Date-stamped : 22 Jul97 - 10:46 Middlesex extend challenge to tourists By Scyld Berry at Lord`s Middlesex lead Australia by 295 runs IT WAS an attack of international standard which Mark Ram- prakash faced. It was on a Test ground, too, and the crowd num- bered up to 7,000. But it was not, in name, a Test match. So Ramprakash sauntered to the wicket at No 3, not exactly the master of all he could survey at Lord`s yesterday morning, but pretty much at home as captain of Middlesex and therefore re- laxed. He had strained with haste when he had last gone to the wicket for England, in Johannesburg, and had missed with desper- ate drives. He scored 76 in steering his team to what might be at least a challenging total on a dry, white pitch of uneven bounce. Mike Gatting rolled back the years to the mid-Eighties to weigh in as well, which combined to make a sturdier performance than the Australians have seen for most of their county games. When averaging 16 in his 19 Tests, Ramprakash was too intent on his objective, that of proving himself the best batsman in Eng- land. Yesterday, he seemed more focused on his journey and on play- ing each ball on its merit. He is still only 27; but not many leopards have changed their spots. The Australians, for their part, have decided that Michael Be- van will not change his. Apart from Michael Kasprowicz playing ahead of Paul Reiffel, this is their Test team for Headingley, with Ricky Ponting batting at No 6, not Bevan. Like Ramprakash, Bevan had a fine first Test series, and thereafter tightened up. It is to England`s advantage that Bevan should have played in the first half of this series, on the damper pitches, where his bowling was of little account, and been dropped for the sec- ond half, when he could have found some dangerous bounce on harder ones. But Be- van has frozen against the short ball when confronted by it in the im- mensity of a Test match, rather as Neil Fairbrother did - short balls which they would both smash in a one-day game when given no time to think and freeze. With Bevan gone, the Australians gave a bowl to Greg Blewett, whose knees might now stand up to the office of being fourth seamer at Headingley. They gave a bowl, too, to Mark Waugh, who is now promoted to second spinner, but his off-spin was so much meat and drink to Gatting on a warm yet fresh afternoon, and to Owais Shah, who did a passable imitation of Ramprakash once the Middlesex captain had gone. Some of the Australians had not played since the third Test and rustiness showed. Jason Gillespie veered leg side against the opening left-handers, and Glenn McGrath, far from repeating his eight wickets for 38 of last month, conceded 10 runs in his first over, though he did eventually settle into his rhythm. Shane Warne had his first bowl in the middle since his visit to Australia to see his new daughter, and his first ball was right on the spot, but not so many thereafter. Several full toss- es were de- livered, one of them swung for six by Ramprakash, and he did not appear to enjoy the most amicable relationship with Alan Whitehead. But then Cyril Mitchley will be the `neutral um- pire` for the next Test, an official who was not responsive to Warne during the series in South Africa, when Warne was awarded three leg before wickets in as many Tests. Until McGrath returned to the pavilion end for a teatime spell, and bowled Gatting off a faint inside edge, run-outs were as like- ly a way as any for the tourists to take wickets. A direct hit from Ponting would have done for Gatting before he had scored, when Ram- prakash called for a short run to cover. Starting with their first run of the game, an amble to fine leg, Middlesex`s running was not dynam- ic. England`s choice of pitch for Headingley, finalised yesterday, suggests they want as even a covering of grass as possible to deter Warne and to allow for the option of living to fight an- other day, if the ball should not swing. If England lose at Head- ingley, they will have to win the last two Tests. If they can survive there, and at Trent Bridge, they would have a fine chance of regaining the Ashes at their favoured Oval. If Warne`s spell from the pavilion end, starting in the 12th over, was unexceptional, he started to exert pressure and gain turn in the afternoon. Occasionally, Gatting was able to go back and cut to the old Tavern boundary, as he has done these last 20 years, and his 93rd first-class hundred came into sight. But one of his cut fours went through the hands of Mc- Grath, who was given the ball and took the chance to avenge him- self. Warne had Shah caught at slip pushing at a leg-break. As for Gatting, he will be tempted both to go for the new post of Eng- land as- sistant coach next season, and to keep on batting for Middlesex, as tempted as if it were a choice of menu. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Tour Match: Angular Elliott shows up Middlesex limitations By Charles Randall at Lord`s Second day of three: Australians (351-6) lead Middlesex (305) by 46 runs SUPREME, golden sunshine warmed Lord`s for a second day yes- terday in contrast to the Australians` previous visit to head- quarters when storms savaged the second Test. But rain or shine, Matthew El- liott continued to flourish. Elliott milked Middlesex`s attack for almost three hours in his distinctive angular style, helping himself to 83 as though picking up from where he left off against England. His 112 a month ago, a maiden Test hundred, seemed to take days because of the frequent weather interruptions and he bene- fited from chunks of luck, but he needed no let-offs yesterday against a rather plain Middlesex attack. A good start, exploited by some lovely strokes from Mark Waugh, meant the Australians cruised past Middlesex`s 305 with only five wickets down. Elliott even allowed himself a spectacular dismissal by charg- ing down the pitch to Keith Dutch`s off-spin and missing lavish- ly. The Australians had faced some very weak county bowling on this tour, with strike bowlers so often given the match off, but Middle- sex did at least field almost their best attack, includ- ing Phil Tufnell, a candidate for the fourth Test at Leeds on Thursday. Tufnell, after a good start, looked ordinary by his standards and resorted to firing his left-arm spin at the right-handers from over the wicket all too soon, tacitly admitting that his inspira- tion tank was almost empty. Though possibly still the best left-arm spinner in the busi- ness, he had not been a match winner for Middlesex this summer and he would therefore represent a risky selection for England. Tufnell perplexed Mark Taylor early on and he tempted Greg Blewett into a mis-cue to extra cover where Mark Ramprakash dropped a straightforward catch. Tufnell enjoyed prominence for most of the day because, apart from his 35 overs in two spells, he was cheered by a section of the crowd almost every time he stopped the ball. Eventually he bowled Blewett behind his legs sweeping, and Rick Ponting was snapped up bat-pad at silly mid-off, a warm-up op- portunity snuffed out before the Test. Middlesex`s fielding had a fallible day to ease the Aus- tralians` passage to a good score. Paul Weekes dropped a slip catch off Taylor and Ramprakash`s slip was simply embarrassing. Mark Waugh should have been stumped when 50 and run out when 72 after a mix-up with Ian Healy - Waugh surviving only because Dutch threw to the end populated by both batsmen. The Waugh twins compiled an entertaining stand of 103 at about four runs an over, Mark reaching his fifty off 71 balls. Steve took six balls longer and slashed to gully soon after. Middlesex spread the field wide hoping to make Mark Waugh wait overnight for his second hundred of the tour, but a glorious agricultural six off Dutch took him to 95 with 10 minutes` play remaining, and he reached his target with a single off the last delivery of the day. His century took only 147 balls. Middlesex did at least have the satisfaction of making Waugh wait half an hour before advancing from 84, but generally they found him awkward to contain. By letting him off twice Mid- dlesex faced the prospect of another big Waugh score today. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Australians in ominous form for fourth Test By Charles Randall at Lord`s Middlesex (305 & 201-6) drew with Australians (432-7) THE Australians visit the Queen at Buckingham Palace this morning with the feelgood factor high on the scale before they head up the M1 to Leeds for this week`s fourth Test. The tourists finished their three-day match against Middlesex at Lord`s yesterday well on top, with most of their batsmen in form and Shane Warne showing the cutting edge that had rocked England at Manchester three weeks ago. Mark Waugh took his overnight hundred - his first at headquar- ters - to 142 in majestic fashion while expanding the Australian lead to 127 before the declaration, and the three quick wickets that fell when Warne joined the attack had Middlesex contemplat- ing the possi- bility of defeat. Joe Hardstaff, who retires as Middlesex secretary at the end of the season, made one of his last public announcements in giv- ing Waugh the man of the match award on the pavilion balcony. Waugh and Warne, the overnight batsmen, settled in and then launched an assault against Middlesex`s two spin bowlers, Phil Tufnell and Keith Dutch. Warne dropped to one knee to swing Tufnell for six over mid- wicket in his first over, which cost 11 runs, and Waugh greeted the in- troduction of Dutch`s off-spin with two more sixes. An Australian victory looked unlikely on a benign pitch, and the fielding, which conceded overthrows on three occasions, looked generally lethargic in a drifting match, but Warne seemed to have other ideas. The leg-spinner struck with his second ball, holding a sharp return catch from Paul Weekes. He bowled Jason Pooley, another left- hander, all ends up with a big spinner in his next over and he removed Mark Ramprakash, who touched one that lifted and turned. Owais Shah then fell lbw first ball to Mike Kasprowicz. Mike Gatting enjoyed himself combatting Warne, though his hopes of marking probably his last appearance against the Aus- tralians with a hundred ended on 47, when he was beaten by Steve Waugh. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)