Date-stamped : 01 Jul97 - 10:16 Croft earns his dinner invite By D J Rutnagur at Swansea First day of four: Glamorgan (114-5) v Sussex SUSSEX, thanks to James Kirtley - not long off the injury list - and Mark Robinson made the most of the short ration of play after tea at St Helen`s. Glamorgan, who suffered a batting rout two matches ago, against Middlesex, and then perpetrated one on Lancashire, would have been in dire straits again but for a staunch innings of 48 by Steve James and late resistance from Robert Croft. Rain had found its way under the covers and left some damp tracks on the pitch, which influenced Peter Moores to put Glam- organ in. But apart from the ball coming off at varying speeds, the pitch committed no treachery. The damage was done with swing, some of the de- viation being menacingly late. Except for one ball that Vasbert Drakes dug in and which was hooked by James, the bowlers kept the ball well up to the bat and Hugh Morris and James eagerly drove the half-volleys to rat- tle up 30 runs in six overs. Then Kirtley got one to veer in to Morris, who was shaping to drive. In the next over, he made one leave Adrian Dale and in- duced a snick. Matthew Maynard should have been his third victim in an ad- mirable opening spell, but a sliced drive to second slip`s left hand eluded Bill Athley. Relieving Kirtley, Robinson terminated Maynard`s new lease with an out-swinger and nipped his next ball back to trap Tony Cottey lbw. Except for one occasion, against Robinson, James`s bat was all middle until 20 minutes before the rain returned. Driving Kirtley, who had changed ends, he made contact with the inside off the bat and Moores took a splendid catch. Croft, who was due to receive the Swansea Sportsman of the Year Award at a black tie banquet last night in recognition of his suc- cess, was as resilient as he invariable is in critical times and re- mained not out on 22. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Waqar Puts Sussex To The Sword Second day of four: Sussex 54-all out v Glamorgan Waqar Younis put Sussex to the sword in sensational style to- day as he returned his best bowling figures of an already il- lustrious career. The Glamorgan paceman registered a personal best for the sec- ond match running - and the best analysis of anyone in the county cham- pionship this season. Sussex, replying to Glamorgan`s own modest 172 all out, were dismissed for 54 in just 98 minutes at Swansea, with Waqar taking eight for 17. On an astonishing day when 24 wickets fell, Glamorgan captain Matthew Maynard then declared his side`s second innings at 183 for nine setting Sussex 302 to win. There can be few occasions, if any, in four-day cricket when a side has declared its second innings with more than two days re- maining. It left Sussex with an awkward four overs to face but Toby Peirce and Keith Greenfield survived to take them to 10 without loss at the close. Waqar took eight for 17 in 11.5 devastating overs just six days after his seven for 25 at Liverpool had helped to shoot out Lan- cashire for 51 and give Glamorgan an unexpected victo- ry. It was the best performance by a Glamorgan bowler since Mal- colm Nash claimed nine for 56 against Hampshire at Basingstoke in 1975. It easily eclipsed this summer`s previous national best of eight for 49 by Kevan James for Hampshire against Somerset, also at Bas- ingstoke, earlier this month. Afterwards, a beaming Waqar insisted the best is yet to come - and he was virtually unplayable today. "I am now getting into my rhythm much better than I was at the start of the season and hopefully things will get better and bet- ter," he said before putting down his performance more to the condi- tions than to his own ability. "It was both swinging and seaming, I had the wind behind me and running into bowl was comfortable and easy," he added. "I always seem to bowl well at coastal towns and cities. I re- member having a few good days at Karachi, which is also on the sea. The sea always seems to help the ball to swing and I just take advan- tage." Twice Waqar took two wickets in three balls and he was also indebted to some good catching by Robert Croft at third slip, who con- tributed to the dismissals of Greenfield, Peter Moores and Vasbert Drakes as the Pakistan Test player bowled often to five slips and two gullys. Wicket keeper Adrian Shaw clung on to a head high chance of- fered by Neil Taylor off a wicked delivery that lifted an left him late but Waquar needed no assistance in accounting for his other four victims. His last two spells, against Lancashire and now Sussex have produced the remarkable combined figures of 18.5-5-42-15. It was unfortunate for Sussex seamer James Kirtley, whose own career best figures of six for 60 in the Glamorgan first innings were overshadowed by later events and the 22-year-old was not as impressive when Sussex took the field a second time. Glamorgan`s second innings was built on a third wicket stand of 119 between Maynard (61) and the prolific Steve James who fin- ished on 82 not out. Mark Robinson took four for 42 from 15 overs. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Thomas destroys Sussex By Edward Bevan at Swansea Glamorgan v Sussex A SHELL-SHOCKED Sussex team left St Helens at lunchtime yes- terday after being dismissed for 67 in 32.4 overs which gave Glamor- gan their fourth championship win of the season with a day and half to spare. A combined total of 121 would been enough to demoralise any team, let alone a side who have been through as much recent trauma as Sussex, but captain Peter Moores was determined to "battle on", de- spite their humiliating defeat. "We are not going to sit around and mope, we have to pick our- selves up; but we also have to analyse our performance over the past couple of days where we were thoroughly outplayed." After Waqar Younis`s destructive spell on Friday, Sussex suc- cumbed yesterday to the pace of Darren Thomas and Steve Watkin and the spin of Robert Croft, who reduced the opposition to a collection of nervous wrecks as they prodded and poked at his turn and away drift. A damp pitch assisted the seam bowlers throughout the game but the umpires were satisfied and Moores admitted that "it was the same for both teams and we have no excuses." Glamorgan look a confident, well-balanced team and though cap- tain Matthew Maynard is not predicting that they will win the cham- pionship, they might by now have been in pole position had rain not in- terfered in seven of their eight games this season. Steve James is averaging 88 with 880 first-class runs, his opening partner Hugh Morris was close to being selected for Eng- land in the first Test, while Maynard and Adrian Dale have also made im- portant contributions. Tony Cottey has been the only out-of-form bats- man this season but he`s such a doughty little character that he will inevitably regain his touch. No one would argue with Maynard when he said last season that Waqar`s arrival on a two-year contract "was probably the best signing Glamorgan have ever made." After a moderate start to the sea- son the Pakistan fast bowler has taken 15 wickets for only 59 runs in two championship games. Watkin has been the perfect foil while Croft looks likely to take a wicket with almost every ball. Duncan Fletcher, who was appointed as coach at the start of the season, has also made a significant input. No one has bene- fit- ed more from Fletcher`s advice and expertise than Thomas, whose five for 24 yesterday were the best figures of his career. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)