Date-stamped : 03 Aug97 - 14:23 Moles joins casualty list By Mike Beddow at Edgbaston First day of four: Warwickshire 50-0 v Sussex TO LOSE two captains, as Warwickshire have done with injuries to Tim Munton and Nick Knight, would be considered unfortunate. To lose a third, as they did when Andy Moles broke a finger yes- terday, is a desperate situation. Sussex could become the beneficiaries when the counties meet again in the NatWest Trophy semi-final a week on Wednesday. Neither Munton nor Knight will be fit and Moles`s availability is now debatable. In that sense, the dress rehearsal - not that it amounted to much with 16 overs bowled in the morning - has only raised anoth- er prob- lem for Warwickshire. Neil Smith, who has been lead- ing the one-day side, will take over in this match and presumably against Lancashire next week. The depth of their batting, with Dominic Ostler left out yes- terday for the first time in seven seasons, is not so much a problem as a shortage of specialist openers. Wasim Khan, a fre- quent deputy in recent seasons, is looking for another county af- ter requesting his release. The ball from Vasbert Drakes, which inflicted the latest in- jury, nipped up off a length and rapped the little finger of Moles`s left hand. His instinct to play forward was perfectly reasonable; the reaction from the pitch was not. Yet this was virtually the only example of mischievous bounce. Otherwise it looked a good surface with sufficient pace to ap- peal to batsmen and bowlers alike. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Sussex routed for mere 63 by Donald & Co By Mike Beddow at Edgbaston Second day of four: Sussex (63 & 7-2) trail Warwickshire (227) by 157 runs LOSING championship games is a habit which cannot easily be rectified by the short haul route in cup competitions. The truth caught up with Sussex with their fourth dismissal for less than 100 in the last seven championship innings. This was a particularly unkind day for a side in the afterglow of chasing 328 to reach the NatWest Trophy semi-final. The first part belonged to them, but as Warwickshire`s batting buckled in 43 overs, they would have been wise to resist a bout of euphoria. Always there was the suspicion that what Vasbert Drakes, Alex Edwards and Mark Robinson did in taking 10 wickets would be repaid with interest by Allan Donald and company. So it proved. The pitch has pace, movement and above average bounce, and if Donald`s quota of four for 11 represented less than half of Warwick- shire`s workload, the impact on the mind was consider- able. Sussex somehow escaped undamaged until the 11th over; and then they lost three wickets in four balls. Donald located the tar- get area, in this case Toby Peirce`s glove, and ripped out Bill Athey`s off stump with a near-unplayable ball. The next wicket probably reflected Rajesh Rao`s inexperience on two counts. To risk a single to Trevor Penney - and this to reach Donald`s end - was as unwise as could be. Sussex limped to tea at 13 for three, and in two overs after- wards, Dougie Brown and Graeme Welch spirited away the middle order core with two catches to the slips and another to short leg. Drake`s highly predictable response bought a huge six over the Rea Bank before a skimming drive was held at short extra cover. Keith Newell offered a different kind of nuisance value by staying for 12 overs, but the end was swift and decisive. The partisan Birmingham crowd got their wish with the return of Donald to bowl Edwards and James Kirtley in successive overs. The innings - the fourth lowest of the season by any county - had lasted for a mere 117 minutes. Following on 164 behind, they lost their openers in four overs. Sussex themselves had bowled well enough. Edwards took his first wickets on an encouraging championship debut and Robinson pro- duced two lifting outswingers to break up the best part- nership by Mark Wagh, who completed a second successive half cen- tury, and Neil Smith. Yet the crucial innings, at least in terms of being able to enforce the follow on, was played by Andy Moles. Reappearing as last man because of his broken finger, he made 22 in 15 balls and put on 39 with Keith Piper to secure a batting point. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Sussex resolve ended by substitute Ostler Paul Weaver at Edgbaston Third day of four: Warwicks v Sussex SUSSEX avoided their third successive innings defeat by the skin of their clenched teeth here yesterday but still handed War- wick- shire something of a psychological boost before the counties meet again on this ground in the semi-finals of the NatWest Trophy on Wednesday week. Warwickshire took 21 points from their fourth win of the sea- son by nine wickets, one which keeps their interest in the champi- onship very much alive. Sussex, meanwhile, thudded to the bottom like a stricken U-boat. Warwickshire will not take too much notice of this, of course. Sussex have often made up for a disappointing championship by doing something special in the leading one-day competition - they finished bottom of the table in 1968, when they played a thrilling Gillette Cup final against... Warwickshire. If Allan Donald was again Warwickshire`s eye-catching player, taking four wickets to add to the four he had in the first in- nings, and lifting his total to 37 for the season, Dominic Ostler was al- so largely responsible for the match finishing before tea on the third day - in view of the fact that rain washed out all but 16 overs of the first day, and another hour on Fri- day, this was hardly a ro- bust performance by Sussex. Ostler, fielding as substitute for the injured Andy Moles, took three catches in the slips. He had already dismissed Kei- th Green- field and Peter Moores when he produced an outstanding catch at second slip off Donald, one-handed as he dived to his right, to dismiss Bill Athey for a typically obdurate 67 in 194 minutes. Sussex, who had followed on 164 runs behind and who resumed yesterday on seven for two, lost nightwatchman Mark Robinson, caught at short-leg off Graeme Welch, to his first ball of the morning. Welch also dismissed the other overnight batsman, Alex Edwards, who was caught in the slips. The slips proved a vulnerable area for the Sussex batsmen, this is where Donald had Greenfield and Mark Newell caught to reduce Sussex to 105 for six at lunch, still 59 runs behind. Athey completed his half century after the break, from 108 de- liveries with nine fours. But Keith Newell was bowled by Welch for 25 soon afterwards and then Peter Moores edged Dougie Brown into the slips for seven. Sussex were 149 for eight, still 15 runs behind. But the flourishing bat of Vasbert Drakes soon decided that Warwick- shire would have to bat again. Drake flicked Brown over long leg for six into the Barnes Stand and then edged a three to third man to bring the scores level. He struck Brown for another six over square leg before switching his violence in the direction of Ashley Giles, driving the spinner over long on. He faced just 33 balls for his unbeaten 42. Athey was ninth out at 185 and last man James Kirtley was run out after a desperate mix up for a solitary run. Warwickshire re- quired 40 to win and they knocked them off in just five overs, with Mark Wagh scoring a highly impressive, if rather pressureless, 30 not out. The match was dominated by pace bowling on a lively surface, and the only spin was provided by nine overs from Warwickshire`s slow left-arm England contender Giles. Lack of work has been his biggest problem lately, and he said: "It`s a little bit of a surprise being talked of as a possible England player." Warwickshire have interesting fixtures to come, including a trip to Blackpool to play Lancashire on Wednesday. But while Donald remains on form, and they continue to produce pitches as responsive as this, their chances of winning the championship for the third time in four years cannot be discounted. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)