Date-stamped : 24 Aug97 - 03:08 Cork pays for error as Wells sinks Derbyshire By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester First day of four: Leicestershire 373-7 v Derbyshire IN THIS season of turmoil for Derbyshire, a bit more luck with the toss would not have gone amiss. They lost it yesterday for the ninth time in 13 matches and were condemned to a long, hard slog in the field by Vince Wells, whose 190 spanned just over six hours. Wells, who had made just 25 when Dominic Cork dropped a straight- forward return chance, had rattled along to 71 by lunch. Soon after, he reached a third hundred this season from 130 balls by dint of some loose bowling and some quality strokeplay, which in- cluded numerous drives hit on the up. Thereafter, his in- nings was more graft than craft as Derbyshire at last tightened up their bowling, restricting their opponents to just 79 runs in the final ses- sion. Phil DeFreitas` off-spin proved far more useful than his seam- ers. Although the groundsman said that he had not taken any grass off the pitch for a week, it was still a belter after be- ing baked in the recent heatwave. The ball, apart from the first few overs, did not swing all day, and it was after turning to spin that DeFreitas took three of his four wickets, starting with Darren Maddy, who drilled him to mid-on. That ended an opening stand of 144 in 38 overs, but the most en- tertaining batting of the day came when Wells and James Whitaker were together while adding 89 in 17 overs. Whitaker`s 61 in- cluded 13 fours at a rate of one every five balls. His tim- ing could not possibly have been bettered as he pierced the field on both sides of the wicket with impressive precision. With Leicestershire 264 for two in the 60th over, Derbyshire at last entered the game. Andrew Harris produced a good one to take Whitaker`s edge and then had Ben Smith taken at first slip, playing away from his body. DeFreitas, switching back to seam, peppered Aftab Habib with short deliveries, and his reputation for being susceptible to them was hardly refuted when he pulled a bouncer to square leg. Wells, who passed 1,000 runs for the season during his in- nings, was eventually bowled pulling, misjudging the length. But the same shot had brought him many of his 33 fours as well as a six off Cork, whose bowling was disappointing. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Cork loses plot of short story By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester Second day of four: Derbyshire (48-1) trail Leicestershire (486) by 438 runs DERBYSHIRE`S seamers lost the plot yesterday morning, bowling ridiculously short to allow Leicestershire to add 113 for their last three wickets. That could prove significant when it comes to saving the fol- low-on - no formality as this dry, cracked pitch is showing occa- sional unevenness. It looked flat when Derbyshire bowled on it but James Ormond and David Millns suggested otherwise. Ormond cleared the wick- etkeeper with one bouncer and Millns`s pace was too much for a tentative Michael May. Dominic Cork, who has clearly lost pace after his long lay- off, was warned for intimidatory bowling, as was Phil DeFreitas on the first day. It was impossible to fathom why they kept banging in two or three short balls every over yesterday, particularly as they had a new ball. Both got frustrated with Gordon Parsons, who thumped a first championship fifty of the season from 52 balls, and with Adri- an Pierson, who hung around gamely in a last-wicket stand of 82 at four an over. Parsons, being a good puller, tucked into the regu- lar diet of short balls, while Pierson, a capable nightwatchman, used his height to fend off everything dug in. Cork was a long way from being an England bowler here, going for nearly five an over and delivering 14 no-balls. He struggled with both his rhythm and his direction, handing a psychological advantage to the Leicestershire batsmen by regu- larly complaining in the middle about the pitch`s flatness. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Bowlers suffer yet again By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester Third day of four: Leics (486 & 229-2) lead Derbyshire (366-2 dec) by 349 runs IT is not just the rain that has helped to prevent a result in any championship match at Grace Road this season. This pitch, like the others before it, has led to an unfair contest between bat and ball with bowlers reduced to virtual cannon fodder in this game. No wonder, therefore, that both sides` attacks went through the motions after lunch once it was clear Derbyshire would de- clare well behind in the knowledge that James Whitaker would set them a target today. Leicestershire`s second innings is un- worthy of documen- tation, for, although no joke bowling was em- ployed, it was not truly competitive. Kim Barnett, however, played beautifully to score a hundred before lunch - the third time he has done so. He came to the crease in the first over of the day when Chris Adams top-edged a pull, and reached his third century of the summer 124 minutes later off 114 balls. Leicestershire did not bowl well to him, but the quality of his driving, in particular, was undeniable. James Ormond suffered at Barnett`s hands, his 10 overs before lunch costing 73. Barnett began by cover-driving him for three suc- cessive fours, seizing on the slightest error to reach fifty in 34 balls. A back spasm then slowed him down. Adrian Rollins pulled savagely and, like Barnett, hit power- fully on the up. Having reached his third hundred of the season from 159 balls, Rollins, helped himself to another 71 as Leices- tershire bowled for a declaration. Rollins and Barnett put on an unbroken 316 for the third wick- et, Derbyshire`s biggest partnership for any wicket against Le- icestershire. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Leicestershire scent victory By Geoffrey Dean at Grace Road Leics (486 & 281-2dec) beat Derbyshire (366-2dec & 238) by 163 runs LEICESTERSHIRE, who won seven out of their nine home champi- onship games last year, came into this match without a victo- ry at Grace Road this summer. But at tea, they looked to have a chance of putting the record straight as Derbyshire, set 402 in 88 overs, had reached 193 for five from 48. Culpable for this curious reversal in fortunes is not so much the wet weather that has afflicted every home game bar one, but the pitches. They have been radically different from 1996 - much slower and flatter - and not even groundsman Steve Wright knows why. He predicted this wicket would be similar to the lightning- quick surface for the match against the South Africans three years ago. He could not have been more wrong - the new ball went through, but after 20 overs or so, the pitch became a bowler`s graveyard. "They`ve been like this all year," said Alan Mullally, not un- happy to be missing this game with a groin strain. "But nobody seems to know why." The lack of sun in the first half of the sum- mer is part of the reason, but only part. James Whitaker de- scribed the previous home pitch - against Nottinghamshire in late July - as the worst cricket wicket he had played on at Grace Road. Derbyshire began their pursuit predictably well once 5.5 overs of joke bowling had set up Whitaker`s declaration. Adrian Rollins, who in the first innings had featured in the highest Der- byshire third- wicket stand - 316 with Kim Barnett - went early, gloving a pull off James Ormond to the wicketkeeper, but Chris Adams joined Michael May to add 117 in 31 overs. May was dropped when 39, but was one of four wickets to fall in the last five overs before tea. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)