Date-stamped : 01 Jun97 - 10:16 Notts given guidance by Afzaal By Peter Deeley at Trent Bridge First day of four: Kent (39-1) trail Notts (216) by 177 runs ANOTHER half-century from Usman Afzaal, his fourth in five innings, earned Nottinghamshire their third batting point of the season against a highly effective Kent attack. With Notts` batting badly hit by injury, the lower half of the order again plucked the side out of their early trough. They were 98 for five soon after lunch but, guided by Afzaal, the last five wickets more than doubled the score. Graeme Archer, after a nightmare start to the campaign with 44 runs in seven innings, got to within one of a half- century before being caught behind, though the ball may have come off his forearm. Any England selectors present would have seen a spirited display of fast bowling on a slow pitch from Martin McCague and an impressive first spell of 18 overs from Mark Ealham during which he constantly troubled the batsmen with his movement. But it was Matthew Fleming who cut short Notts` resistance at the death. Taking the last three wickets in eight balls, he finished with a career-best five for 51. Notts have terminated the contract of their Pakistan Test bowler, Mohammad Zahid, following confirmation that he is suffering from a stress fracture of the lower back. Zahid, 20, arrived early this month but has not played for the county. Alan Ormrod, the cricket manager, said Notts were drawing up a "shopping list" of alternatives in the hope that the England and Wales Cricket Board would give them clearance to sign another overseas player. Asked if Australian Test bowler Paul Reiffel figured on the list, Ormrod said: "We could be in the same situation if he comes over and then Australia want to use him in the Tests." Another Pakistan Test bowler, Ata-ur-Rehman, 22, who is playing league cricket in England, has been practising at Trent Bridge. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Ealham spurs on Kent By Peter Deeley at Trent Bridge Second day of four: Kent (376-8) lead Notts (216) by 160 runs NOTTINGHAMSHIRE will once more have to come from behind if they want to retain their interest in the championship leadership after Mark Ealham`s second century of his career. They should compare notes with one of their most ardent sup- porters, former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, who took time off from his own battle for the Tory leadership to see Kent`s late push for a large run majority. Notts almost held their own until Ealham and Paul Strang came together after tea in a ninth-wicket partnership with Kent 34 on. As the attack tired in the heat, these two have so far added 126. Ealham gave only one chance when on 96. He reached his century in the next over, five minutes before the close, in a watchful in- nings so far lasting nearly 3.75 hours, intespersed with 12 boundaries and a straight six off Richard Bates. He made his first century here two years ago. Strang, the Zimbabwean spinner, has shown great composure in batting for a little under two hours. The England and Wales Cricket Board have given Notting- hamshire permission to seek a replacement for Mohammad Zahid, the Pak- istan fast bowler whose contract has been terminated be- cause of a back injury. The board warn that this is an "excep- tional case" and should not be taken as a precedent by coun- ties. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Ealham plays well-timed ace By Peter Deeley at Trent Bridge Third day of four: Kent (440) beat Notts (216 & 119) by an in- nings and 105 runs WITH a classic sense of timing, Mark Ealham chose the eve of the England selectors` meeting to produce an all-round performance that took Kent to victory by an innings and 105 runs. No man could have given the selectors a bigger nudge just as they were about to go into solemn conclave and Ealham did it with crick- et`s version of the three-card trick. All in the morning session, he rounded off a career-best 122 which changed the course of this game, then immediately swooped to take a sharp gully catch and followed this up with a key wicket in his second over. Prior to coming here, Ealham had not been in good form with the ball but his two for 54 in Nottinghamshire`s first innings suggest- ed that his niggling accuracy and ability to move the ball about could cause trouble for the Australians in the Ashes series. His performance with the bat demonstrated another facet of his character. His 171-run partnership for the ninth wicket with Paul Strang, which is a record for Kent, put the visitors in con- trol after they had been only 34 runs on when the two came together on Friday. Ealham batted with calm superiority for 4.75 hours mixing wise caution with the ability to punish the bad ball. Two years ago, he scored his maiden century here and yesterday went one run better. Both Ealham and Strang perished when they were trying to hit the ball over the top, but by then Kent had reached a first- innings lead of 224. Ealham under-achieved when he went on England A`s tour of Aus- tralia in the winter, which suggests that his type of bowling may not be suited to Antipodean climes but home conditions well suit his style. Notts went into this game short of both Tim Robinson and Paul Pollard, both injured in the last game, and facing such a heavy deficit, the home side were palpably unable to present much of a challenge to the well-rounded Kent attack. Martin McCague - another who must be a fringe contender for the Tests - opened up with a fearsome spell which saw Notts at 24 for four by lunch. His figures at that stage were 7-4-13-3. In his second over, Ashley Metcalfe edged to Ealham in the gully and two balls later Graeme Archer was taken at slip. Two overs later, Mathew Dowman shouldered arms and was leg before to the same bowler. Then Ealham came on and in his second over removed Paul John- son as the Notts captain fenced at a delivery that both swung and lifted. Usman Afzaal, a week short of his 20th birthday, once more faced the challenge of trying to salvage something from the wreckage. After four fifties in his last five innings, this time he only reached 36 - easily the highest score of the innings - before being taken bat and pad. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)