Date-stamped : 20 Aug97 - 03:04 Lehmann romps to highest score By David Green at Portsmouth First day of four: Yorkshire 389-6 v Hampshire DARREN Lehmann`s 182, his fourth and highest championship cen- tury of the season, underpinned Yorkshire as Hampshire, having lost the toss, fielded throughout a sweltering day and must by now be feeling that this is an extremely long season. Lehmann, all of whose centuries have been made away from home, came to the wicket in the 10th over with his side wobbling at 38 for two and took time to adjust to some irregular bounce. Martyn Moxon had departed to the fifth ball of the day, nib- bling at Simon Renshaw`s outswinger, and David Byas, after some meaty drives, aimed debutante seamer Lee Savident wide of mid- on and was deftly taken at second slip. Savident, the first Guernsey man to play county cricket, bowled his inswingers steadily enough and, having had Michael Vaughan caught behind for a fluent 74, later saw Bradley Parker escape from a vertical mis-hook which five players, the bowler included, could have caught. Lehmann, struggling to time the ball, had taken 163 balls to reach 64 when suddenly he found his touch, taking five bound- aries in seven balls off Shaun Udal and Chetan Patel, and rac- ing to his cen- tury off 194 balls. Hampshire`s attack, weakened by the absence through injury of Cardigan Connor, Stuart Millburn, Dimitri Mascarenhas and Kevan James, received brief encouragement when Parker fell lbw to a John Stephenson yorker, but thereafter Lehmann inflicted relent- less punishment. Richard Blakey had contributed only 23 to a sixth- wicket stand of 113 when Lehmann, having hit 28 handsome fours, was caught at slip trying to run Udal down to third man. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Hutchison has the swing thing By Clive Ellis at Portsmouth Yorks (501-8) lead Hants (264-8) by 237 runs PAUL Hutchison has climbed a few rungs on the ever-growing left- armers` ladder. He was the impressive cornerstone of York- shire`s victory over Pakistan A at the weekend and transferred the same promise into his championship debut. The inevitable question poses itself when another leftie pops his head above the parapit. Can he swing it? The answer in Hutchison`s case is a firm yes. Hutchison`s first ball to Jason Laney, as Hampshire confronted a Yorkshire total of 501 for eight declared on a dusty pitch, looped down the leg side, his second curled in to have the Hamp- shire opener leg before. After lunch, Hutchison dismissed Giles White in similar fashion and retired to the outfield to reflect contentedly on figures of 7-4-16-2. Darren Gough, unlikely to be able to prove his fitness in time to be considered for the final Test, Chris Silverwood and Peter Hartley are all on the crock list, which forced Yorkshire to field a des- perately inexperienced attack. Depressingly, by mid-afternoon - Hampshire were, after all, 15 for two at one stage - Yorkshire had put their faith in the occa- sional spin of Michael Vaughan and Darren Lehmann. The bene- ficiaries were Matthew Hayden and Robin Smith, who added 155 in 36 overs by tea. Smith, who in completing his fifty off 54 balls also made his 100th score of 50 or more for the county, came within six runs of making a hundred between lunch and tea. Yet so mediocre was the bowling that there would have been precious little to ap- plaud. Hampshire`s bowling was no better in the morning. Richard Blakey, who had played second fiddle to Lehmann as he made 182 on Friday, reached 75 as Yorkshire added 112 before declaring. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Laney keeps Yorks waiting By David Green at Portsmouth Third day of four: Hampshire (281 & 173-3) trail Yorkshire (501-8 dec) by 47 runs PAUL HUTCHISON, Yorkshire`s 20-year-old fast-medium left-armer who took six of the eight Hampshire wickets to fall on Satur- day, soon captured another yesterday morning to finish with well-de- served figures of 20-4-50-7. When Hampshire followed on 220 runs adrift Hutchison, swinging the ball late, beat Australian Test left-hander Matthew Hayden several times before having him caught at the wicket with one which swung away from middle stump and bounced. Yorkshire`s hopes of a win inside three days were dispelled by Jason Laney, 81, Giles White, 58 not out, and an easy-paced pitch but Yorkshire are still strongly placed for a third consec- utive championship win today. Hutchison, 6ft 3ins tall and strong-looking for all his lean- ness, has a bouncy 15-pace approach, a side-on action, a high arm and good control, attributes which have brought him some spectacular results in a brief career. Hutchison played impressively for England Under-19s in Zimbab- we in 1995-96 and returned there later that winter on Yorkshire`s pre-season tour, taking 11 wickets in two first-class matches at a cost of barely 16 runs apiece. Selected on a hunch for the Rest against England A early in 1996, he missed the remainder of that season with a stress frac- ture in his back. Happily it was not serious, as recent perfor- mances have proved. Playing for Yorkshire against Pakistan A last weekend he had match figures of 11 for 102 and has confirmed his quality in this, his championship debut. Indeed, he now has 31 wickets in four-and- a-half first-class matches. Shortly after Hayden`s departure, for four in the 10th over, Hutchison was rested with figures of 6-3-16-1 and Yorkshire`s attack, missing Darren Gough, Chris Silverwood and Peter Hartley through in- jury, looked less menacing and Laney and White played confidently. Laney was given plenty of scope in his areas of strength, off his toes and past cover off the back foot, and with White driving and glancing with increasing fluency the scoring rate advanced to around four runs an over. The second wicket had added 123 runs when Laney fell lbw, half forward to Gavin Hamilton. Next ball Robin Smith, pushing firmly for- ward, was caught at short leg but White and Matthew Keech played safely through to the close. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) White hits maiden century By David Green at Portsmouth Hampshire (281 & 471-9) drew with Yorkshire (501-8 dec) GILES WHITE`S 145, his first championship century, and a vig- orous 114 from John Stephenson, who had not passed three figures in the championship for two years, thwarted Yorkshire`s pursuit of a third successive championship win. Had Yorkshire succeeded they would have advanced to a handy fourth place but, on a slow surface which gave bowlers little margin for error, their weakened attack did not exert enough pressure on Hampshire`s batsmen. Gavin Hamilton could not be faulted for effort and bustled to a championship best five for 89, and Paul Hutchison bowled well without much luck, but the day belonged to Hampshire and partic- ularly to White and Stephenson. White, 25, who spent some time at Somerset before joining Hampshire in 1994, is one of several younger batsmen trying to establish themselves. This innings, coming as contracts are being re- viewed, was a doubly timely one. Hampshire resumed in the morning at 173 for three, still needing 47 to avoid an in- nings defeat. White, 58 not out overnight, looked confident but Matthew Keech soon left. As White drove smoothly past cover and wide of mid-on Stephen- son, after careful reconnaisance, went on to the attack, par- ticu- larly against spinners Richard Stemp and Michael Vaughan. White`s hundred came off 179 balls and included 15 fours. He batted on steadily thereafter for another 26 overs before falling lbw to Hamilton with the second new ball. Adrian Aymes was soon lbw to Hutchison and when Stephenson was bowled off an inside edge by Hamilton, Yorkshire still had a faint chance. This faded as Shaun Udal and Simon Renshaw added 54 for the ninth wicket. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)