Date-stamped : 29 Apr97 - 06:17
Brown in a hurry to see off Worcs

By Mike Beddow at Worcester

Warwicks (97-4) beat Worcs (96) by 6 wkts

FIRST impressions were correct yesterday. Neither  side wanted to
bat  first on a damp pitch  and  Worcestershire  were bundled out
for 96 - their lowest one-day score of 81 surpassed only during a
last-wicket stand of 40 by Stuart Lampitt  and Phil Newport.

Dougie Brown, Warwickshire`s Scottish all-rounder,  saw his first
ball  pulled  for  six  by Steve Rhodes but the match was more or
less won after only 90 minutes  and   Brown   was  credited  with
five for 31, his best performance in any one-day competition.

There was no rival for the Gold  Award,   though   Trevor  Penney
and  Dominic  Ostler  achieved  something  for   the  batsmen  by
leading Warwickshire to victory with nearly 20 overs in hand.

Until    Andy    Moles    won    a     crucial     toss     here,
Warwickshire`s  only  good  days in the first week of the  season
were  those when it rained in  Cardiff.  There  is  concern  that
their captain, Tim Munton, may need back surgery.

Brown kept the ball up on a slow, seaming  surface  and  profited
when  forcing  strokes  resulted  in four of  his  wickets.  Only
Rhodes and Tom Moody  were  unfortunate  in   that   they  played
on.

The watching England coach, David Lloyd, probably  felt his brief
was  over  when  Graeme  Hick  found  mid-on  from Graeme Welch`s
second delivery,  and  later   there   were   easy  pickings  for
Gladstone Small.

Only Allan Donald went  unrewarded  of  the  four  seamers  -  an
injustice after an opening spell including four maidens - and the
catching,  notably  by  Ostler,  might  have   been  designed  to
increase      Worcestershire`s       grievance      with      the
conditions.  Apparently the pitch had   not   dried   out   after
being exposed to a downpour during a Second XI match last week.

Lampitt  and  Newport  showed   what   could   be    done    with
application  until  Warwickshire  resorted to spin, and  then  it
was  back  to   seam    and    more    uncertain    probing    by
Warwickshire`s batsmen.

Brown`s successful day  extended  to  a  brief  excursion  as  an
opening  batsman  and  it was only when Ostler and  Penney became
positive that Warwickshire moved into calmer waters.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/)

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