Date-stamped : 30 Aug97 - 18:04 Smith spoils perfect start by Notts pair By Peter Deeley at Bristol First day of four: Notts 255-8 v Gloucs GLOUCESTERSHIRE had the edge on their rival championship con- tenders in terms of the weather yesterday but had to wait four hours for their first bowling point as Nottinghamshire`s open- ing batsmen made light of a pitch of a deep green hue. Then, with Mike Smith once more at the forefront, rewards flowed for the home side as six wickets fell for 47 runs in 15 overs. Smith`s nine-over spell brought him three victims be- fore Wayne Noon led a late Notts rally. David Lawrence came back for his third game of the summer as Gloucestershire sought to take advantage of a wicket that looked made in heaven for the pace bowlers. Yet, contrary to expectations, once 20 overs had been lost to rain, the pitch played true early on and Tim Robinson and Mathew Dowman experienced few problems, putting on 101 for the first wicket. The left-handed Dowman is catching the eye as a candidate for England A`s winter tour and displayed great authority until he played too early in trying to pull Mark Alleyne and skied an easy catch. Dowman has now scored more than 850 runs this summer in the cham- pionship at an average of over 43, by some distance Notts` lead- ing run-maker. His departure triggered the collapse as the pitch, having dried out, began to pose problems. Nathan Astle and Ashley Met- calfe both misjudged the amount of late inward movement induced by Smith and the England bowler then moved one the other way to dismiss Robin- son, fifth out after 2.5 hours. The loss of Paul Johnson, driving firmly straight back into Alleyne`s hands, was a major blow for Notts but, against the odds, Noon and Usman Afzaal gave the visitors a second wind with a 78-run stand for the seventh wicket. Smith returned to have Afzaal caught at first slip to give him his 64th championship wicket and Noon`s resolute resistance last- ed for well over two hours before Jack Russell took his third catch of the day. Making the tail-enders play and miss many times, Lawrence, 33, finished the day looking stronger and quicker than when he be- gan it, running up with some care on the slippery surface. Having overcome his grave knee injury, Lawrence is now experi- encing various muscle strains. At times yesterday he looked to be struggling with his fitness but, although he was wicketless, his three spells were not ex- pen- sive, only 37 runs coming off his 12 overs. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Gloucestershire hopes fade By Peter Deeley at Bristol Second day of four: Gloucs (84-4) trail Notts (294) by 210 runs IT WILL demand a major effort by Gloucestershire to salvage enough points from this game to keep their interest in the champi- onship title alive. With nearly 65 overs lost to rain yesterday, they have so far had to play second fiddle to Nottinghamshire, a side often dan- gerous- ly underrated by opponents this season. Two bowlers rejected by Northamptonshire have played a signif- icant part in the visitors` superiority. Mark Bowen followed an in- valuable unbeaten 31 in the morning with the dismissal of both Glouces- tershire openers in the space of four overs. Then Andy Oram, working up real speed, had Bobby Dawson caught behind before the weather closed in to leave the home side still struggling to save the follow-on with the pitch increas- ingly helping the quick bowlers. Kevin Evans weighed in with the scalp of Tim Hancock to anoth- er Wayne Noon catch behind the stumps and much now rests on the shoul- ders of Australian Shaun Young. Gloucestershire`s problems are best illustrated by the fact that their various opening partnerships this season have aver- aged little more than 15 runs. Further, they went into this game with their opening five batsmen uncapped. Bowen trapped Nick Trainor leg-before on the back foot with the first ball of the innings and then whipped out Matthew Win- dows` middle-stump. In the morning Mike Smith earned his fifth five-wicket haul of the season to take his total to 66 - but Gloucestershire must now be regretting handing the incentive to their opponents by choos- ing to field first. Only the rain elsewhere around the country may now serve their cause. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Lawrence lives the title dream By Peter Deeley at Bristol Third day of four: Notts (294 & 134-5) lead Gloucs (262) by 166 runs AT this late stage in the County Championship race, leading sides need character and Gloucestershire showed plenty in claw- ing them- selves back into this match. They withstood an all-round assault by New Zealander Nathan Astle and, after two wickets in a late burst from David Lawrence, will look for an unlikely victory to keep on their ti- tle rivals` heels. Astle, who leaves Trent Bridge on Monday to join New Zealand on their Southern African tour, has been a valued contributor since he was drafted in to replace Pakistan paceman Mohammad Zahid, who could not play because of a serious back injury. Here, his medium pace earned career-best figures of five for 46, taking all but one of the Gloucestershire wickets to fall yes- terday and giving Nottinghamshire a first-innings lead of 32. Before yesterday he had taken only 13 championship wickets. For Gloucestershire, that was almost a bonus since they had been struggling on 74 for four at one stage. Half-centuries from Shaun Young and captain Mark Alleyne in a fifth-wicket stand of 95 earned two batting points that had seemed beyond their reach. Jonathan Lewis then rattled through the Nottinghamshire open- ers, trapping Matthew Dowman playing across the crease with his first ball and then seeing Tim Robinson brilliantly picked up low at ex- tra cover. That was the key for Astle to come in and attack as no one else had managed to in this game, recalling his century off Eng- land in the opening game of the 1996 World Cup. Astle hit seven fours and a six, all but one off Lewis and all straight back past him, to reach 39 in 41 balls before holing out at extra cover. The final act belonged to Lawrence who, in seven overs of sheer pace, had Usman Afzaal caught by Alleyne at second slip and then re- moved Ashley Metcalfe, taken behind the stumps by Jack Russell. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Lawrence hits form to keep hopes alive By Peter Deeley at Bristol Notts (294 & 228-5 dec) beat Gloucs (262 & 239) by 21 runs EVER the maid-in-waiting when it comes to championship hon- ours, Gloucestershire were on course for a return to the top of the table yesterday. So often in the past have things gone wrong for Gloucester- shire at the final fence - they have six times been runners-up - that the declaration by Nottinghamshire captain Paul Johnson, setting them 261 off a minimum off 60 overs must have seemed like manna from heaven. It seemed a trifle generous given the fact that slippery con- ditions underfoot were more likely to hamper the bowler than the bats- man. But Gloucestershire`s batting has hardly matched the quality of their attack this season and their opening partner- ships have aver- aged a miserly 15 runs. Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne juggled his top order, sending in Tim Hancock and he and Mat Windows put on 73 in 22 overs be- fore Windows was caught low at midwicket attempting a pull off Chris Tolley. Tolley`s next ball took the edge of Australian Shaun Young`s bat but Mathew Dowman at first slip failed to hold on. Overnight rain had threatened to destroy this game but after 24 overs had been lost in the morning, Gloucestershire`s occa- sional bowlers allowed Johnson and Tolley to add 94 off 10 overs to set up the declaration. Johnson got within four runs of his century, then walked off - a gesture which will commend this man`s integrity to all crick- et- lovers who despise bogus hundreds. This game saw the return to action after three months of David Lawrence, a player assured of a place in the hearts and in the folklore of a county whose history is already richer in char- acters than most others. His come-back at the age of 33 in the early part of the summer after an absence of five playing seasons following that hor- rific knee injury with England in Wellington was a triumph of op- timism over or- thodoxy. Reason must have suggested that after such a long time away from the game a man of his enormous bulk would be unable to coor- dinate 19 stone of muscle and bone with the accuracy demanded of a new-ball bowler. Lawrence`s return seemed fated to end after two championship games which yielded him six wickets. He is on a season`s re- tainer plus a match fee but, as various muscle strains took their toll, that seemed to spell an end to his return. But when the covers were rolled back at the start of the pre- sent game to reveal a pitch as green as a snooker table, Lawrence was preferred to a second spinner. There was a time when the very thought of facing `Syd` on a verdant top would have brought batsmen out in goose-pimples, but this pitch played flat and his lumbering run-up and evident dif- ficulties in getting down to the ball in the field invoked more sympathy than fear in opponents` minds. For nearly three days Lawrence was little more than a specta- tor. Then, in gloomy conditions, he came in as first change in Notts sec- ond innings and whipped out two batsmen through sheer pace. Derbyshire`s committee may have climbed down over the con- test of wills with the players, but a new confrontation is brewing over the future of batsman Chris Adams. His absence from the side who drew with Somerset yesterday, when no play was possible after overnight rain, was officially put down to tonsillitis. Adams, however, has made it known that he was "fit and available" and has protested to new chairman Vic Brownett. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)