Date-stamped : 14 Sep97 - 06:10 Ripley drives Leics to despair By Geoffrey Dean at Northampton First day of four: Northants (310-7) v Leicestershire LEICESTERSHIRE have had plenty of unproductive days at Wantage Road in the last couple of decades, not having won there since 1975, and yesterday was another frustrating one for them. Having reduced Northamptonshire to 105 for five just before lunch, they took only two more wickets as a damp pitch dried out to become flat. Chief irritant was the crabby David Ripley, the senior partner in a sixth-wicket stand of 155 in 60 overs with Tony Penberthy, who made 65 off 177 balls. Both players made up for what they lacked in fluency and flam- boyance with admirable cussedness and shot selection. Penberthy even- tually fell trying to cut a wide long hop to give Darren Maddy his first victim this year. Few players can be more annoying to bowl to than Ripley, who scored the bulk of his runs behind square. Playing the spinners late and with soft hands, he exasperated the seamers with his back-and- across technique. Indeed, so far across his stumps did he tend to get that James Ormond almost bowled him round his legs with a delivery that passed over middle. Ripley at that point had just reached his fifth championship fifty of the season, and he later edged into the 90s for the first time in three years. Fittingly, it was Ormond who prised him out with a bouncer with the second new ball just before stumps. Ormond had made two important early break- throughs, finding the edge of Alan Fordham`s bat with a good one that left him and bowl- ing Kevin Curran with an off-cutter. The two spinners, operating in tandem from as early as the 23rd over, got occasional turn on a pitch with roughed-up ends. Matt Brimson removed Richard Montgomerie with a beauty that pitched middle and hit off, and Adrian Pierson had Rob Bailey taken at short leg off bat-pad. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Brown has action of Emburey By Geoffrey Dean at Northampton Second day of four: Leics (380-6) lead Northants (332) by 48 runs POSITIVE batting throughout from Leicestershire, notably by Jon Dakin whose excellent unbeaten 135 was a career best, helped build up a useful lead on a hard, flat pitch. It offered some turn, but conditions for batting were good with the outfield like mar- ble. The tall and hard hitting Dakin drove, cut and pulled his way to a third first-class hundred off 138 balls, with 18 fours and a six. For the bulk of his innings, he faced the two young, inexpe- rienced spinners, Jason Brown and Michael Davies. Brown varied his flight nicely and bowled his off-breaks so close to the stumps that he almost came over them in the manner of his coach, John Emburey. Northants had made early inroads thanks largely to some extra bounce with the new ball. But Iain Sutcliffe, with a classy 61 off 84 balls, and later David Millns, 60 not out in 29 overs, proved as dif- ficult to remove as Dakin had done. Earlier, James Ormond took the last three Northants wickets in 16 balls to finish with a championship best six for 68. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Millns lets his bat do the talking By Geoffrey Dean at Northampton Third day of four: Northants (332 & 36-1) trail Leics (557) by 189 runs EMPLOYING studious defence and strokeplay both orthodox and rustic, David Millns steered Leicestershire to their highest total this year and a big lead that will allow attacking fields. Northants will have to withstand many overs of spin to- day on a slow turner. At the start of the 1995 season, Millns, always one with the highest belief in his own ability, had a bet with his then team- mate Hansie Cronje that he would make a maiden hundred that year. He did not, but in the last 14 months he has collected three, culminating in yesterday`s career-best 121 off 219 balls. Millns and Jon Dakin became only the third Leicestershire pair to put on more than 200 for the seventh wicket, doing so at near- ly four an over. Dakin, 135 when play started at 1.45, continued to hit the ball fearsomely hard and was within 10 of a double century when he was stumped. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Ripley and Bailey salvage lost cause By Geoffrey Dean at Northampton Northamptonshire 332 & 298-9 drew with Leicestershire 557 THANKS to a valiant second 50 of the match by David Ripley and to Rob Bailey`s bravery in coming out to bat at No 11 with a bro- ken finger, Northamptonshire saved this game when all seemed lost just af- ter tea. Faced with the prospect of having to bat out the final day to gain the draw, Northants, 36 for one overnight, just summoned the nec- essary fight. As expected on a pitch offering turn but negligible seam move- ment, it was Leicestershire`s spinners who slowly dismantled the Northants top order. John Dakin, however, made the initial breakthrough 70 minutes into the day when he produced a per- fect inswinging yorker to bowl nightwatchman Scott Boswell, whose 35 was a career-best. Adrian Pierson and Matt Brimson, operating in tandem for much of the time, began to apply pressure with three close fielders ev- er present. It was Pierson who removed the stubborn Richard Montgomerie. He, like Ripley, reached his 50 off 106 balls. Montgomerie was bowled trying to cut, and an equally disappoint- ing dismissal followed in the next over when Kevin Curran mis- cued Brimson to deepish mid-off. David Sales and Tony Penberthy stayed for a while before they too went in rapid succession. Sales, driving at Pierson, was de- ceived in the flight and superbly caught down by his bootlaces by Brimson at cover. Penberthy then fell to a bat-pad catch at sil- ly point, pushing forward to one that turned. Importantly, the long tail managed to use up some valuable time. Paul Taylor survived for 21 overs and Michael Davies hung around for almost as long before James Ormond came back to blast him out, doing so from round the wicket with one that bounced. Jason Brown then recorded a king pair. When Bailey joined Ripley, Northants were only 10 runs ahead with 28 overs still remaining. Ripley cleverly took most of the strike from Ormond, allowing Bailey the less awkward proposition of seeing out Pierson, who was not at his best. As their frustra- tion grew, Leicestershire took the second new ball but, as is so often the case, runs began to flow more freely as Ripley edged ever closer to his first hundred for six years. Bailey will miss the rest of the season. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)