Date-stamped : 17 Aug97 - 10:31 DeFreitas leads onslaught By Neil Hallam at Derby First day of four: Derbyshire 408-9 v Lancs KIM BARNETT and Phillip DeFreitas set aside the distractions of a protracted contest of wills between Derbyshire`s players and committee to provide a reminder of enduring qualities on one of the county`s better days in a season of acrimony. Barnett`s determined 86 dug the footings after a poor start on a slow seamer and Lancashire`s bowling, so testing in the morn- ing, wilted badly after tea as DeFreitas`s 96 and Karl Krikken`s 72 took Derbyshire to maximum batting points and a commanding to- tal of 408 for nine. Lancashire, tempted to field first by the green tinge of a recently relaid strip, seemed vindicated when Peter Martin ex- tracted enough movement to have Adrian Rollins held at third slip and Michael May snapped up off bat and pad. Dominic Cork, promoted to No 3 in the absence of Chris Adams with tonsillitis, was dislodged by one which left him and re- trench- ment was the priority when John Owen and Vince Clarke both chopped on to their stumps. Barnett passed 2,000 runs in championship matches against Lan- cashire before prospecting unwisely outside off-stump and his depar- ture, rather than signalling a dwindling of resistance, prompted a more aggressive phase in which 19-year-old Ian Blackwell played handsomely before miscueing a hook. Lancashire, who have won four of their last five championship matches, looked increasingly hang-dog in a final session which yielded 174 runs. Krikken played the anchor role until he was unluckily run out and DeFreitas, whose best-of-season score came off only 80 balls, scored at will until he pulled straight to midwicket. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Atherton`s gloom still deepening By Neil Hallam at Derby Derbs beat Lancs by an innings and 37 runs FIRST the good news that England captain Michael Atherton was able to pass on to the selectors at last night`s meeting in London: Devon Malcolm is back in the mood to give the Aus- tralians a fierce working over at the Oval next week after an im- pressive display of fast bowling as Derbyshire scented a two- day victory, their first champi- onship success in a season blighted by acrimony. And John Crawley, whose place at No 3 in the Test side was bound to be high on the meeting`s agenda, is also back in the runs, his second-innings century sparing Lancashire from even greater embarrassment after they had been hurried out for 188 in only 27.3 overs before lunch and forced to follow on 283 in ar- rears. The bad news? Atherton himself, twice among Malcolm`s victims, is hardly in the form to warrant a place in the Lancashire side, let alone to confront Mark Taylor`s cock-a-hoop tourists, after lasting only 34 balls in two innings in three hours either side lunch on a pitch on which Derbyshire had collected maximum bating on the way to amassing 411. As for Atherton`s frame of mind as he attempts to rally Eng- land for a pride-redeeming effort in the sixth Test, it hardly looked buoyant as he trudged slowly from the field to a back- ground of unkind comments from Derbyshire and Lancashire support- ers alike. "Rubbish, Atherton", and "waste of time", came the calls from the Lancashire contingent as he failed yet again to make a sig- nif- icant contribution in championship cricket in his benefit season. "Get a move on" and "shift yourself" was the cry from home supporters as he lingered in apparent disbelief when given out lbw offer- ing no stroke to leave him with nine runs in the match. Atherton`s domestic statistics make depressing reading. Since hitting 108 against Leicestershire on May 31, his aggregate from six innings is 79 runs. In 11 championship innings this sea- son he has man- aged a meagre 295. Add these impoverished returns to his slim pickings in Test cricket this summer and a certain emotional fatigue is easy to under- stand but one had only to witness Derbyshire`s response to his misfor- tunes to recognise that he remains a richly-prized scalp. Atherton lasted only 14 balls in the first innings before Mal- colm struck with one which moved away, and Lancashire would have followed on with an even greater deficit had not Ian Austin, who went on to make an unbeaten 47, not survived a caught-and- bowled chance to Dominic Cork on 10. Malcolm, harnessing withering pace to a testing line, splayed the stumps of Graham Lloyd, Andrew Flintoff and Warren Hegg to end with six for 23 from 9.3 overs - his third six-wicket haul of the summer and his fifth of five wickets or more - and he was soon suc- cessful when Lancashire batted again. Jason Gallian fell pushing at a ball he could not afford to leave and Atherton, dropped behind the wicket off Phil DeFre- itas` first ball of the innings, lasted only 19 more before Mal- colm was punching the air in celebration again. Lloyd was dropped in the gully off Andrew Harris before chip- ping a tame return catch to Cork, Flintoff bagged a pair and Austin this time fell cheaply, leaving Crawley and captain Mike Watkinson to stave off collapse with a stand of 71 in 11 overs. Watkinson fell cutting against spinner Ian Blackwell but Craw- ley was there at tea as Lancashire limped to 209 for six, a best-of- the-season 114 his third championship century of the summer. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)