Day 1: Maddy proves a match for Caddick's best
By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester
First day of four: Leicestershire (238-6) lead Somerset (74) by 164 runs
SOMERSET cannot enjoy coming to Grace Road. On their last visit they were beaten inside two days and yesterday they were bowled out before lunch, losing 10 wickets in the space of just 17 overs.
Nor could they blame the pitch, described as a good cricket wicket by umpire Ray Julian. ``Leicestershire need shooting if they don't make 300 on it,'' he added. That was to reckon without a superb performance from Andy Caddick, who defied fatigue to take six wickets. Darren Maddy's unbeaten 97 was of equally high quality.
Jimmy Ormond and Vince Wells did the hard work for Leicestershire in the morning. This was Ormond's first championship game since mid-June in an injury-prone season in which he had only bowled 145 championship balls before yesterday. After changing ends to come down the hill, he was soon unsettling batsmen with his pace, bounce and swing. His figures of six for 33 were a career-best.
Wells, also swinging the ball, made the breakthrough in the 12th over, the first of five wickets to fall in six overs. Two of those, Keith Parsons and Marcus Trescothick, were caught in the gully from loose shots. ``Our defensive technique against the swinging ball was poor,'' admitted coach Dermot Reeve.
Ormond's first victim, Peter Bowler, was stunningly caught at third slip by Aftab Habib from a top-edged cut. If that was good fortune for Ormond, he earnt his next three wickets with beauties. Richard Harden edged one that lifted and left him; Michael Burns was castled by one that straightened and Graham Rose was lbw to an inswinging yorker.
Adrian Pierson was given a warm welcome by his old club's members which he said ``chuffed'' him. He would not have been so pleased when he flailed at a wide half-volley and chipped a dolly to point. Luke Sutton then marked his championship debut with no shot to what Ormond admitted was just a straight one.
Maddy's battle with Caddick was an enthralling one, for he was the only batsman with the technique to deal with him. Getting well forward or well back to defend with soft hands close to his body, Maddy looked a worthy successor to Mike Atherton. Some of his driving, particularly through mid-on, was exceptional.
Somerset's support seamers mostly bowled too short, allowing Ben Smith to employ his favorite cut shot far too frequently. Caddick, however, found the right length for a bouncy pitch, causing persistent problems with his lift.
In his opening 13-over spell, he had Vince Wells and Iain Sutcliffe caught at second slip, where he also had Maddy dropped when nine. Later he came back heroically for a 14-over second spell, taking four more wickets.
Day 2: Ormond mops up as Somerset fold again
By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester
Second day of four: Leicestershire (271) bt Somerset (74 & 112) by an innings and 85 runs
ANOTHER inept batting display at Grace Road saw Somerset tumble to an embarrassing defeat within five sessions.
Unsurprisingly their coach, Dermot Reeve, described it as the worst batting performance he had witnessed from his team since his arrival at the club.
Poor technique and shot selection was at the heart of Somerset's repeat debacle, but more disappointing was their lack of stomach for a fight.
Leicestershire, for their part, were once again highly impressive in the field, possessing both the firepower and discipline to take full advantage of a pitch with pace and bounce.
Having had to report the wicket as a matter of course, the umpires told the ECB's Harry Brind that there was no need to inspect the pitch and, indeed, commended the playing surface as the second best they had seen all season. Darren Maddy certainly enjoyed batting on it, completing a top-class hundred, his second of the summer.
That took him past 500 first-class runs, and if he continues to play this well his father Bill, who promised to give up smoking if he makes 1,000, will surely be held to his pledge.
The confidence of Somerset's batsmen appeared, by contrast, to be in their boots. A catalogue of bad shots began when Peter Bowler slashed a long hop straight to point; Keith Parsons dragged a full toss into his stumps; both Piran Holloway and Michael Burns threw themselves fatally at wide balls; later Richard Harden clipped a half-volley to square leg. Only Graham Rose of the top seven did not make a present of his wicket to the Leicestershire bowlers.
Once more, Vince Wells made crucial early inroads even though the ball did not swing. Locating an ideal length and line outside off stump, he managed to draw both Marcus Trescothick and Holloway into shots that were edged.
Jimmy Ormond, strong as an ox, mopped up to finish with nine wickets in the match. That gives him 15 for the season but at the exceptional strike-rate of one every 21 balls. Steve Waugh remarked in his Ashes tour diary of last year how impressed the Australians had been with Ormond when he took six for 54 against them in their first innings.
More performances like this one - and continued fitness - could conceivably earn him a place in England's senior tour party to Australia this coming winter.
Somerset, without Mushtaq Ahmed, who flew home for the third time this season on compassionate leave, may be without him for most of the rest of the summer.