Date-stamped : 20 Jul97 - 10:21 Discretion has reward for Roberts By Neville Scott at Northampton First day of four: Northamptonshire 354-9 v Essex IT WAS the sort of innings from one of their wealth of talent- ed young batsmen for which Northamptonshire have waited all summer. Af- ter a campaign in which only two scores had passed 90, Cornishman David Roberts, 20 - in his fifth championship game - produced a maiden century of the discretion so glaringly ab- sent to date. His colleagues stayed true to type. On a pitch where 500 looked par for a side prepared to bed in, five batsmen found var- ious limp ways of throwing away good starts. The reward for an Essex attack which was little more than hon- est was full bowling points by the 90th over. At that stage, Paul Grayson, trying his left-arm spin over the wicket, had claimed four in 31 balls for a single before 60 unbeaten 10th- wicket runs reimposed some perspective. Roberts, opening and batting calmly at a run an over through the day`s first half, accelerated with fine judgment to his hun- dred off 224 balls on the stroke of tea. Seventy per cent of runs in bound- aries confirmed patient, adept shot selection. Of the rest, Russell Warren played the wrong line, Mal Loye tried a hook too far, Kevin Curran was bowled off his body, David Sales went sweeping and Jeremy Snape lobbed to square leg. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Essex ship steadied by Hussain By Neville Scott at Northampton Second day of four: Northants (364 & 14-0) lead Essex (275) by 103 runs WITH the exception of Nasser Hussain, whose top score in six weeks since his Test 200 had been 21, Essex`s top-order batsmen sur- rendered with the same needless bravado as Northamptonshire had on the first day. Admittedly pitches with pace encourage shots and cloudy condi- tions help the bowlers more but Essex, scoring runs at 3.88 per over this year - easily the campaign`s quickest - can mistake speed for substance. Graham Gooch, who in his batting as opposed to his aspect - always enduringly hang-dog - now looks like a man convinced that the good times will soon end, hit the first and sixth balls of the re- ply for six. He then went lbw attempting another pull. Although Paul Prichard (50 in 52 balls) fell to a good deliv- ery, Stuart Law, Ronnie Irani and Paul Grayson soon followed seek- ing attack. Danny Law, eight balls from tea, gloved an at- tempted hook at spinner Jeremy Snape`s `bouncer`. Though support for Hussain, then 51, seemed politic, the lower order continued to carve and, in all, no stand lasted longer than 13 overs. Hussain, to his disgust, fell for captain Rob Bailey`s plan by clipping Kevin Curran, returning best figures for four years, to short mid on, his sober 77 taking 177 balls. The game has advanced - whether to Essex`s good is debatable. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Sales hits career best in Northants revival By Neville Scott at Northampton Third day of four: Northants (364 & 216-8) lead Essex (275) by 305 runs FOLLOWING two days in which a senior man in the middle con- firmed he had not seen so many wickets so needlessly thrown away in ex- cellent batting conditions all summer, this curious match began to take a marginal turn towards Essex from mid-after- noon before being pulled back into intriguing balance by David Sales. After lunch, with 20 overs earlier lost to rain, Northants, beginning to kick on towards a possible late declaration as 40 runs came from as many previous balls, led by 209 with seven wickets standing. But Mal Loye, going well with all his quirky Derek Randal- lesque energy, tore a back muscle turning for a second run and will probably not return. Six overs later partner Kevin Curran, struck on the right thumb by a lifting Danny Law delivery, also retired. From the outset it appeared that Essex were keenest to accept a relatively short last-innings run-chase. Rarely posting more than two close catchers all day, they saw Sales, arriving between the retirements, edge through a vacant third slip before he had scored. With runs drying up and wickets going - four falling as just 39 came from 27 overs either side of tea - the reprieve seemed ir- rele- vant. Jeremy Snape found himself in a tangle against Paul Grayson`s over-the-wicket, leg stump line again, David Rip- ley was stumped advancing to the same spinner and Ashley Cowan`s speed did for Paul Taylor and Mohammad Akram. Scott Boswell, however, resisting impressively for a second time, held out through 10 overs for a warmly-applauded duck as teenager Sales`s highly regarded belligerence carried him towards his best of the season. Curran, returning, matched his ag- gression and put Northants back in the match. Twenty minutes after a delayed start, Northants, 26 for two, were less secure. David Roberts top-edged his hook and Rob Bai- ley com- pleted the first Northants pairs of his 306-match county career. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Snape steps into spotlight to deny Essex By Paul Weaver at Northampton Northamptonshire beat Essex by 15 runs JEREMY SNAPE is hardly the stuff of legend. Last summer the Northamptonshire off-spinner was 127th in the bowling aver- ages, down from his 116th position the year before, and until this match his five wickets this season had cost 93.80 runs each. He is not short of character, however. His performance yester- day represented the fulcrum of a dramatic day in which Northants bowled out Essex for 290 to win by 15 runs, their second win in a row. Snape won the other one too, striking a four off the last ball to see his side home by one wicket in a run chase against Kent. Yesterday he took four for 46, including a spell of three wickets for one run in seven balls, to deny Essex top place in the champi- onship. Captain Robert Bailey also grinned hugely, despite recording his first `pair` for Northants in this match. Bailey took the catch at silly point - at the second attempt - to dismiss Neil Williams, the ninth wicket to fall. He then ran out Paul Grayson, who had scored 62 and who, after being dropped twice, looked capable of leading his side to improb- able victo- ry. Northants, however, should not take all the credit for this win. Essex batted as though they wanted to get home in time to watch Dar- ren Clarke`s third round at Royal Troon. Their target of 306 from a minimum of 92 overs looked the equivalent of a 12-inch putt on a pitch as blameless as this. Instead they chose to hit out and get out. It did not make much sense. Essex were the modern masters of the three-day game. They scored their runs at a faster rate than any other side, giv- ing their bowlers, once Lever and Foster, and recently Ilott, Childs and Such, the maximum time to bowl out the opposition. Yesterday they batted with all their old three-day brio, when they might have paced their innings more intelligently, and al- lowed Northants back into a game they appeared to have lost. In the morning Northants, who resumed on 216 for eight, sur- vived only nine balls and failed to add to their score. Kevin Curran, suffering from two broken thumbs, was caught behind first ball. Malachy Loye, in obvious distress with his back in- jury, came to the wicket with a runner and somehow saw out the over. But David Sales was caught at square leg from the third delivery of the following over. Essex could hardly believe their luck but they were soon in a mess. Graham Gooch once again looked in prime form but once again he got out, this time for 16, with Paul Taylor taking a fine diving catch at mid-off. Gooch has reached double figures 12 times in 16 innings but his average is a miserable 23.86 and soon captain Paul Prichard may face the embarrassing task of dropping him. At the moment he is not expected to take part in Essex`s NatWest quarter-final against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge at the end of the month. Gooch and co-selector Mike Gatting, who has recently handed over the Middlesex captaincy to Mark Ramprakash, are in similar posi- tions, though Gatting continues to contribute fully to his side`s success. Essentially, though, both are unselfish players and can be re- lied upon to disappear into a darkened room with a loaded revolver when the time comes. When Nasser Hussain replaced Gooch he looked a little too anx- ious to get on with it. He survived a sharp return catch to Snape at 10 and was out immediately after lunch for 13. Stuart Law, too, rattled along for a 35-ball 45, with nine fours, before he was third out at 154. None of this appeared to mat- ter while Prichard, who is having his best season as a batsman since taking over the captaincy, remained. But after scoring a fluent 75 he was caught behind off Taylor. Ronnie Irani was fifth out at 192 and then Snape picked up the wickets of Danny Law, Robert Rollins and Ashley Cowan to leave Essex in ru- ins at 225 for eight. Grayson and Neil Williams then added 52 before the last two wickets tumbled. Grayson deserved a medal. He hit eight fours and a six and - a nice touch, this - the Northants players lined up to shake him by the hand. Essex, though, knew they had blown it and they still have most of their difficult matches to come. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)