Date-stamped : 19 Jul96 - 02:16 County Championship 1996 Worcestershire v Yorkshire County Ground, Worcester 27, 28, 29 June, 1 July 1996 ====> REPORT (Day 1, 27 Jun 1996) Yorkshire anchored by solid McGrath By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Worcester First day of four: Yorks 312-7 v Worcs "IT`S Yorkshire v Worcester Second X1," said one disgruntled member to another as they heard over the PA that Phil Newport was unfit and Graeme Hick unwilling. Thanks not least to some sparky bowling by Stuart Lampitt on a dry, slow and slightly uneven pitch, the second eleven did not fare too badly, but after losing the toss, the match and the championship lead in their last match against Leicestershire, Yorkshire had better luck yesterday. The ball was keeping low at times and turning, too, not least for the apparently tireless Tom Moody who, not content with winning the NatWest match earlier in the week almost single- handed, and an 11-over spell of seamers in the morning during which he dismissed a well-set Martyn Moxon, had a go with off-breaks, too. That the talented Vikram Solanki and Richard Illingworth, accu- rate as ever but unwilling to give the ball a real rip, went unrewarded suggests that this may be one of those pitches on which no-one is ever quite in and on which the faster bowlers take the wickets which the spinners feel should be theirs. Moody will need to play a big innings today, no doubt, if Wor- cestershire are not to regret their request for the match to be played on a strip which has already been used for two one-day games this season. David Byas did not hesitate to bat first, but despite a solid, grafting innings by Anthony McGrath, Craig White`s second fifty of the season and Michael Bevan`s 10th, their total is useful rather than imposing. McGrath has an admirably correct technique and it was he who provided the ballast in stands of 78 with Bevan and 74 with White. It took him 55 overs for his 60 and he was missed at second slip by Moody off Lampitt when 36, one of two catches put down by Long Tom. The first of them, off Alamgir Sheriyar, who bowled three nippy spells of left-arm over, was not expensive because Byas, coming in after Michael Vaughan had succumbed to a ball from Ellis which lifted from a length, was leg before on the back foot soon after. Moxon, the first of several to look established without sus- taining a major innings, contrived in his own downfall by driv- ing at a wide away-swinger and snicking it to second slip where Lampitt took a fine, low catch. The most surprising moment of the day, however, was the one when Scott Ellis, the strong and promising 20- year-old Salo- pian whose first championship chance had been created by inju- ries in both of Newport`s legs, cut a ball back off the seam to knock back Bevan`s off stump at a time when he was making batting look wonderfully simple. It is inconceivable, surely, that Bevan will not be in Australia`s Test side here next summer, and some of those Eng- land batsmen sitting out this round of championship games could have done worse than to study how still he is at the crease until the length and line have been measured, then how impeccably straight is the bat which returns the ball along the line from which it has come. Watched on this loveliest of regular county grounds by a small host of their own supporters - they ran out of cups and saucers, though not, happily, of cake, in the ladies` pavilion at tea-time - Yorkshire may already have enjoyed the best of the batting conditions. In that case Darren Gough, his confidence visibly restored, and Peter Hartley, would do well to build further on an eighth- wicket partership already worth 50. ====> REPORT (Day 2, 28 Jun 1996) Worcester members upset over absent Hick By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Worcester Second day of four: Worcs (147-3) trail Yorks (321) by 174 runs YORKSHIRE made much slower progress than they had planned at New Road yesterday. Their first innings sank like a stone in the Severn when play finally started at 2pm after thundery rain, Stuart Lampitt twice scattering the stumps for figures of five for 58, and their bowlers then ran into some determined resis- tance from one venerable grafter, Tim Curtis, and two of the younger more virile school of batsmanship, Matthew Church and Reuben Spiring. Spiring`s was the outstanding innings of a Worcestershire reply punctuated by frequent showers, but not the frequent wickets which Yorkshire had been confidently expecting. Essentially a sturdy front-foot striker, Spiring, son of a Liverpool footballer, has benefited more, it seems, from his winter in Australia than from a year at Durham University after which he and the examiners agreed on a mutual separation. The fifty he reached with a scintillating square-cut off Dar- ren Gough was his fifth in six championship games and one has already been converted into his second first-class hun- dred. This was an effort all the worthier for the fact that Gough bowled fast and well, both before and after having Phi- lip Weston leg before with one which straightened. Chris Silverwood also swung the ball away from the right handers at a demanding enough pace, claiming Church lbw after he had hit five handsome fours and then, second ball, plucking off Tom Moody`s off bail with a beauty. Church was playing both because he was due his chance in view of good runs for the second eleven and an innings of 152 against Oxford University earlier this season and also because of Graeme Hick`s request to rest a jaded mind before next week`s Test match. The indignation felt by at least some of the members was expressed on their behalf by the Worcestershire president, Tom Graveney, who demanded an explanation yesterday morning from the management committee. The president was told the course of events, starting with a polite appeal to consider Hick`s withdrawal by the England coach, David Lloyd, and ending with a decision taken at Hick`s request by captain Moody and coach David Houghton. Dispensa- tions such as this would not have been given in Graveney`s Test days, of course, and there would certainly have been a better case for Hick to have missed the NatWest tie on Tuesday. The media spotlight on the regular international cricketer is much greater than it was, however, when Graveney`s distinguished career, and Hick would ease doubts about the new policy if he were to bat with the same authority at Trent Bridge this year as he did when making a hundred there against the West Indies last season. Equally, it would be much fairer to counties if they were to be compensated financially when Test players are rested. Gough has an outside chance of a return to the England squad when the selectors choose the third Test team this evening but in this match he has plenty to do to sustain Yorkshire`s cham- pionship challenge, especially as Peter Hartley twinged a muscle in his right side yesterday. Thus Richard Stemp can expect more work: he bowled well without luck on a pitch giving him help. ====> REPORT (Day 3, 29 Jun 1996) Dilemma for Gough Graeme Fowler at Worcester Overnight: Yorkshire 321 (M G Bevan 61, A McGrath 60,C White 53; S R Lampitt 5-58).Worcestershire 147-3 (K R Spiring 58 no). YORKSHIRE in their second innings are 88 for none, 54 runs ahead. With a minimum of 96 overs on Monday the game without con- trivance between the two captains seems destined for a draw. The New Road wicket, however, may have other ideas. Wor- cestershire lost nine first-innings wickets before declaring on 355, all of which were the sole responsibility of the bowler. Six lbws and three bowled were proof that the vari- ance in bounce was from low to lower. As the match progresses this will become more exaggerated and batting will become hard- er. Worcestershire, third from bottom in the championship, and by definition lacking in confidence, dared not declare behind Yorkshire`s first-innings total. That would have given them a better chance of winning or losing; batting past Yorkshire`s total gave them a better chance of a draw. The wicket, though lacklustre, did produce some delightful cricket from both sides. Reuben Spiring developed his overnight score of 58 to produce his second championship century, which included 17 fours. His predominantly front-foot innings stut- tered only once as he spent 45 minutes in the 90s. Tom Graveney described him as a young man who is maximising his potential. From a man whose batting really was art, that is high praise indeed. Darren Gough, who described the wicket as "having as much pace as a beach", and then added "this is the fourth wicket in a row like this", said he would "fancy getting Spiring out on a wicket with pace". While Spiring chose patience and simplicity on such a wicket, Gough tried every trick in the book. His figures of one for 68 off 29 overs did not do him justice. With effort in abun- dance, his variation and skill was often nullified by the slowness of the pitch. Desperate to take wickets and regain his England place, his experimentation was generous, his reward little. In contrast, Chris Silverwood was a model of consistency and control, his 23 overs producing five for 72. Batsmen watch Gough like a hawk. Silverwood, because of his predictability, often causes complacency in the batsmen and thereby their downfall. In county cricket consistency will produce results in the long run. In Test cricket simple line and length will not take wick- ets. In that arena experimentation borne from talent are the key words. For Gough, a man whose stock ball is variable, therein lies the dilemma. Should he settle back into a line-and-length style and collect two or three wickets per innings on average and become noticed as a regular county wicket-taker, but lose some of his ability to produce sparks at the highest level? Or should he continue on his present course as an outstanding Test cricketer in the making who does not get as many county wickets as he should? On wickets such as these he will get frustrated, but I hope he doesn`t change. ====> REPORT (Day 4, 1 Jul 1996) Gough keeps Yorkshire out in front By Mike Beddow at Worcester Yorkshire (321 & 266-7 dec) bt Worcestershire (355-9 dec & 121) by 111 runs YORKSHIRE stride into the second half of the County Championship campaign with a 19-point lead. No need as yet for their rivals to wave them goodbye, but a fifth win in nine games bore the hall- mark of a balanced and potent force. It was a chastening experience for Worcestershire. After reach- ing 446 to beat Somerset in their last match, they dallied with a different equation on a vastly different pitch. In theory they wanted 233 to win; in practice they needed to survive for 3.5 hours. Neither objective was realistic once they had lost five wick- ets for 28. The ball seamed or scuttled through for Darren Gough and Chris Silverwood, and all this before the potential match-winner, Richard Stemp, mixed turn and bounce. Tom Moody offered no shot for Stemp`s first wicket, an error repeated by Steve Rhodes, though not before he gritted it out for 17 overs in company with the more flamboyant Vikram Solanki. Solanki`s wicket was one of four required by Yorkshire in the final hour and, in the spirit of his innings, it was taken by Michael Vaughan from a top-edged pull. Stemp then bemused Scott Ellis with one that turned and the lively Gough tidied up with 10 minutes left. Worcestershire became victims of their desire to bring spinners into play. Commendable as this is, there is a drawback in that dry pitches here also cater for the seamers. Many of the 15 lbws in this match were due to low bounce. Yet spin was the method preferred by Worcestershire in the morning after Solanki`s initial success in dismissing Martyn Moxon and David Byas in the fifth over. Thus the off-spinner achieved more in three balls than he had done before in a championship innings. When Richard Illingworth also made the ball play tricks, Yorkshire wanted an innings of exceptional quality, and it was produced by the batsman of the season so far. Michael Bevan, light on his feet and witheringly destructive, completed a fourth consecutive championship half-century, and with Craig White becoming a force in a partnership of 93, Yorkshire assumed command. They are clearly a side who have learnt how to wrestle for victory. For Worcestershire, the untimely loss of Illingworth`s bowling because of a split finger was barely compensated by a distinguished first championship wicket for Matthew Church when Bevan pulled to mid-on. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by Shash (shs2@*.cwru.edu)