Date-stamped : 12 May97 - 06:15 James leads the way for Glamorgan By D J Rutnagur at Headingley First day of four: Glamorgan (213-1) v Yorks THE fact that the pitch on which this match is being played has been used once before this season for a Benson and Hedges tie, and bears cracks, adds to the worth of Glamorgan`s score, meticulously built up by Steve James, unbeaten with a century, Hugh Morris, who dominated the opening stand, and Adrian Dale. For their part, Yorkshire could not have been displeased that rain, hail and bad light lopped off 38 overs because their bowlers could make no headway on a slow pitch. James and Morris, who made a double century in the corresponding fixture last year, thrived until Morris, who had struck nine fours, all on the offside, in a 93-ball stay, sliced a drive played on the rise and was defeated by movement off the seam. It was only at the Football Stand end that the ball deviated - and that only occasionally. It took James 151 balls to reach his 50 - his third in consecutive innings against Yorkshire - and though his second 50 contained one boundary fewer than his six in his first, it came off only another 55 balls. The undefeated second-wicket partnership of 127 between James and Dale occupied 36 overs and they looked so composed that it was a mild surprise when, with Michael Vaughan, a spinner, bowling at one end, they accepted the umpires` offer to come off for bad light. It did not matter for within minutes of the stoppage, it started to rain. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) England men seize power By D J Rutnagur at Headingley Third day of four: Glamorgan (336 & 27-0) lead Yorkshire (200-9 dec) by 163 runs THE fall during the day of 18 wickets, of which five and four, respectively, were claimed by England bowlers Darren Gough and Robert Croft, was not enough compensation for the loss of 142 overs over the first two days. Contrivance will still be needed if a decisive finish is to be obtained. The first move in this direction was made by David Byas, with a declaration that left Glamorgan to face eight overs at the end. Yorkshire saved the follow on with just two wickets standing - and that only with the aid of two spilt chances. It was certainly not a change in the state of the pitch that caused the extensive shift in the balance of power from bat to ball. Nor did the rival attacks look exceptionally threatening. Batsmen on both sides contrived to get themselves out and only two of them prospered. Croft shored up Glamorgan`s floundering innings with a valiant 57 and Yorkshire would have been in dire straits but for 54 off 64 balls from their new overseas recruit, Darren Lehmann. With seven wickets going down in the first hour, Glamorgan`s innings only just survived beyond lunch. A sense of urgency in the batting was at the root of the collapse, although Adrian Dale, the first victim, was defeated by a ball from Gough that left him and bounced to induce a snick. Maynard edged a drive at Chris Silverwood aimed at some distance from the line and Steve James, the century- maker, was run out. Then Gough ran amok, taking four wickets for two runs in a span of 10 balls and reducing Glamorgan to 252 for eight. The gritty defiance of last man Steve Watkin enabled Croft, last out, to raise the score to a respectable level. Except when he got the last ball of his opening over to grind Michael Vaughan`s hand against the bat handle, Waqar Younis did not look menacing and the quick breakthrough he made was fortuitous, Anthony McGrath glancing a straying ball to the wicketkeeper. Byas worked to establish himself, but was claimed by Watkin with an in-swinger. The precarious start did not deter Lehmann from playing a flurry of off-drives. But once he got out the innings went into decline which would have been steeper but for the defiance of Craig White and belligerence of Gough. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Glamorgan looking good for openers By Scyld Berry at Headingley Final day: Yorkshire (200) drew with Glamorgan(336 & 166) LIKE an overweight plane, the season has spent a long time going down the runway without yet taking off. The one- day games have had their spasms of excitement, but two rounds of championship matches have produced one definite conclusion in all. The threat of new legislation to the Benson and Hedges Cup now offers a neat opportunity for reshaping the programme to avoid such a prolonged yet uneventful start. The best of it and the Sunday League should be amalgamated into one competition, a midweek league of 50 overs per side, leaving the championship to be played from Fridays to Monday. As it is, counties have to peak in late April in order to qualify for the knockout rounds of the B & H Cup. Yet in September, five months later, as the season grows ever longer, three rounds of the championship are to be held. Abolish the B & H, and counties will not have to reach a peak in muscle- rupturing early season. Glamorgan have dominated both their championship games but have nothing but six draw points to show for it. Here they had the measure of Yorkshire, who can be grateful to have had only this championship match so far, in a game that was more than half lost to rain. Just before its final descent, Glamorgan had set Yorkshire a run chase of 303 in a minimum of 64 overs on a pitch turning as if this were August. Yorkshire could only have done it if Robert Croft had bowled badly, and there has been no sign of that happening. To set up the declaration Glamorgan`s opening batsmen played some very fine cricket in the morning. The opening pairs of several Test countries could not have equalled the batting of Steve James and Hugh Morris as they added four to five runs an over. James, once angular to the point of Roebuckian, has become most fluent and high class, on the slow pitches at any rate. He was bowled behind his legs when he swept at Richard Stemp, who was alone in maintaining some control. Morris, who made his runs off 123 balls, was in such high-season form that he drove some turning off-breaks over extra cover. When Michael Vaughan spun one across and through Morris, it halved his first-class average for the season to 192. Then the black clouds which had built up made their presence felt. The rain did abate but by then neither side thought they had a chance left of winning. On an uncovered pitch even a couple of hours might have been interesting. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Rain again undermines Morris`s foundations By D J Rutnagur at Headingley Glamorgan (336 & 166-2 dec) drew with Yorks (200-9 dec) WITH the inroads made into Glamorgan`s finances by the purchase of their ground at Sophia Gardens, not to mention their investment in Waqar Younis, a pre-season tour overseas was seen as an avoidable extravagance. Nevertheless, Glamorgan have got off to a start in the Britannic Championship which could have had them riding high at the top of the table but for the treachery of the weather. It did the dirty on them when they had the sword raised to demolish Warwickshire in their opening match and ruined their prospects against Yorkshire, at Headingley, where a series of downpours consigned a fascinating contest to a watery grave on Saturday. The pattern of both these matches was shaped by their opening batsmen, Hugh Morris, who is aggregating 384 from three innings - one unfinished - and Steve James who, in as many outings, has not been dismissed for less than 52. Their three partnerships hitherto have yielded 190, 86 and 110. It is not just the number of runs accumulated, but the quality of the opposition and the flair with which they were made that excite. Morris`s double-century, first time out, was against a fired-up Allan Donald and apart from one difficult slip chance, was flawless and fluent. Yorkshire, against whom he made 55 and 96, were less formidable, but the authority with which he stroked on the off-side, even when the ball was turning in the second innings, was impressive. "The only time I picked up a bat during the winter was when I went around primary schools coaching kids," said Morris. "But the area in which I did a lot of work was on fitness, strengthening my knees, which had been giving me such a lot of problems in the last couple of years." Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)