Date-stamped : 03 Jun97 - 06:16 New order smiles on Kallis By Neville Scott at Lord`s First day of four: Middlesex 400-2 v Northamptonshire IT IS arguably the most respected inheritance in county cricket. After 26 summers under Mike Brearley and Mike Gatting, a period of unique continuity and success which almost defines the modern game, the Middlesex succession yesterday moved on to Mark Ramprakash. It was a mighty start. Before Ramprakash arrived at the fall of Paul Weekes after 22 overs, 107 had already been plundered. By the time Jacques Kallis departed with a superb maiden Middlesex century, 50 minutes before tea, 219 had been posted with half the overs bowled. Past and present captains then combined to add 181 more and grind Northamptonshire`s blunt attack into the dust. Ramprakash`s first duty was to present Kallis with his cap at tea, his second to reach an utterly determined 109 by the end. His last will be to complete victory on a surface likely to wear. So wet has been the championship so far that seamers have clamoured for the new ball. But batsmen felt sunshine yesterday, noted the grassless pitch, eyed a 65-yard grandstand boundary and offered sighs of deliverance. Weekes and Kallis, 21, a South African oozing class, fell to catches at extra cover trying to drive Kevin Curran on the up. But Kallis, signed to convert to opener and, contrary to reports, to bowl, reached 121 from a mere 162 balls with outstanding strokeplay to all parts. David Follett, making his Northants debut after leaving Middlesex with 22 wickets at 16 each in his final three Lord`s games, went for 44 in his opening five-over spell. But with Mohammad Akram absent again, few escaped hammer. A happy Gatting fol- lowed his captain to three figures five minutes from the close, the ancien r gime apparently bequeathed to secure hands. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Tufnell has Northants in trouble By Neville Scott at Lord`s Second day of four: Northants (165-4) trail Middx (531) by 366 runs THOUGH Middlesex, starting on 400 for two but bowled out in the 40th over, fell some 75 runs short of the score ideally sought, they may yet be able to enforce the follow-on today. The new ball, taken in the second over and swinging prodi- giously, removed four batsmen bowled or lbw in 37 balls as mod- el pro- fessional Paul Taylor, reduced to left-arm spin on Thursday, claimed three for two runs in his first five overs. But with David Capel unable to bowl, Keith Brown, extending his battling championship aggregate to 303 for four times out, found support from Richard Johnson - splendidly run out when wicket- keeper David Ripley threw down the bowler`s stumps - and Angus Fras- er. For Northamptonshire, the more uneventful subsequent events proved the better. Richard Montgomerie went immediately to an inswinger but David Roberts and Rob Bailey, a captain who loves to entrench, did indeed manage to avoid error. It was eventually left to Phil Tufnell to come on before tea and trick both batsmen in his first 16 balls. Holding one back, he conned Bailey into pushing too soon to cover and then had Truro-born Roberts at silly point. One phlegmatic Cornishman followed another with Tony Penberthy remaining in check before slashing eight overs from the close, leaving much to be done. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Johnson haul leaves Middlesex in charge By Neville Scott at Lord`s Third day of four: Norts (216 & 168-6) trail Middles (531) by 147 runs YOU could be forgiven for missing it after the deluges through most of May, but at the end of the present round of games a quar- ter of the championship programme will have gone. Seamers so prospered in the wet before last Thursday that the season had produced just 17 top- order centuries from specialist batsmen - only eight away from the usual friendly surfaces of Sussex, Taunton and Manchester. But the sun at last arrived, and 11 more such hundreds flowed in 48 hours, three of them on the first day here. It was not only Northamptonshire`s misfortune to be bowling then, but to have played two of their previous three games on rare, placid pitches. Since, by lunch yesterday, six ducks had followed in four ses- sions, Northants recording three, and losing their last six wickets in the first 75 minutes to hasten a follow-on 315 be- hind, it can be deemed a bad toss to have lost. Certainly, the cracked pitch seemed destined to deteriorate and the bounce has become uneven. David Capel was caught at extra cover, driving at a ball which perhaps did not come on, Jeremy Snape top-edged a pull at one which, in contrast, gained lift, and David Ripley, next over, went lbw to a ball nipping back and keeping very low. But it was an all too well- known Northants tale of brimming batting tal- ent, much of it youth- ful, failing to deliver in the champi- onship. Kevin Curran was left adrift with an intelligent, un- supported 89 not out. It was also, to give credit, an increasing- ly familiar Middlesex story of young seamers setting up vic- tory. Getting bounce and swing, 21-year-old Jamie Hewitt, claimed three wickets in 11 balls of the first three overs at the Pavil- ion End. Richard Johnson, 22, then knocked over the remain- ing three batsmen in his final 21 balls. Johnson made it four in 30 in the third over after lunch by beating opener Richard Montgomerie for pace. It was Johnson`s 16th championship scalp at 19.81. Hewitt, gaining a maiden five- wicket bag, and breaking career-best figures for the third time this year, extended his summer`s haul to 18 at 15.33. With Angus Fraser holding the other end, steady and stifling though largely wicketless, both young fast men have gained a freedom to attack, and as a pair they have kept Ricky Fay, 23, out of the frame so far. It is typical of the county that all three should have come quietly and largely unheralded to prominence over the last few years, each given early chances and, in a supportive club, willed to suc- ceed. To complete a dangerous quartet, underrated at peril, South African Jacques Kallis, 21, the fastest of the lot, had Rob Bai- ley su- perbly held at slip and claimed David Roberts just be- fore tea, taken at 101 for three, still 214 behind. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Northants rearguard rally to no avail By Neville Scott at Lord`s Middlesex (531) bt Northants (216 & 258) by an innings & 57 runs THANKS to David Capel and David Ripley, a member of that brigade of wicketkeepers who deem no cause lost, Northampton- shire, resum- ing 147 behind at 168 for six, delayed their in- nings defeat until the afternoon`s 11th ball. For his pains Capel, struck on the left hand by a nasty, new- ball delivery of steep lift from Richard Johnson - offi- cially warned for three bouncers in four balls - returned to Northampton needing an X-ray. Falling to a beautiful catch at second slip 15 minutes after the blow, Capel made a determined 42 of rare restraint from 136 balls. Ripley lost two more partners either side of lunch to be left on 51 not out, nine fours confirming the work he has done widening his range. Northants now join the throng at the table`s base, where sup- porters must fear they will remain unless Mohammad Akram can bring bowling penetration and a batsman other than Kevin Curran can sustain a long innings. Fine young batsmen have rightly been given their chance but it seems odd for Alan Fordham`s experience to reside in the reserves. Balance underpinned Middlesex`s second win, with Phil Tufnell`s match return of six for 86 supporting varied seam. Angus Fraser, conceding just 2.26 runs per over this summer, allows younger fast bowlers to attack. It will be a worry, however, that nipping one away to remove Jeremy Snape, he gained only his sixth championship scalp to date. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)