulled square with a great deal of force. Hussain lost his head: having lofted Chopra into the stands for a big six, he tried to repeat the feat, only to see the ball drop into Kumble's hands at long on. Astle reached his half century, but was removed by a brilliant Saqlain, mystifying the Kiwi batsman with his `magic ball.'
With Thorpe going quickly, and a brief flurry between Stuart Law and Chris Cairns stopped by the Pakistani spin-wizard, it was left for Ben Hollioake and Heath Streak to put some respectability in the Rest of the World's total. Hollioake crashed 23 from 16 balls, lofting his Surrey team mate Saqlain into the stands, whilst Streak's cameo of 17 took 16 balls, as the World closed on 219.
Full postDowman, Dean lead determined Derby
By the end of the second day in this County Championship match at Canterbury, the scoreboard shows that Kent trails Derbyshire by as few as 216 runs with six first innings wickets still at its disposal
Staff and agencies
29-Jul-2000
By the end of the second day in this County Championship match at
Canterbury, the scoreboard shows that Kent trails Derbyshire by as few as
216 runs with six first innings wickets still at its disposal. Happily for
the visitors, though, it fails to express how admirably they have fought to
seize a definitive upper hand by the game's halfway point.
With their ranks as stretched as they are for this battle, the visitors
will undoubtedly derive particular pleasure from their effort inextending
their first innings tally to a final mark of 279 upon the match's
resumption today. Notwithstanding the notion that only four of their
players ventured past a score of 13, this was an innings built not only
around steady accumulation but also collective hard work, a quality which
has generally eluded the team this season. By its completion, the only
hint of a sour note to emerge was that, in taking more than one and a half
days to get there, they seemed to have limited their chances of gaining the
mass of points they need from this fixture to set about the task of
averting Division One relegation.
For batting highlights, much of the responsibility was left to Matthew
Dowman. His 77, an innings which stands out as his most encouraging in a
summer in which he has so far struggled to adjust to the demands of playing
for a new county, featured an array of well composed drives. While his own
unflinching patience tested that of the spectators, Simon Lacey (41) also
proved a handy foil, sharing with the dogged Dowman in a valuable stand of
68 for the seventh wicket.
Full postHegg inspires Lanashire fightback
Warren Hegg may be something of a forgotten man in English cricket but that failed to stop him from playing an innings to remember at Headingley this afternoon
Staff and agencies
28-Jul-2000
Warren Hegg may be something of a forgotten man in English cricket but that
failed to stop him from playing an innings to remember at Headingley this
afternoon. Against a persistently accurate Yorkshire attack, Hegg was the
one batsman to capitalise on a good start, his innings the difference
between mediocrity and competitiveness as Lancashire's soared to a mark of
267 - against Yorkshire's 4/0 - on another two-paced Leeds pitch.
It was Hegg's chanceless 75, spiced as it was with nine well struck
boundaries, which proved the defining factor in a fightback much needed by
the visitors. With only a solitary half century to show from nineteen
previous appearances at the crease this county season, the former England
'keeper chose an opportune moment to turn his form around in what shapes as
one of the most crucial matches of the summer. Stern late resistance also
came in the form of a painstaking 19 in a shade under two hours from Glen
Chapple (whose concentration on occupation of the crease enabled him to
share in a vital 88 run stand for the seventh wicket with Hegg) and a handy
unbeaten 29 from number nine, Richard Green.
Undone by some excellent bowling, principally from the redoubtable Matthew
Hoggard (4/70), the Lancastrians had looked to be tumbling deep into the
mire as they surrendered five wickets for fifty runs to find themselves
teetering at 128/6 an hour after lunch. Enter their enterprising
wicketkeeper-batsman, whose ability to tuck and chip the ball into gaps not
only slowed Yorkshire's momentum but also evinced increasing signs of
frustration. Michael Atherton (21), John Crawley (23), Sourav Ganguly
(28), and a characteristically aggressive Andrew Flintoff (28), had all
made decent enough starts to raise hopes of a solid top order performance,
but they failed to a man to continue on with a job that, in the end, was by
far best left to Hegg.
Full postMore frustration around Derby's stumble
Derbyshire has had few days to remember and Kent has lost portions of many to the weather this County Championship season so it should hardly come as a surprise that the former failed to capitalise on a good start on a day significantly shortened by
Staff and agencies
28-Jul-2000
Derbyshire has had few days to remember and Kent has lost portions of many to the weather this County Championship season so it should hardly come as a surprise that the former failed to capitalise on a good start on a day significantly shortened by rain at Canterbury today.
In such play as was possible around a long, rain-enforced interruption in
mid-afternoon, Steve Titchard (52) compiled a third half century of the
Championship season to lift the visitors to a score of 167/5 by stumps.
The beneficiary of two dropped catches, fellow opener Steve Stubbings also
fought gamely for the visitors, adding 41 of his own runs to a defiant opening stand of 85. Aside those two contributions, though, there was once more little about which to enthuse from the Derby upper order. In looking to attack Martin Saggers' bowling a little too hastily, Australian left hander Michael di Venuto (13) was again the victim of his own impatience, while James Pyemont (4) was the victim of a lazy mix-up between the wickets with Matthew Dowman (30*).
For Kent, Saggers (2/50) and Mark Ealham (0/35) toiled the most admirably in what was a solid, if unspectacular, overall exhibition with the ball. Even if the five wickets which fell owed much to Derbyshire's continuing inability to sustain an advantage, their fightback both accentuated the impression that their own form is on the improve and that their opponents still do not quite look as if they genuinely intend to avoid the horrors of relegation.
Full post