Date-stamped : 11 May97 - 02:16 Curran thrives in winter world By Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Northampton First day of four: Northants (126-4) v Somerset IT would be a shame if the second batch of this year`s championship matches is to go to the same watery grave as the first. It is not as if the water is soft and warm any more. Immediately after lunch at Northampton yesterday, indeed, it fell as snow, sufficient to turn the county ground white for half an hour and to enable the new groundsman to throw snowballs for his border collie to catch. Not until 5pm was play abandoned but those who had watched the first session had not shivered completely in vain. On a bright and bracing morning they saw some well-directed fast bowling, alert close catching, four overs from Mushtaq Ahmed and an innings of remarkable enterprise from Northamptonshire`s 1996 player of the year, Kevin Curran, who came in at 25 for two and made 65 of the 101 runs scored in the 22 overs which followed. Writing in this year`s handbook, the county`s secretary, Steve Coverdale, calls Curran "a man who can accept no half-measures." He proved the point by batting with an initiative and freedom beyond the imagination of his colleagues on a slowish pitch of thatchy grass which occasionally produced awkward bounce. Rob Bailey, admitting that he was in two minds, chose to bat first despite having left out the player/coach, John Emburey, and included Scott Boswell as one of six fast-medium bowlers. Tall, keen and promising, Boswell has bowled well for the British Universities. Kevin was the first fast bowler to Shine, using the new ball more effectively at first than Andrew Caddick. He claimed Richard Montgomerie at second slip from an edge off the back foot, and got extra bounce again to remove Bailey with the help of a neat low catch by Rob Turner behind the wicket. From the moment that Curran swivelled to hook his first ball from Shine like the crack of a rifle to the square-leg boundary, however, combat was equal. Malachy Loye, getting his head down studiously, had been in for 11 overs when Curran passed his score, 15, in seven balls. Driving loosely but boldly at the pitch of the ball, he picked up a series of additional boundaries by the airborne route, adding neat clips off his legs and stuccato, short-arm strokes through the offside, most made with minimal movement of the feet but maximum use of a pair of eyes which a peregrine falcon would not disown. Somerset showed the Dermot Reeve influence by setting attacking fields and exercising violently to keep warm. Caddick produced an excellent second spell from the pavilion end in which he pitched the ball further up, claiming first Loye as he drove at an outswinger and edged high and fast to first slip and then Tony Penberthy, who had escaped one tricky slip chance off Graham Rose, only to have his stumps scattered just before lunch as he drove. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Somerset lifted by Caddick`s accuracy By Martin Johnson at Northampton Second day of four: Somerset (23-3) trail Northants (185) by 162 runs WITH the early season weather as it is, the only realistic target for batsmen at the moment is 1,000 goosepimples before the end of May. Andrew Caddick, meanwhile, made the most of bowler-friendly conditions on another wet, cold, and abbreviated day at the County Ground. After rain delayed the start until 3 o`clock, Caddick, extracting both lift and lateral movement from the pitch, finished with six for 65 to help Somerset bowl out Northamptonshire for 185. Caddick had a mixed winter tour, finishing strongly in New Zealand after being largely overlooked in Zimbabwe. The reasons for him getting the cold shoulder on the first leg of the tour have never been adequately explained, though they may not be un-connected to the feeling that Caddick`s energy quotient tends to evaporate rather rapidly when the sun is shining and the batsmen are on top. If, on the other hand, Caddick is given pitches to suit him, Australia`s batsmen might not find life as easy as in the past four Ashes series. Having taken two for 43 from 13 overs as Northants struggled to 126 for four on Wednesday, the bowler returned even better figures of four for 22 from 11.2 yesterday, and was only that expensive because of a last-wicket partnership of 27 between Paul Taylor and Mohammad Akram. However, the Pakistani pace bowler found conditions just as much to his liking when Somerset had to face an awkward 11 overs before the close, which Mark Lathwell, caught at second slip, Marcus Trescothick, caught at first slip and nightwatchman Jason Kerr, bowled, failed to negotiate. Somerset`s fielders were constantly engaged in what appeared to be some kind of formation dancing routine, possibly due to the cold but more likely as some kind of bonding routine introduced by their hyperactive coach, Dermot Reeve. John Emburey, Northamptonshire`s coach, spent the first hour of play videoing his batsmen from the balcony, time enough to capture most of them returning to the pavilion. Caddick was involved in the first, and most important, wicket of the day, when Kevin Curran, resuming on 65 not out, immediately threatened more of Wednesday`s belligerence by striking Graham Rose straight back over his head for six. Two balls later, however, Curran`s fierce cut flew all the way to the deep backward point boundary, where Caddick took a fine low catch tumbling forward. David Capel and Jeremy Snape then hung around, more by luck than judgement, for three-quarters of an hour before Caddick`s yorker hit Snape on the boot right in front of the stumps, though David Ripley looked slightly less adjacent when Rose also coaxed an lbw decision out of the umpire. Caddick then bowled Capel off his pads and shortly afterwards removed Scott Boswell with the time-honoured fast bowler`s dismissal. Boswell, having just had one fizz past his visor, was reluctant to get too far forward when Caddick pitched the next one well up, and he too departed lbw. Akram unveiled a hitherto unsuspected ability with the bat, scoring 20 of the 27 he and Taylor put on for the 10th wicket, before Caddick finished off the innings when Taylor, attempting to ignore a shortish delivery, was bowled off the bottom edge. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Rose blooms as Somerset toast patient Burns Christopher Martin-Jenkins at Northampton Third day of four: Northamptonshire (185 & 104-3) trail Somerset (290) by 1 run SOMERSET had lost their first seven wickets for 73 before 10 overs had been completed at the County Ground yesterday but resilience is a great virtue in cricket and they had added 217 more before they were finished. Graham Rose made a handsome 109 not out, batting as low as he can ever have done during his 13 seasons in the game, but Somerset were almost equally indebted to Michael Burns, who followed some dashing one-day innings for his new county with his highest first-class score to date. It is almost always the case when a side gets off the hook like this that catches are dropped, usually in the slips. Northamptonshire actually missed Rose and Burns twice each, though there was some doubt about whether the first of three chances apparently missed by David Capel at first slip was a bump ball. Sighting the ball has been a problem for batsmen and slip fielders alike at the old football ground end out of the red background of the Spencer Pavilion when a tall bowler is operating. Andrew Caddick has had consequent success with yorkers, as Curtly Ambrose did last year. Memo to Northants: either apply a white coat of paint or make sure this strip is used only against opposition who do not possess a giant fast bowler. There was consolation at least in the wholehearted performance of Ambrose`s replacement, Mohammad Akram, who gained the first of what may be several five-wicket hauls and bowled perhaps half a dozen other balls which were simply too good for anyone to touch. In only his second full over yesterday this large- striding, loose-armed 24-year-old from Islamabad squared-up Peter Bowler and gave Rob Bailey the chance to take a smart catch to his left at third slip. An over later Caddick, that willing night- watchman, walked in front of a ball from Paul Taylor and Somerset were 42 for five. Bowling with a good steady rhythm from the pavilion end and darting the ball either way at times off a pitch which still had some juice in it, Taylor also had Piran Holloway leg before playing no stroke and hit Rob Taylor`s off stump as he aimed to drive wide of mid-on. Thus far went Northamptonshire, but, for 41 overs and three hours, no further. Rose, who might easily have had a game or two for England as a one-day all-rounder at least, greatly deserves his benefit this season and he has begun it well. He drove with customary power, once he had got his bearings, on the way to his seventh first-class hundred, hitting almost exclusively through the off-side except when Northants pitched it short. Then he hooked with gusto and considerable profit, sometimes off the middle, often off the top edge. Burns might not have played had Richard Harden not tweaked a hamstring but he may be one of many on the circuit whose second home suits him more than his first. He hit the ball well through mid-on, a sign of true ability, and struck nine fours in a patient and valuable innings. It ended when Jeremy Snape, brought on for the first over of spin at 220 for seven in the 59th over, tossed the ball higher and had him caught at 45 degrees from a top-edged sweep. By then the stand was worth 170, only two short of Somerset`s eighth-wicket record, which still stands to the credit of the unlikely pairing of Viv Richards and Ian Botham at Leicester in 1983. Botham went in ninth because of an upset stomach and made 152 against an attack including Andy Roberts and two other Test bowlers. Richards made 216. Such talent may not be available to Somerset now but they are shaping well, and Rose, Caddick and Kevin Shine all worked hard for their wickets in the 33 overs which remained after Akram and the expensive but unlucky Boswell had finally bowled them out six overs after tea. Richard Montgomerie settled in with sturdy determination and Tony Penberthy batted stylishly, but Northants are still a run behind. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Sales hoists claims By Paul Weaver at Northampton Final day: Northampton (185 & 122) drew with Somerset (290) THE NEWS that David Sales, one of England`s most promising young batsmen, had scored another century was the talk of rain- swept Northampton yesterday. The only disappointment was that he had made the runs for Northamptonshire`s second XI at Eastbourne. Northants managed to save their match against Somerset at the County Ground yesterday, with much help from the weather, but for the second time in this game their batsmen looked fragile against the Somerset seamers, led by Andrew Caddick. What, then, has happened to Sales, who last year became the first Englishman to score a double century on his championship debut and, at 18, the youngest player yet to score a double century. His unbeaten 210 against Worcestershire at Kidderminster marked him out as a future Test player for many. He also made 135 for England Under-19s against Young New Zealand. He finished the season with a championship average of 40 from eight innings and ended the summer with a flurry of runs for the second XI, for whom he averaged 123.32 after finishing with an innings of 211. He first made a name for himself when, at 16, he became the youngest player to make a Sunday League fifty, hitting 70 from 56 balls against Essex. "He is far from forgotten," said Northamptonshire`s chief coach, John Emburey, yesterday. "We are watching his progress very closely. No-one doubts David`s ability to play shots but there are still defensive weaknesses to be sorted out." When Sales does return to the side it could be at the expense of David Capel, who made only one yesterday. When rain drove the players from the field for the third time Northants, who also lost Tony Penberthy, were 122 for five, a lead of 17. Only eight overs were bowled in the day and the match was abandoned as a draw. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)