Date-stamped : 19 Jul97 - 06:18 Gloom deepens for Derbyshire By David Green at Cheltenham First day of four: Gloucs (306-4) lead Derbys (120) by 186 runs DERBYSHIRE, who have enough troubles following the resignation of captain Dean Jones and the currently equivocal position of coach Les Stillman, ran into squalls at Cheltenham yesterday in the forms of Mike Smith and Shaun Young. The visitors, having chosen to bat on an overcast morning, went down like nine-pins as Smith, watched by England coach David Lloyd, took six for 47. Then Young, who came in at 16 for three, made a brilliant unbeaten 156. Only Kim Barnett, with an untroubled 58, came to terms with the quality of Smith`s bowling and a surface which though not as quick as some seen here in recent years, certainly offered more bounce than is customary nowadays. Phillip DeFreitas`s decision to bat, arrived at after much delib- eration, began to look questionable when, in Smith`s sec- ond over, Adrian Rollins was lbw to an in- dipping near-yorker and next ball Chris Adams`s bails were clipped by another late in- swinger. Michael May, Vince Clarke and Karl Krikken all went inside three overs and Matthew Vandrau was forced to retire hurt af- ter being struck under the jaw by a Smith bouncer. But Barnett, one half-chance apart, played with great composure. Smith had DeFreitas caught behind and next ball bowled Andrew Harris who offered no stroke but Barnett, on-driving and forcing through cover with impeccable timing, moved smoothly past 50 before being last out having hit nine fours. Devon Malcolm, possibly competing with Smith for a Test place owing to Dean Headley`s strained side, responded with a three- wicket burst, having Nick Trainor caught behind, Tony Wright beautifully caught at slip and Monte Lynch caught at third man. However, with the air now clearer, batting looked more straight- forward as Young and Tim Hancock, whose gritty 54 oc- cupied 42 overs, wore down an attack which, Malcolm apart, lacked the con- sistency and the hostility necessary to dislodge determined bats- men. Young, straight-driving and playing off his legs to great ef- fect, led the way and was in sight of his century when Han- cock mis- hooked DeFreitas to square leg, the fourth wicket hav- ing added 139 runs in 36 overs. Young`s century came off 139 balls, with 18 fours, his next 50 off 46 balls with seven fours and a six as he and Mark Alleyne, who played handsomely after a sticky start, built a powerful po- sition. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Young hits the heights with 237 By David Green at Cheltenham Second day of four: Derbys (120 & 174-3) trail Gloucs (484) by 190 runs AFTER Gloucestershire had established a first-innings lead of 364, Shaun Young making a career-best 237 and Mark Alleyne 97, Der- byshire batted resolutely at their second attempt, but have much to do to avoid a heavy defeat. With the ball moving much less in the air than on Wednesday, Adrian Rollins, 44, and Michael May, 46, confidently put on 71 before being parted. Later Kim Barnett, 51 not out, again made batting look simple. Gloucestershire resumed at 306 for four against Devon Malcolm, who was treated respectfully, and Andrew Harris, who was not, and the fourth wicket had added 244 at nearly five runs per over when Al- leyne, surprisingly, fended a catch to slip. Young, whose previous best was 175 not out for Tasmania against Queensland in 1995-96, reached 200 with his 33rd four, having also hit a six, and he then dealt harshly with Vince Clarke, who bowled seamers rather than leg-spin. When Young fell to a tired stroke, he had hit 37 fours and two sixes and equalled the highest score by a Gloucestershire batsman against Derbyshire, Walter Hammond also scoring 237 at Bristol in 1938. With their lower order pressing on, the last five Gloucester- shire wickets fell for 50 runs, Harris improving his figures by tak- ing three of them and Malcolm securing his 50th wicket of the season when he bowled Mike Smith. When Derbyshire batted again, Rollins, in particular, looked in commanding form until Alleyne had him caught at slip. Chris Adams entered to complete a pair, caught behind second ball. Smith, returning for a second spell, had May pal- pably lbw but Barnett, missed at slip on 19, played with impressive dis- ci- pline and Matthew Vandrau gave him solid support. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Barnett`s 94 in vain as Smith cleans up By David Green at Cheltenham Gloucs (484) bt Derbyshire (120 & 329) by an innings and 35 runs DESPITE Derbyshire`s spirited second-innings batting display, led by Kim Barnett with 94, Gloucestershire wrapped up their fourth win of the season as Mike Smith bowled Test rival Devon Malcolm with 4.5 sessions remaining. Thus Gloucester, who made the early running in the champi- onship race with three wins from their first five matches but then fal- tered badly with three defeats in the next four, re- turned to winning ways, taking maximum points. Responding well to Mark Alleyne`s leadership and revelling in the sharp edge provided by Smith`s medium-fast left-arm bowling, Gloucester have coped manfully with a frequently fragile bat- ting order and have fought hard even in losing positions. Derbyshire, struggling following Dominic Cork`s hernia opera- tion and Dean Jones`s departure as captain, are, by contrast, still without a championship win. Their batting depends too much on Barnett and Chris Adams and their bowling on Malcolm and acting captain Phillip DeFreitas, but Cork hopes to be fit for a Second XI outing on Monday and could play in Derbyshire`s NatWest Trophy quarter-final against Sussex on July 29. Off the field, the future of Derbyshire`s coach Les Stillman is still undecided while the question of former captain Barnett`s ap- peal against a -L1,500 fine for "unauthorised comments to the media" is a long way from being resolved. Smith once more produced Gloucester`s best bowling return, his four for 59 giving him match figures of 10 for 106 - his third 10-wicket haul of the season. But it was double centuri- on Shaun Young who undermined Derbyshire`s innings. Barnett and Matthew Vandrau, who contributed a disciplined 58 to the fourth-wicket stand of 121, had taken Derbyshire from their overnight 174 for three to 240 without alarms when Young came on at the Chapel end. With the last ball of his second over Young pitched a slower outswinger perfectly to take Bar- nett`s outside edge and with the first ball of his next had Vince Clarke caught at mid-off. When Vandrau sliced Young to second slip where Monte Lynch took the catch low to his right, the Tasmanian all-rounder had taken three for four in 14 balls and 240 for three had become 251 for six. Barnett once more batted commandingly his characteristic driv- ing through midwicket and past cover bringing him the bulk of the 12 fours he struck in an innings lasting 3hr 20min. There was still fight left in Derbyshire as DeFreitas showed when he struck three sixes and four fours in his rapid 45. Karl Krikken gave him obstinate support in a seventh-wicket stand of 75. However, the second new ball brought a swift end. Derbyshire`s last four wickets fell for four runs in four overs, with Smith tak- ing three of them. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)