Date-stamped : 06 May96 - 22:14 County Championship 1996 Kent v Lancashire St Lawrence Ground, Canterbury 2, 3, 4, 6 May 1996 ====> REPORT (Day 1, 2 May 1996) Kent`s slow opening to a season of darkness By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Canterbury First day of four: Kent 63-2 v Lancashire THE St Lawrence Ground yesterday was, like the Old Dover Road at the start of A Tale of Two Cities, "charged with mists and va- pours". It was rawly cold: a horrible morning for bowling and fielding and marginally a worse one for batting. So Mike Watkin- son decided to field. A little under an hour and a half later the players came off for an early lunch and although the light rain occasionally stopped in the long afternoon which followed, the light remained sepulchral until the five o`clock abandonment. Trevor Ward and Carl Hooper were be- ginning to bat with some confidence on what looked a comfortable enough pitch when they chose, understandably, to come off for bad light but by then Glen Chapple and Peter Martin had bowled well enough with the new ball to justify up to a point their captain`s deci- sion. This time last year it seemed that Chapple was the one about to become an England bowler. He had taken 19 wickets at 15 in three unofficial Tests for England A in India, but he was never fully fit last season and it was the amiable Martin who won promotion instead, justifying it by his reliability in South Africa. Yesterday Martin bowled half a yard too short, though his outsw- inger was going sufficiently to get past the outside edge. Chapple found the right length more quickly and he is clearly the quicker of the two. It was he who dealt with Kent`s brand new opening partner- ship of Matthew Fleming and David Fulton, a pairing created by Mark Benson`s knee injury, Ward`s wish to go in first wicket down and the good form of the two men in question. Fulton, the man who took on Allan Donald in a sun hat last September, had scored 230 against Sussex 2nd XI earlier this week but swinging deliveries at a stinging pace on a murky morning proved a different proposition. He was aiming to drive past mid-on when leg before to a ball of full length in the sixth over and a similar ball, swinging late, had Fleming in Chapple`s next over as he groped forward. Until then Fleming had coped well but he will no doubt need to make an impact quickly in this lofty position if he is not to revert to the middle order. Ward, on the other hand, will be able to bat where he wants for as long as he likes if he con- tinues to play with authority in inimical circumstances like these. A back-foot force and a flowing off-drive in the same over from Ian Austin were strokes more eye-catching than anything which even that consummate performer Carl Hooper managed in his hour`s reconnaissance. Lancashire chose to leave out Graham Lloyd, giving them only five specialist batsmen, which will give an early test to the all-round qualities of their South African recruit, Steve Elworthy. He beat Hooper with his first ball but they had the measure of his fast-medium seamers after that. Kent have started the season well, but with Alan Igglesden once more suffering back pain, they are anxiously waiting for Dean Headley`s decision to bowl despite a sore hip which has so far defied treatment and precise diagnosis. It is bad luck for the county and worse for the man who took 25 wickets at 15.31 in four first-class games for England A in Pakistan. More optimistic is the news of a successful first meeting on Monday of Kent`s all-embracing county board and of an enterpris- ing start to Chris Penn`s benefit season: his first match on Sunday began in Canterbury in the morning and finished on a football pitch at Wimereux, near Calais, in the afternoon. Kent won. ====> REPORT (Day 3, 4 May 1996) Swordsman Ward hits century By Scyld Berry Third day of four: Lancs (47-1 dec) require 339 runs to defeat Kent (320 & 66-3 dec) THOUSANDS basked in the sunshine and drank of the grape and hop around the boundary`s edge. The marquees billowed with custom, and the bands at lunchtime were warmly received. For Kent v Lan- cashire matches it used to be like that at St Lawrence`s ground, but not yesterday. A few hundred spectators huddled in a cutting wind to watch a championship match deprived of its second day and most of its first, whatever heat there was taken out of the game. Ideal cir- cumstances for Carl Hooper, who appears not to relish greatly the pressure of Test cricket, and for Trevor Ward, who does not know the international game, but has the natural talent, if not quite the acumen, and still aspires. Ward hit the 21st hundred of his first-class career, and his first against Lancashire, after Kent had picked up at 63 for two. He was a swordsman through point - three fours from one Ian Austin over - but fine as his strokeplay was, he could not rival Hooper for majesty as the West Indian straight- drove two sixes off Austin with barely a waft. To make a game of it, Lancashire had to dismiss Kent for a less than enormous total, so that they would have a strong moral position when the time came for bargaining over the run-chase target. Kent, otherwise, could dictate their own terms, as Mike Watkinson had sent Kent in on Thursday. To that end, Lancashire`s pace bowlers beat the bat fre- quently but could not find the edge. When Watkinson tried his frozen hand, he took three tail-end wickets for four runs, but Kent`s last wicket wagged long enough - Mark Ealham trying to im- press Mike Atherton for a one-day international place - for Kent to reach 320. While Ealham is more of a one-day candidate, Glen Chapple is the Test prospect. In his first spell his inswingers tended to drift to leg, but when he changed to the pavilion end, and had the Siberian wind to assist his outswinger, he bowled an ex- cellent line and passed the outside edge. Peter Martin went wicketless, and he was disappointed not to have Hooper hooking to fine-leg when he was 37. "Disappoint- ed", by Martin`s amiable standards, usually means that he is so dis- gusted that he might - on balance - just say `boo` to a goose, if provoked. In this over, Hooper also edged him past second slip, which prompted Martin to kick the ground. At a slightly sharper pace Steve Elworthy experienced the difficulties of the county circuit. He could follow the magnificent example of Procter, Le Roux and van der Bijl in English cricket - or that of Page, van Zyl and Snell. He was brought up banging the ball in at Centurion Park, a near-flier except when England played there: to change his length at the age of 31 and pitch the ball further up, without losing his outswing, will be demanding for the Zimbabwe-born South African. ====> REPORT (Day 4, 6 May 1996) Patel takes his turn as Lancs lose their way By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Canterbury Final day of four: Kent (320 & 66-3 dec) beat Lancashire (47-1 dec & 275) by 64 runs DENIGRATORS of County Championship cricket should have been at Canterbury. This was a constantly absorbing day`s play, sternly but honourably fought and keeping everyone guessing until short- ly after tea when Min Patel, Kent`s eventual match-winner, bowled Mike Atherton, who had looked likely to be Lancashire`s for much of the day. Atherton will no doubt reproach himself for his rather desperate attempt to regain a rapidly slipping initiative by aiming, two short of 100, to swing Patel to the big gap at deep mid-wicket. Lancashire, chasing 340 from a minimum of 96 overs, will certainly reproach themselves as a team for collaps- ing from 190 for two, with Atherton firmly entrenched and Neil Fairbrother in brilliant form. Certainly there were some rash strokes against Patel`s teas- ing flight as he bowled with Underwood-like accuracy from over the wicket. The fact is that Kent persevered diligently, that Martin McCague came back with great fire and spirit from the embarrassment of a poor second spell, and that the victory was genuinely earned. Kent won by 64 runs, Patel finishing with an unchanged spell of 15 overs and two balls in which he took five for 28. In four games against Lancashire he has now taken 31 wickets, in- cluding eight for 96 here two seasons ago. It was Kent`s first win in the championship since McCague and Dean Headley bowled out Durham for 85 at Chester-le-Street last June. If that rout owed much to the pitch, this one did not, but the wicket did have sufficient life to encourage McCague to bend his back and there was a little bounce, as well as gentle turn, for Patel`s left-arm orthodox. Atherton drove on either side, but especially through ex- tra, with discernment The absence of Dean Headley and Mark Ealham had threatened to give a thin look to the Kent attack. That proved not to be so, given the contrasting virtues of McCague and Patel, the ability of Julian Thompson to bowl a genuine outsw- inger, Tim Wren`s willingness and the jack-in-the-box quality of Matthew Fleming. Indeed they bowled out a side with 10 batsmen who have made first-class hundreds despite calling on Carl Hooper for only one over. One of the Lancastrians, of course, should have made another first-class hundred. At lunch, when Lancashire were 136 for two chasing 340 in a minimum of 96 overs, they were well placed and just before tea they were still favourites, at 223 for four. So well had Fairbrother played, however, that Atherton had remained in third gear and he could not take control when things started to go wrong. Atherton and Jason Gallian had played with little bother through the first half-hour, but Thompson then produced an outswinger of the right length to find Gallian`s outside edge. John Crawley patiently laid a base for half an hour, played one impeccable off-drive, then received a pearler from Fleming which left him off a perfect length. Had Crawley been forward, not back, he might have got something on it, but although he needs some luck and runs, Lancashire were now put firmly on the right road. Atherton drove on either side, but especially through ex- tra, with discernment and perfect distribution of his weight. Fairbrother, meanwhile, was at his engaging best. If only he could play like this every time. He hit hard, with the full face of a bat which looked broader than is allowed, to all parts of the slope but especially in the safe area between mid-off and mid-on. The match turned in the 48th over when McCague, working up a full head of steam, had him caught at slip off the wicketkeeper`s gloves with a ball that lifted from a length. He quickly fol- lowed this by having Nick Speak caught at short leg. Mike Watkinson, willingly compliant in Steve Marsh`s de- claration, was bowled off an inside edge, Warren Hegg and Ian Austin failed to look before they leapt and when Atherton was eighth out, only the shouting remained. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http.//www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by Shash (shs2@*.cwru.edu)