Date-stamped : 28 Aug95 - 22:29 CC: Warwickshire v Worcestershire, Edgbaston, 24-28 August 1995 ====> Day 1, 24 Aug 95 Pitch holds no fears for Twose - Mike Beddow First day of four: Warwicks 403-6 v Worcs ROGER TWOSE is on the last circuit of his English career. In four weeks, it will be time for farewells prior to his adoption by New Zealand for a two-month tour to India. Warwickshire will be losing a rare commodity, a batsman who thrives on Edgbaston pitches. International teams have complained forcibly this year but Twose scores hundreds. An unbeaten 179 yesterday was his third century of the summer and the seventh of his championship career - and all made here in four seasons. The pitch for this game would normally be used for one-day inter- nationals. To date it has been no worse than two-paced, but Worcestershire`s attack is lightweight and any assessment must be delayed until Warwickshire unleash Allan Donald. In any event, the champions are already in a position to dictate. Initially, the bowling was so ragged that Twose and Wasim Khan - both left-handers - were invited to exploit the third-man chan- nel. Five boundaries came this way until Khan offered no shot to Phil Newport. Newport`s second spell of 12 overs was the best that Wor- cestershire could muster and brought another wicket when Dominic Ostler, having despatched a no-ball for six, fluffed a similar shot to mid-on. Twose was twice dropped in the slips while putting on 89 with Trevor Penney but his partner went the way of Ostler, pulling Stuart Lampitt for six and then guiding the next ball to first slip. Dougie Brown, capped in the morning, arrived during a spate of afternoon showers and soon drove to mid-off in a containing stint by Tom Moody. Even Twose became becalmed in taking 18 overs to move from 89 to 100 but a third fifty from only 57 balls again exposed Worcestershire`s inadequacies. With Dermot Reeve assisting during a partnership of 137 and then Keith Piper progressing swiftly, Twose was able to satisfy his hunger for more with 27 fours. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 2, 25 Aug 95 Giles the cause of rapid decay - Mike Beddow Second day of four: Worcs (117 & 16-1) trail Warwicks (462) by 269 runs WARWICKSHIRE`S recovery from what might have been a damaging de- feat by Northamptonshire has been irresistible. Hampshire and Nottinghamshire were each beaten within three days and now Wor- cestershire are in danger of being swamped in equally quick time. Their last eight wickets fell for the addition of only 31 runs and their self-destruction continued with the loss of Philip Wes- ton to the tamest of shots when they followed on 285 behind. Weston`s wicket was the 15th of the day, but, for all the prob- lems that Steve Rouse has experienced in pitch preparations here this year, the patchily grassed surface has done nothing to alarm the umpires. Worcestershire`s demise was caused by the remorseless efficiency of Warwickshire`s bowling and meek batting, with the exception of a partnership of 106 by captains past and present, Tom Moody and Tim Curtis. The process of rapid decay resulted from a championship-best per- formance of five for 23 by the slow left-armer, Ashley Giles, and a withering spell of three wickets in 14 balls by fast bowler Al- lan Donald. Only Curtis, undefeated with 75 after 262 minutes, survived the dismal events and, in the process, he became the first Wor- cestershire player to carry his bat in this fixture since Eddie Cooper at Dudley in 1951. Warwickshire had batted on for 95 minutes in the morning, Roger Twose reaching 191 until Phil Newport cartwheeled his off stump, and the end product was a total of 462, absurdly inflated by 71 extras. A well-practised formula was then applied when Tim Munton took the first two Worcestershire wickets in successive overs. The obdurate Curtis, who made 180 in eight hours in the corresponding match last year, and Moody subsequently played with some comfort, but the trouble with batting against Warwickshire is that chaos is always liable to follow calm. Chertsey-born Giles, in only his sixth championship match, indi- cated that he has a good temperament with the dismissal of Moody, leg-before from the ball after the one he drove for a 10th boun- dary. Donald tore through the flimsy middle order and Giles`s variation - the arm ball as well as orthodox turn - mesmerised the remainder. Nothing, it seems, disturbs Warwickshire. With Keith Piper nursing a back injury, Reeve and Dominic Ostler shared the wicketkeeping. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com) ====> Day 3, 26 Aug 95 Champions prove point to remain on course - Mike Beddow Third day of four: Worcs (177 & 325-9) lead Warwicks (462) by 40 runs PRESUMING that Warwickshire win tomorrow - and Worcestershire are only 40 ahead with one wicket standing - they will equal last year`s total of 11 victories with three games to play. An equally revealing measurement of their all-round quality is that they have used 23 players in 31 matches from the start of last season. So much for Larashire or Donaldshire. The defence of the title has placed a greater strain on resources. In 1994 four players were ever-present, but this sum- mer Roger Twose stands alone. Indeed, only six members of the side have appeared in more than 65 per cent of the programme over two seasons. What Warwickshire have proved is that it is sometimes easier for younger players to integrate and prosper within the framework of a successful side. Experience is always a crucial commodity, but opportunity is a wonderful stimulant. Graeme Welch contributed 446 runs and 22 wickets in last year`s triumph; this season Dougie Brown has become a capped player and Wasim Khan has one century and three 50s among his 582 runs. To add to this impressive development record, Warwickshire have now brought forward the 6ft 3in Ashley Giles, an orthodox left- arm spinner who used to bowl seam-up in Surrey`s youth teams. His preference for the slower style put him at the back of a long queue at the Oval, and in 1992 he wrote to all the first-class counties for trials. Several showed an interest, and Warwickshire reacted first with a two-year contract on the evidence of two sessions in the indoor school. Two championship appearances in 1993 gave a pleasing hint of po- tential, but at the end of that season Warwickshire engaged Richard Davis from Kent. There was no contest for the second spinner`s position at that stage. Not when Davis had 320 first class wickets and Giles only three. The younger contender soldiered on in the second XI and also with Solihull in the Midlands Club Championship, but another year has made all the difference to the careers of the two players. Davis played his last first-team game in May and made a written request for his release - which was granted this month - even be- fore Giles was elevated to the side on July 20. The first major performance of Giles`s career came on Friday. Bowling in the championship for the first time in the presence of his father, Mike, he claimed five for 23 in Worcestershire`s de- cline from 146 for two to 177 all out on a perfectly reasonable batting surface. Aside from the consistently effective Donald, Giles was as responsible as anyone for their dire position yesterday morning. At 16 for one they required a further 269 to stave off an innings defeat. This was almost an invitation to the trenchant Tim Curtis: bat all day if you can. Not an unrealistic target in the light of an unbeaten 75 in the first innings, though, in the event, he lasted only for an hour. Slow bowling was again a decisive factor - and this time the re- wards went to Neil Smith. If this has not been a particularly productive season for him, he has not missed out on anything like a turning pitch - seven wickets at Ilford, seven at Southampton, and now a more expensive five for 156 here. Curtis, playing off the hip, and Chris Tolley, pushing forward for a bat-pad dismis- sal, were both caught by Khan at short leg within eight balls from the off-spinner. As in their previous six wins, two of which came in two days, Warwickshire scented another day off, and their exuberance resulted in a tetchy sequence with three agitated appeals - and much chuntering in the middle - against their former teammate, Tom Moody. The Australian went on to make 78, his second half-century of the match, including eight fours and three sixes, and there was much flamboyance in his partnership of 96 with David Leatherdale. But Warwickshire are masters of the wearing-down process. Back came Donald to bowl Leatherdale on the drive, and then Smith had Vikram Solanki expertly held at slip by Dermot Reeve before beat- ing Moody. What the champions could not overcome was the combative nature of Steve Rhodes, and then bad light and rain which took away an hour`s play at a crucial stage. Rhodes, now only 35 short of 1,000 in a season for the first time, reached an unbeaten 70, and Phil Newport extended the proceedings long enough for Worcestershire with 47. Finally they were taken into an extra 10 overs but lost only one more wicket in reaching 325 for nine. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu) ====> Day 4, 28 Aug 95 Rhodes forces overtime - Mike Beddow Warwicks (462 & 69-0) bt Worcs (177 & 350) by 10 wkts FOR ONLY the second time in 11 weeks, Monday was a working day for Warwickshire - but not for long. The champions duly completed their 11th win of the season in two hours. Having won six of their previous seven games in three days or less - the exception was a defeat by Northamptonshire - Warwickshire`s players may have felt a little peeved at being brought into the office on a bank holiday. On the other hand, The Management would have viewed overtime as a useful exercise in concentrating the mind after the Sunday defeat at Worcester. Another treble remains a possibility but Warwickshire now have ground to make up in two competitions. The championship is clearly going to be that much harder this time. With three games to play, they have equalled last year`s number of victories, but Middlesex have also matched that figure as well as last year`s winning total of 272 points. Yesterday Worcestershire batted on for 45 minutes, their last pair eventually adding 40 to the 105 extracted from the eighth and ninth wickets on Saturday. This was largely due to an unde- feated 81 in 226 minutes by Steve Rhodes. The Yorkshireman has scored 623 runs with one century and six fifties contributing to an average of 124.6 in the last seven matches. How frustrating it was that such form eluded him when the England wicketkeeping position was under review. If Rhodes`s resistance was to be expected, the same could not have been said of Paul Thomas. In 12 championship innings he had scored only 24 and never entered double figures, yet here he faced 55 balls and made 25 with a cheery smile for each of his five boundaries. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by The Management (help@*ogi.edu)