Date-stamped : 17 Aug94 - 18:28 Leicestershire join title race to set up a gripping finale By Christopher Martin-Jenkins On the day that they meet to debate the future of overseas players in the county game, the TCCB will certainly conclude that there is nothing much wrong with their flagship competition. The 1994 Britannic Assurance Championship is coming excitingly to the boil in its second year as an all four-day competition. The odds are that the title will be won by a Midlands county despite Warwickshire's first four-day defeat of the season yesterday. Not only did Nottinghamshire's innings victory at Edgbaston push them back into the race with a genuine chance, but, a few miles to the east, Leicestershire were working themselves into second place with a game in hand. In the south, Surrey and Sussex both lost and though Essex and Middlesex made up ground, Middlesex at least have no more than an outsider's chance. Leicestershire, only nine points behind Warwickshire after a nerve-tingling defeat of Wor- cestershire, and with the easiest programme of remaining matches, must be narrow favourites, 19 years after Ray Illingworth's ver- satile all-round side brought the pennant to Grace Road for the first time. David Millns followed a career-best score of 64 not out with figures of six for 84. Meanwhile, Sussex's tantalising failure to take the final wicket against Derbyshire at Eastbourne may have cost them their realistic chance of winning the cham- pionship for the first time. With Franklyn Stephenson, Paul Jarvis, Ed Giddins, Ian Salisbury and Eddie Hemmings they have what in theory is the best-equipped county attack for all condi- tions. But they could not separate a stubborn last-wicket partnership between Matt Vandrau and Devon Malcolm at the Saf- frons, and they will probably need now to win their successive games against three rival contenders, Leicestershire, Warwickshire and Essex, if they are to tackle their final match against Yorkshire with hopes extant. Warwickshire's next match, starting on Thursday at Scarborough, is also against Yorkshire and they probably need to win it to restore lost momentum. Their unique quadruple is still possible: one trophy is in the bank, another will be if they win the NatWest final on Sept 3 and they still lead in both the championship and the Axa Equity and Law League. Brian Lara's part in all this will be part of the debate today as the counties meet at Lord's to discuss Lancashire's pro- position that no further overseas players should be signed by counties after 1996, unless the International Cricket Council are prepared to reduce the amount of Tests and one-day internationals which clash with the beginning and end of the season in the UK. The increased activity of agents in negotiating contracts is Lancashire's other concern. There have always been foreign players in county cricket, but they began multiplying in the 1960s before, in 1968, it became possible, with widespread appro- val, to employ them on an immediate qualification. The reaction and the long process of whittling down the numbers in defence of the England team gathered pace a decade later, but not until 1982 did the board rule that only one player per county could be re- gistered and even then existing contracts had to be honoured. There is a feeling in other dressing and committee rooms that Lancashire were unwise to commit themselves to the brilliant Pak- istan all-rounder, Wasim Akram, for five years and that his ab- sence on a tour of Sri Lanka, while it could not precisely have been foreseen, is simply their own bad luck. There is, however, concern that Sri Lankan Test series which begin in August are becoming more frequent and that they will continue to take over- seas players away from county cricket at a stage when their skills are most needed. On the broader issue of whether the rela- tive decline of England in the league of Test-playing nations can be attributed in part to the presence in county cricket of so many overseas players, most players and committees are agreed that the status quo is satisfactory. David Graveney, treasurer of the Cricketers' Association, summed up a general view when he said yesterday: "Since the number of overseas players was reduced to one player per county the feeling is that they have been an asset to our game. It can only be advantageous to English crick- eters to have top-class Test players to play with and against." Graveney did, however, express a qualification: "Our only fear is the overall cost of employing overseas players. In a climate where money is not unlimited, one expensive overseas signing can make a considerable difference when it comes to deciding whether to take new young players on to the staff; and you have to ask if it is healthy for an overseas star to be paid more than the club captain, as in one or two cases they are." A statement is also expected on the negotiations for the television contract for the next three-year period, which have reached an advanced stage and may even be resolved today. (Extracted from an article in The Daily Telegraph) Contributed by Vicky (vigneswa@sisko.ecs.umass.edu)