Date-stamped : 20 Jul97 - 10:20 Kent spirits are raised by Ealham`s turn of speed By Peter Deeley at Canterbury First day of four: Kent 356-7 v Leicestershire THE dark clouds hanging over the St Lawrence ground may have been symbolic of Kent`s mood after Saturday`s Benson and Hedges Cup final defeat by Surrey but by the end of an eventful day, with Mark Ealham on the verge of his second hundred of the summer, their progress will have done something to erase their painful memories of Lord`s. Ealham and Paul Strang came to the rescue when it looked as if Kent were on their way to another batting collapse. At Trent Bridge earlier this season these two put on 171 for the ninth wicket to en- sure victory and here their 145 stand for the seventh wicket may have provided the springboard for another vic- tory over Midlands op- position. Yet Leicestershire were at one time in a powerful position as they reduced Kent to 126 for five well before lunch. In that time James Ormond claimed three wickets - two of them in an over - for a mere 28 runs and the express rate at which the home side were scoring their runs threatened only to derail them. Possibly the most worrying news of the day from a national perspective came before the start with Dean Headley`s withdrawal from the side because of a side strain. Headley described it as a precautionary measure and is hoping to prove his fitness to the England selectors by turning out in the Sunday League game but coming so close to the fourth Test at Heading- ley - and involving a fast bowler prone to injury in the past - it has to be a matter of some concern to them. Ed Smith, fresh from Cambridge where he has been full of runs, shared with David Fulton in Kent`s highest opening partnership of the season - a mere 63 which says something about the county`s weakness- es. Smith, a correct and powerful striker of the ball, scored 190 for the university against this same opposition earlier in the summer but this time - in his first championship match for Kent - he fell on 31 when going for a short leg-side rising ball from Ormond and gloving to Paul Nixon. Trevor Ward blazed away as though there was no tomorrow, hit- ting a rousing half-century off only 33 balls, including a six off Adrian Pierson before being deceived by the off spinner`s flight and giving a sharp return catch. Alan Wells, trying to emulate Ward, drove at a lifting deliv- ery from Ormond to give Nixon another catch and two balls later Nigel Llong was pinned by one that straightened. But the pendulum swung away from the visitors as Ealham and Strang, first with understandable caution and then with some panache, came together in a century stand scored at more than a run a minute. In the afternoon session, largely thanks to their contribu- tion, Kent added 145 runs for the loss only of Matthew Fleming, caught by Nixon off Pierson. It is again a reflection on Kent`s batting form that this is on- ly the fourth time this year the side have posted a three- figure partnership - with all of them coming from the lower or- der. This was Strang`s highest score for Kent and he once again showed his value to the county with his ability to improvise an innings. In fact he overtook Ealham and seemed to be on the way to the second hundred of his career when a rash horizontal swish at a ball from David Millns found an inside edge which crashed onto the stumps. Strang hit 12 boundaries and his 82 came from only 121 balls. Ealham then slowed perceptibly towards the close and has so far been at the crease for five hours. He spent nine overs in the 90s and was still four short at the end of the day when Leices- tershire`s fast bowlers found a fresh wind with the second new ball. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Marsh stuck two short of century By Peter Deeley at Canterbury Second day of four: Kent 498-9 v Leicestershire KENT captain Steve Marsh will have to forgo his 10th career century this morning if the home side are to have a realistic chance of beating champions Leicestershire and maintaining their own in- terest in the title. Marsh was on 98 when the umpires brought the sides in because of rain with one over to be bowled before lunch. He sat for the rest of the day watching his personal goal slip further and fur- ther away. But Marsh will be happy with Kent`s highest score of the sum- mer, particularly as they were 126 for five at one stage. For the strength of their recovery, Mark Ealham takes much of the credit with both his first home century in nine seasons with the county and the highest score of his career. But his latter stages were certainly a labour and not always with much love. Ealham had been 96 overnight and had to wait 18 deliver- ies to face his first ball yesterday. He went 40 balls before scoring a single and spent 75 minutes in the 90s before clipping Alan Mullally off his legs for the required three. The weight lifted from his shoulders, the England all-rounder then hammered the ball at will until he chopped James Ormond on to his boot and the ball rolled on to the stumps. Ealham batted for 5.5 hours for 139, his third hundred, the other two coming at Trent Bridge. Julian Thompson batted for one ball, enough to give Ormond his fifth wicket and the second time in the game he had taken two in an over. As Marsh pressed on towards his own three-figure mark - giving a chance at third man which was badly misjudged off David Millns - there was time enough for Leicestershire`s trio of fast bowlers, Or- mond, Mullally and Millns, all to register a century off their bowl- ing. KENT are to place restrictions on the amount of alcohol that spectators will be allowed to take into one-day games at Can- terbury. The decision is in response to crowd problems during and after the Benson and Hedges Cup semi-final against Northamptonshire at the St Lawrence Ground last month, culminating in fighting between rival supporters outside the neighbouring Bat and Ball public house. Beginning with this weekend`s Sunday League game against Leices- tershire the county will allow each person to carry in only two cans of beer or one bottle of wine. Any more will be taken away and returned at the end of the game. Bernard Thompson, Kent`s assistant secretary, said: "We want to continue encouraging families to watch one-day cricket and the restrictions we are imposing are part of our existing ground reg- ulations." Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Leics make declaration of intent By Peter Deeley at Canterbury Third day of four: Leics (160-4 dec & 20-0) need 345 to beat Kent (498-9 dec & 26-0 dec) THE machinations of the two captains may yet produce a result from this rain-racked game. Leicestershire declared 338 behind but such are the vagaries of these artificial situations that they now have an outside chance of winning their second game of the season. There were more stops and starts than a journey round the M25 - including three declarations and 41 overs lost - before the champions were set 365 to win in a minimum of 105 overs. Steve Marsh in particular must have felt the fates were gang- ing up on him. He sacrificed his century by closing Kent`s first in- nings, then was frustrated by the day`s fifth rain stoppage as soon as his openers walked out. Leicestershire lost three wickets for one run in their first innings but recovered with a 99-run stand in 75 minutes between James Whitaker and Neil Johnson. The visiting captain was eventu- ally caught one-handed at short leg to give Julian Thompson his third wicket but Johnson pounded a dozen boundaries in his unbeaten 72, which came off only 75 balls. Second time round Vince Wells survived a chance at slip off Matthew Fleming as Leicestershire prepared for today`s long haul. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Leicestershire grasp the nettle By Peter Deeley at Canterbury Leicestershire beat Kent by 6 wkts SUDDENLY the sun shone on Leicestershire yesterday and at long last the county champions were looking like winners. After be- ing set 365 for victory by Kent they were within sight of the winning post as Ben Smith and Neil Johnson piled on the runs in a fifth-wicket century stand. If they have hardly looked like title-holders this summer, the East Midlands weather can take some of the blame. The rivers and coffers of the Severn Trent water authority may be brimming over but the county have so far lost the equivalent of nearly 1,500 overs - or 3.5 matches - in 10 fixtures. Neighbours Northamptonshire, second bottom in the table, are in the same leaky boat: they have lost almost a third of their games to the weather. Leicestershire`s record is quite remarkable. Out of their nine completed matches to date they have won one - back in mid-May at Southampton - and drawn eight. So they are unbeaten - yet seemingly going downhill. Everywhere James Whitaker and his men go they seem to attract a deluge. Here 111 overs were lost on the first three days while other games were scarcely affected. But Whitaker and his oppos- ing captain, Steve Marsh, sensibly came to an agreement and after three declarations a result looked likely to be conjured up. Kent must have fancied their chances of climbing back into the top three in the table by taking four wickets before lunch as Le- icestershire`s top-order batsmen all got going before get- ting out. Vince Wells started with three bristling boundaries off Martin McCague`s first over and Darren Maddy pulled Julian Thompson to the ropes. But then Maddy fished at a wide ball from McCague to give Marsh the edge and Wells was bowled by a Paul Strang leg- break which pitched in the footmarks. Whitaker dragged on to Nigel Llong and Sutcliffe sportingly walked when he got a thin edge to Matthew Fleming which Marsh took standing up, but in the afternoon session Smith and John- son shared an unbroken stand to give the visitors the upper hand. The England fast bowler, Dean Headley - omitted from the cham- pionship game because of a side strain - plays in the Sunday League game today in an effort to prove his fitness before the fourth Test. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)