Date-stamped : 13 Sep96 - 06:10 Llong rides his luck to put Kent in control By Peter Deeley at Canterbury First day of four: Kent 376-4 v Hampshire KENT were sure of foot and hungry for runs yesterday, as befits a side who can afford no more slips if they are to maintain their outsiders` interest in the championship race. Four batting points were already theirs by the 96th over after a day in which all their leading batsmen contributed towards building the platform necessary to keep the momentum going. Three passed the half-century mark and Nigel Llong, wasting no opportunity to attack, reached his second hundred of the season in style, hammering Paul Whitaker - whom he had earlier hit for six - back over the bowler`s head for his 17th boundary in a three- hour stay. Llong had his moments of good fortune however, surviving three chances, one in the nineties when Simon Renshaw failed to hold on to a high edge at third man off John Stephenson. The Hampshire captain, who had earlier seen another catch wasted off his bowling, was understandably not the most amused of men. Carl Hooper, who was suffering from a thumb injury incurred during the last game against Nottinghamshire, led the gallop with 84 at more than a run-a-ball, hitting with great power even though he was clearly in pain, regularly pulling his right hand away at the last moment. Hooper and Trevor Ward put on 137 runs in less than two hours for the third wicket. Ward was content to let the West Indian ravage the Hampshire attack and he hit 14 boundaries and two sixes. Then Ward, whose own half-century had taken him 2.5 hours to complete, stepped to the fore when Hooper pushed forward at Dimitri Mascarenhas and Rajesh Maru, at second slip, rather shakily hung on to the edge. Kent`s attempt for honours attracted a good-sized crowd who had been looking for Hooper to go on and complete what would have been his fourth century of the season. Then their hopes focused on Ward, but when he had reached 79 a delivery from Maru seemed to hold up on the batsman, inducing a sharp return catch to the spinner. To add gloss to Kent`s day, Mark Ealham joined Llong at the end and they have so far added 127, a stand which reflects Hampshire`s overall lack of penetration. The Hampshire attack in this game bears little resemblance to the formation which began the summer. Only Stephenson remains from the opening match but the club appear to have made a discovery in Mascarenhas, 19, who took nine wickets in his first game. Mascarenhas, a bowler of Sri Lankan parentage who arrived at Southampton via Australia, has so far added two more to his tally on his second appearance. He is tall and is possessed of a deceptively fast action - and in all likelihood the first Dimitri to figure in the game, certainly in England. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) ===========================>Day 2 Laney keeps Kent at bay By Peter Deeley at Canterbury Second day of four: Hants (249-5) trail Kent (445) by 196 runs FRIDAY the 13th did not prove a particularly propitious day for Kent`s fortunes in the championship hunt. A slow pitch, an excellent fourth hundred of the season by Hampshire opener Jason Laney and four dropped catches combined to yield the home side only two precious bowling points. Kent supporters wondered why a docile track had been prepared for such a crucial game when Martin McCague and Dean Headley were clearly going to be important weapons in their attacking armoury. Both bent their backs, Headley in particular producing a post-tea spell of eight overs full of menace and fire which only succeeded in winkling out Will Kendall. He showed that the pitch was not entirely without life, hitting Laney and Robin Smith with rising deliveries. It was Smith`s 33rd birthday and he was struggling from the effects of a heavy cold. He was still, however, the dominant force of old, keeping Laney, 10 years his junior, waiting in the 90s at the non- striker`s end for what must have been an interminable time. Laney, though, looks an old head on young shoulders and, on his record in his first full year with Hampshire, must have been unlucky to miss inclusion in the England `A` party. This was his second century in consecutive games and his highest championship innings so far, containing 18 boundaries. After 4.5 hours Mark Ealham eventually forced Laney into a false stroke on the back foot and Steve Marsh took a good falling catch. But Smith battled against adversity until he was bowled by Ealham with the day`s last ball. Hampshire need another 47 runs to save the follow-on but it will take a major effort by the Kent attack to extract enough bowling points to stay in realsistic contention for the title. Including the departure of Ealham and Kent`s century-maker Nigel Llong - who scored a career-best 130 - in the space of six balls, the last six Kent wickets went down in nine overs for 23 runs. John Stephenson, who has surely had to bowl more than he anticipated when arriving at Hampshire, finished with his third haul of five or more wickets in an innings this summer and Dimitri Mascarenhas took four to bring his tally in two games to 13. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) ============================================>Day 3 Headley`s third hat-trick keeps Kent on course By Peter Deeley at Canterbury Kent (445 & 211) lead Hants (358) by 298 runs DEAN HEADLEY ended Kent`s frustrating wait for bowling points in the most dramatic manner possible. He carved his way through the Hampshire tail for his third hat-trick of the summer - to equal a 72- year-old championship record. Needing two bowling points to stay, theoretically, in the hunt for the title, the home attack toiled for even one wicket until 2pm when the stubborn Adrian Aymes eventually trod on his stumps. The overs were ticking away and not until the 119th - only one away from the cut-off for bonus points - did Headley entice a much-battered John Stephenson to carve him down to third man. Then James Bovill and Simon Renshaw were summarily cut down leg before to the following two deliveries. Kent gained their last bowling point with nine balls to spare and Headley and his colleagues took a leaf out of football`s book by sitting down for a group photo-call. Little wonder the crowd rose as Headley, son and grandson of former West Indies players Ron and George, walked off the field. He goes into Wisden alongside Gloucestershire spinner Charles Parker, who took three hat-tricks in 1924, and J S Rao, who did the feat on his debut for an Indian Services side and then twice in his next match in 1963-64. Many thought Headley, 26, was unlucky to miss being picked for England`s winter tour of Zimbabwe and New Zealand and he and county colleague Mark Ealham, who has also bowled with great purpose in this match, have had to settle instead for being members of the England A side which will visit Australia. On a slow pitch here he committed himself unstintingly to Kent`s cause and finished with five for 83. Having missed the first six weeks of the season with a hip injury, Headley has now taken 41 wickets in nine championship games. If he is one to watch for the future, Hampshire have their own budding talent in an 18-year-old with the most unusual name in the game. Dimitri Mascarenhas has come from nowhere to grab a hatful of wickets in his first two games for the county. Nine on his debut against Glamorgan a week ago were followed here by another four in the first innings and before tea yesterday he had taken his tally to 14 when Matthew Walker was well caught at slip as Kent went for the runs in their second knock. Mascarenhas has been coached at Southampton by Malcolm Marshall and Tim Tremlett. For his height - 6ft 2in - he has a short run-up but a fast arm action and gets movement off the seam. He could face an identity crisis at some time in the future. Born in London of Sri Lankan parents, Mascarenhas was brought up in Australia and believes he could be qualified to play for all three countries. He was brought over to Hampshire by Paul Terry, who coincidentally is now on his way to Australia, having been discarded by the county after 19 years` service. "I thought I would come over for the summer, have a look around and then go home," says Mascarenhas. "Now I have been given a two-year contract. It is quite unbelievable what has happened to me. I`m just afraid I`ll wake up and find it was a dream." It is a salutory feature of the modern game that a youngster like Mascarenhas has been advised to increase his run-up next year because his present action is causing him back trouble. He learnt his cricket with an Australian grade side, Melville, in Perth, the club Terry played with for many seasons. "It`s excellent preparation for county cricket - a tough school," he said. Kent eventually finished with a first-innings lead of 87 but suddenly disintegrated second time round as they forced the pace with a view to eventual victory. Hampshire`s captain, John Stephenson, took two wickets, including that of first-innings century-maker Nigel Llong with a brilliant one-handed catch, as five Kent wickets went down in 19 overs for 81 runs. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) ==============================================>Day 4 McCague strikes to help put Kent back in the hunt By Peter Deeley at Canterbury Kent (445 & 211) bt Hampshire (358 & 150) by 148 runs FORTY-TWO minutes of the most extraordinary cricket yesterday, spearheaded by a hat-trick from Martin McCague, propelled Kent back into the chase for the title when it seemed Hampshire were strolling to victory here in the sun. In that time, McCague and Matthew Fleming claimed the last eight Hampshire wickets for seven runs from a mere 44 balls, leaving Kent 15 points behind the leaders, Leicestershire, and they are now third place in the table, a point behind Surrey. As for Leicestershire, a draw with full bonus points against Middlesex in their last match starting at Grace Road on Thursday would be enough to give them the championship. McCague`s hat-trick, his first for the club, was the second in the game for Kent following on Saturday`s feat by Dean Headley, who has taken three this summer. If these events are remarkable in themselves, they have to be considered in the context of a morning session in which Hampshire, needing 299 to win, were totally in command and 113 for one at lunch. By an amazing coincidence, the clatter of wickets yesterday began at almost precisely the same moment as on Saturday. Then the first dismissal came at 1.59pm and there were 15 more before the close. This time, Hampshire had made their way without trouble to 143 for one with Giles White and Paul Whitaker passing the half- century mark. Then, at 1.56, McCague, bowling with rare speed, sent Whitaker`s off-stump cartwheeling back and the Hampshire floodgates were well and truly opened. McCague greeted Robin Smith with two distinctly hostile bouncers and, with the former England player still mentally reeling, induced a low edge to the Kent captain, Steve Marsh, behind the stumps. It was the 45th over that really destroyed Hampshire resistance. McCague, who finished with six for 51, had Will Kendall caught low at second slip by Carl Hooper, Adrian Aymes nicked the next delivery to Min Patel and Dimitri Mascarenhas, probably not relishing such a pressure situation in his second first-class game, was immediately leg before. On Saturday, Headley and his colleagues sat down in the middle in celebration of his hat-trick for one of those group photo calls so beloved of footballers these days. McCague now chose to emulate the Italian Ravanelli and whooped around with his shirt over his face. Those three wickets had gone down at 149 and Fleming put his mark on the game in the next over when White`s gallant innings ended with Hooper swooping to pick up another low catch at slip. In the same over, Fleming removed James Bovill`s off stump and it was all over in the 48th when the same bowler got through Raj Maru`s defence. With Hampshire`s captain, James Stephenson, wearing a protective covering on his right wrist and unable to bat, the end had come with an astonishing alacrity. Kent`s supporters rightly rose to cheer the side off and the club`s president, Robin Baker White, ran alongside the players and applauded them off. Later, he sent champagne to the dressing room - as he had done for Headley on Saturday - remarking: "This is proving an expensive game." Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) ===================================>More Bowling heroics make unique day E. W. Swanton on extraordinary turn of events at Canterbury OLD men forget, as one is sometimes reminded. I can only say that in 70 years of watching first-class cricket, I can recall nothing quite like the events at the St Lawrence ground yesterday. At lunch, and for 44 minutes afterwards, Hampshire were apparently strolling to victory and Kent were almost resigned to a championship place of fourth or fifth. Suddenly, at 143 for one, Martin McCague sent the off-stump flying - and the scorecard records Hampshire`s catalogue of disasters, completed by Matthew Fleming. McCague bowled as fast as anyone I have seen since Devon Malcolm spreadeagled South Africa at the Oval three years ago. Dean Headley, after missing the month of May, has had great days, as has Mark Ealham. McCague, however, has been the backbone of Kent`s attack all summer. At 27, this formidable fellow, 6ft 5in and upwards of 16st, has reached his peak. What might 1997 and the challenge of Australia bring forth from all three of them? As to hat-tricks, Howard Milton, Kent`s archivist, tells me that in 149 years of history, there had been only two Kentish hat- tricks on the St Lawrence ground, one each to Tich Freeman and Doug Wright. Now McCague`s yesterday, plus two of Headley`s astonishing three, makes three more on the ground in a few weeks. Has there ever before been two Kent hat-tricks in the same match? The answer is yes and no. At Oxford in 1959 D M Sayer, a Kentish bowler playing for the university, did a hat-trick against the county, for whom Fred Ridgway reposted with another the same day. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)