Date-stamped : 13 Sep96 - 06:10 Essex seamers lose their way By Geoffrey Dean at Hove First day of four: Sussex (361-8) v Essex ALL DID not go to plan for Essex. For a start, they lost the toss on a used pitch that turned occasionally yesterday. Then, though Peter Such bowled well, their seamers did not, and their batsmen, Stuart Law among them, have plenty of work to do. Sussex, for their part, showed plenty of fight after four successive defeats on the back of some woeful batting. Alan Wells played as though quite unconcerned by the speculation that his position as captain was insecure. His hundred, reached off 152 balls, was his second in what has been a patchy season for him. Ian Salisbury, with whom Wells has not always seen eye to eye, batted with the same unflappable concentration as his captain. Desmond Haynes, the Sussex coach, is optimistic that the unsettled Salisbury will accept the new five-year contract he has been offered. His 69 not out off 97 balls was not the innings of a man with his mind on a move. Salisbury would have come in at 183 for six if Graham Gooch had not dropped Peter Moores first ball at second slip off Ashley Cowan. This proved the turning point of the day, for Wells and Moores then regained the initiative by clobbering some loose bowling for 65 in 13 overs. The pressure had been released and Essex had missed their chance, for the ball was now old. Wells finished with a season`s best 122, cutting and driving well to hit 19 of the day`s 49 fours, an undesirably high total as far as Essex were concerned. There were also three sixes, all of them from sweeps off Such - one each for Wells, Vasbert Drakes and Salisbury. Wells played Such well, though he was dropped twice off him after he had passed 100. Such dismissed Neil Lenham in his first over with a bat-pad catch after the new ball had largely been wasted. Lenham, who drove Mark Ilott for three off-side fours in one over, batted aggressively for his 55, adding 81 in just 20 overs for the second wicket with Keith Greenfield. Greenfield was somewhat unluckily bowled off a pad by Such after trying to sweep, but Keith Newell left his gate wide open to be bowled by Ronnie Irani. Drakes was then run out by Cowan, backing up off his own bowling after Wells had called for an unlikely single. Later, Danny Law was also a needless casualty, skying Such high to mid-on, where Cowan took a good catch over his shoulder running back. Gooch held a sharp catch at slip to remove Moores, but Essex had to wait another 21 overs before taking another wicket, by which time Wells`s seventh-wicket partnership with Salisbury was worth 76. Wells, who had used the sweep shot to good effect, finally perished to it when Paul Grayson had him lbw with a ball of very full length. Nicky Phillips joined Salisbury to see out the final 11 overs of a day that ended cold and windy. Fielding was no fun by this point, and Essex looked a frustrated side by stumps. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) =======================>Day 2 Essex lifted by Cowan assault By Geoffrey Dean at Chelmsford Second day of four: Sussex (363 & 2-0) lead Essex (360) by 5 runs ESSEX achieved their first objective - maximum bonus points - but not their second, a big lead on this dusty turner. Most of their batsmen got themselves out with some careless shots, and only some bold hitting by Ashley Cowan took them to a fourth batting point. Sussex, who lost their last two wickets in the first 13 balls of the day, will be very pleased not to be behind on the first innings. The outlook looked bleak for them when Essex were 135 for one with Graham Gooch in complete command and Nasser Hussain playing some fine off-side shots. But Hussain then got out, chasing a wide delivery and even Sussex looked surprised when Gooch was out shortly afterwards, having made a masterly 82 off 129 balls with 13 fours. Gooch, who scored heavily on the legside with imperious on- drives, skilful leg- glances and dismissive pulls, misread the length of a ball from James Kirtley and drove a simple return catch. This was the first of four wickets for the Old Cliftonian. He bowls a full length at a fair pace, and has a run-up and action not dissimilar to Paul Jarvis`s. Hopefully, he will not be as injury prone. Paul Prichard, caught in his crease, was lbw to Kirtley who was later gifted two more wickets. Ronnie Irani, having played well to pass 1,000 runs for the season, and Robert Rollins cut long hops to cover and point respectively. Kirtley`s figures were then spoiled by Cowan`s calculated assault. Cowan`s drive on the up into the crowd at long-off off Kirtley was perhaps the shot of the day, and his blow over long-on into the river Can off Nicky Phillips was certainly the biggest. Ian Salisbury eventually bowled him with a googly he did not pick. Salisbury mostly operated round the wicket but, apart from Paul Grayson who padded up to be lbw, the rest of the Essex top order played convincingly. Both Gooch and Stuart Law were untroubled by him. Law`s effortlessly compiled 64 came off 97 balls and he looked set for a big hundred before getting himself out. Phillips could hardly believe his luck when the Australian drove him straight to mid-off, apparently caught in two minds. Phillips did a good job, bowling his off-spin tidily to create some pressure. He took a second wicket when he had Mark Ilott lbw trying to sweep. Alan Wells, meanwhile, yesterday dismissed speculation that his position as Sussex captain is under threat. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) ====================================>Day 3 Law puts a new spin on attack By Geoffrey Dean at Chelmsford Sussex (363 & 335) lead Essex (360) by 338 runs ESSEX, coming up against a brick wall also known as Bill Athey, could feel their title chances slipping through their fingers an hour after lunch yesterday. Sussex were 154 for one, giving them a lead of 157, and Essex did not look like taking a wicket on a flat pitch that was not turning as much as they would have hoped. At this point, up stepped Stuart Law to bowl. But he did not employ his medium-pace seamers, rather his little-known leg-spin. Law proceeded to take three wickets inside 20 balls, including Athey`s, and Essex were back in the game. Law could hardly do a better imitation of Shane Warne if he tried. The approach to the wicket and the delivery were uncannily like the Victorian`s and the only thing missing was the peroxide hair. First to go was Keith Greenfield, leg before. Athey (74 off 166 balls) went next, edging a classic leg-break to be beautifully caught by a diving Nasser Hussain at slip. Then, Law switched to round the wicket and immediately spun one out of the rough to have a groping Keith Newell taken in the gully. Vasbert Drakes, who always likes to play aggressively, launched into a blaze of strokes, sweeping Law for three fours and driving Peter Such into the River Can. Then came an unsavoury incident. Essex went up for a bat-pad catch against Drakes off Law. Umpire Alan Whitehead turned down the appeal, but Law and later Paul Prichard showed blatant dissent at the decision. Prichard lost his cool, remonstrating with his hands and an arm. At the start of the day, Essex`s seamers could make no impression with the new ball on a pitch that offered minimal movement off the seam. Nor was there any swing. It required a mistake from Neil Lenham for the opening stand to be broken in the 24th over. Trying to pull Steve Andrew, he miscued straight to midwicket. Sussex`s improved performance in this match was unexpected, not just because they had lost their previous four championship games but also in view of the speculation surrounding Alan Wells and Ian Salisbury. Wells`s hold on the captaincy is thought to be as doubtful as Salisbury`s future at the club following his indication last month that he would not necessarily sign a new contract when the current one expires at the end of this season. Wells`s open criticism of Salisbury in a book two years ago led to a rift between the pair, although one current Sussex team member says they are getting on well enough now. The rumour factory has it, however, that the committee might dangle the ultimate carrot, that of the captaincy to try to keep Salisbury at Hove. A new five- year contract and an early benefit have already been offered to him. Salisbury may, none the less, feel that his now fading England chances (following Phil Tufnell`s welcome back into the fold as the prodigal son) can only be improved by a move to a county with pitches more receptive to spin and with batting line-ups that can be more reliably guaranteed to give him something to bowl at. Above all, Salisbury is known to want to win trophies, something Sussex appear unlikely to do in the next few years. Whatever Salisbury does, Wells may be approaching the end of his fifth and final season as Sussex`s leader. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) ====================================>Day 4 Salisbury puts paid to Essex By Geoffrey Dean at Chelmsford Sussex (363 & 417-8 dec) bt Essex (360 & 283) by 137 runs IAN SALISBURY will wish he could roll up a pitch like this one and take it around with him, but how beautifully he bowled to finish with a career-best eight for 75 from 29.4 overs. Defeat for Essex means they are realistically out of contention for the title, even if not mathematically so. There was extravagant turn and bounce for Salisbury - not just out of the rough - but the quality of his performance can be gauged by the fact that off-spinner Nicky Phillips took only one for 116 from 34 overs. Salisbury also outbowled Peter Such, who was unable to part Vasbert Drakes and Phillips when they batted on for another 75 minutes yesterday to add an important 82 more. This meant that Essex had what proved only 86 overs to make 421. Sussex knew they would chase any target and it was to ambitious strokes that Essex`s top three batsmen all fell. Salisbury was not introduced until the 15th over, by which time Essex had raced to 104 for one. In his second over, Salisbury removed Graham Gooch when he tried to sweep from out of the rough outside leg stump. Salisbury, who operated over the wicket throughout, reserved his best ball of the match to dismiss Stuart Law. Ronnie Irani edged his third ball to slip and when Paul Prichard was bowled, rashly trying to sweep a Phillips off-break, Essex had lost three wickets on 167. There were still 54 overs to come and the Essex tail did well to hang on until just before the final half-hour. Steve Andrew was last out when he gave a bat-pad catch to one of the seven close fielders. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)