Date-stamped : 05 Aug97 - 11:13 North out of time to help Croft By Edward Bevan at Colwyn Bay Second day of four: Notts 165-9 v Glamorgan DESPITE losing 152 overs to rain on the first two days, there is every prospect of a positive outcome to this game on a pitch which has offered Robert Croft`s off-spin appreciable turn. Glamorgan had included left-arm spinner Philip North in their squad, but the captain of Wales in the Minor Counties Champi- onship was left out and disciplined after arriving 80 minutes late for prac- tice. North would have relished bowling with Croft, who took three wickets, but the Glamorgan seamers supported him effectively, sharing the other six wickets. Croft came on the ninth over after Waqar had bowled Tim Robin- son, but Nathan Astle immediately counter attacked with a se- ries of handsome drives, striking the Pakistan bowler for six boundaries. Astle raced to 47 from 40 balls, before flicking Steve Watkin down the leg side to the wicketkeeper, and eight balls later Watkin trapped Paul Johnson leg before. Mathew Dowman, despite much playing and missing at Croft, remained steadfast until the fall of the seventh wicket before he was caught on the mid- wicket boundary attempt- ing to repeat a stroke of the previous over when he pulled Waqar for six. Usman Afzaal received the unplayable ball from Croft as he aimed a push to the on side and was athletically caught by Tony Cottey at slip off a thick edge. Kevin Evans misread Croft`s arm ball, then James Hindson had his helmet removed by Waqar, then his middle stump two balls later by a yorker. Glamorgan gained maximum bowling points which takes them back to the top three points above Gloucestershire who are not involved in a championship game. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) James keeps Glamorgan on right track Scyld Berry at Colwyn Bay Third day of four: Glamorgan v Notts A DAY at the cricket in Colwyn Bay summed up the difficulties facing not only the England selectors but also the master-plan- ners who will be revealing the future shape of English cricket on Tuesday. Here was county cricket at its amiable best and frustrating worst. On the one hand, the intimate ground of the Colwyn Bay club, set between pebbledash bungalows and boarding houses (`Vacancies`), com- fortably filled with a holiday crowd of al- most two thousand and gener- ating the enthusiasm which out- grounds do. On the other hand, a slow and underprepared pitch demanding patience as much as skill, and a standard of cricket that was at times worthy and at others sank below first-class level. Apart from Steve James, who made 162 with fine drives and quick sin- gles, Glamorgan`s specialist batting succeeded in getting out to some Notting- hamshire spin bowling that was embarrassingly far from accurate and to Nathan Astle, who has achieved the rare feat of cutting down his pace from the slow-medium of last winter`s series in New Zealand. One such low moment occurred when Jimmy Hindson delivered one of several long-hops and Hugh Morris, after managing to reach the ball, dollied it straight to deepish square-leg; and another when Matthew Maynard skied vertically the occasional left-arm of Usman Afzaal. At these instants, if never before, you would have thought it im- possible that 11 products of this ancient competition could ever again win a Test series in Australia. Glamorgan are no bottom-of-the-table side either but have been championship leaders since taking enough bowling points here to leap over Gloucestershire. Thanks to James, and a wearing wick- et, they should win this match as well to extend their lead, provided there is no more of the rain which washed out Thurs- day, though they will miss having no second spinner. There is not a lot, however, to distinguish Glamorgan from the rest of the pack apart from Waqar Younis. Glamorgan can point to being NatWest semi-finalists as well, and no doubt their confi- dence in chas- ing targets has been enhanced by two successful pursuits in this competition, but the second of them owed much to Michael Vaughan dropping Waqar before his match-winning innings was launched. Yet again Yorkshire`s season has been blighted by the dropping of a simple catch. Waqar has been taking most of his wickets with new-ball outswing. For Glamorgan to take their third championship title the weather will have to dry up enough for his old-ball reverse- swing to re-surface, which it did not do yesterday morning when Nottinghamshire`s overnight pair added 37 more runs. Not only did Wayne Noon and Mark Bowen defy Waqar but Robert Croft as well for a couple of overs, during which he was hit for five singles and a six out of the ground. That did not nec- essarily mean that Bowen middled Croft`s off-break: Waqar`s run-up began 10 yards from the boundary edge. It was more significant that Croft bowed his head even more than usual when he was bowling, though not when he came in to bat and found the bowling slow enough for his liking. Where there was `hwyl` in New Zealand, there seems to be now a growing emptiness as the Aus- tralians demoralise him with the short ball. He is not alone. Indeed, Croft should take heart from the very fact that the Australians have targeted him, just as they tar- geted Graeme Hick in 1993 and ruffled him with the abuse of Merv Hughes, and lowered the self-esteem of the Anglo-Australian Martin McCague by calling him traitor. What is in Croft`s favour is that the West Indies, where the pitches have become poorly prepared, is one of the few places where an off-spinner might do some serious damage in a Test match, and where England might play two finger-spinners this winter. Before then, however, he has to be given the right coaching against the short ball this autumn to get back the confidence in all his cricket. Where there isn`t a `hwyl` there isn`t a way. As James sped to his fourth hundred of the season in only 153 minutes, Croft rehabilitated himself to some degree against bowlers who could not threaten his throat. James was first to 1000 first-class runs this season, and at the rate he is going - driving ever straighter and less speculative through gully - he could reach the West Indies as a reserve opener. Glamorgan are aggrieved at losing Dean Cosker to the England Under-19 side, and rightly. He and his teammates are better off playing championship cricket than against Zimbabwean youths who have never known a first-class match. Against Australia Under-19 it would be different, since the Hollioakes and Shahs would ben- efit from meeting, and defeating, players they will meet again at Test level. But to select Ben Hollioake for the fifth Test would be prema- ture, except as 12th man. He has taken seven first-class wickets for Surrey this season at 38. Not enough, yet, for an England seamer. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Britannic County Championship: Tolley digs in to deny Glamor- gan valuable victory By Edward Bevan at Colwyn Bay Notts (202 & 239-8) drew with Glamorgan (353-6 dec) GLAMORGAN were denied victory and a 23-point lead at the top of the County Championship table by Nottinghamshire all-rounder Chris Tolley, who scored a career-best 73 not out, and tailender Jimmy Hind- son. The ninth-wicket pair put on 80 but more importantly stayed together for 27 overs and when the game was called off with seven overs remaining Notts were 88 runs ahead. The championship leaders were frustrated by the weather, with 152 overs lost on the first day and a half, and a placid pitch which offered little encouragement to the bowlers. When play resumed Waqar Younis gained an early victim in the fourth over of the morning when he trapped Mathew Dowman in front of his stumps and when Robert Croft bowled Tim Robinson with his sec- ond ball, Notts were 14 for two. Croft had arrived at the ground in a helicopter half an hour before the start which had earlier transported him to the Na- tional Eisteddfod at Bala. The England off-spinner, who was admitted to the Gorsedd or Bardic Circle for his services to Wales and the Welsh language, then claimed his second wicket when Paul Johnson prodded to short leg. When Nathan Astle sliced a back-foot drive to slip off Steve Watkin, Notts were in dissarray at 32 for four but Graeme Archer and Usman Afzaal got their heads down and resisted for 18 overs before Afzaal was bowled by Darren Thomas with his fourth ball after lunch. Archer, who batted for two minutes short of two hours, was eventually tempted by Croft but Adrian Dale brought off a bril- liant catch inches inside the boundary edge before side-stepping his way inside the ropes. Tolley and Wayne Noon, taking advantage of a pitch which be- came slower as the day went on, shared a partnership of 49 in 20 overs be- fore Gary Butcher`s medium pace struck in the penul- timate over before tea. After a confident appeal for leg-before had been turned down against Noon in the previous over, Butcher and Dickie Bird were in agreement six balls later, and with his next ball Butcher yorked Kevin Evans. At tea Notts led by nine runs with two wickets remaining but Tolley, who had remained steadfast despite a peppering of yorkers and short balls from Waqar, reached an impressive half-century from 107 balls with six fours. As Glamorgan grew more frustrated Hindson more than doubled his season`s aggregate while Tolley played with determination and no little skill in frustrating the Welsh county. Time was running out for Glamorgan as the ninth-wicket pair went into the final 16 overs leading by 46 runs, and when Hindson struck Waqar for two successive boundaries a draw became in- evitable. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)