Date-stamped : 14 Sep97 - 06:09 Yorkshire are grateful for Gough`s return By Charles Randall at Headingley First day of four: Kent (79-1) trail Yorkshire (312) by 233 runs KENT, the championship leaders, might have had Yorkshire in se- rious difficulties at Headingley if Darren Gough had not applied his golden touch yesterday - this time with the bat. Gough could not have expected his return after an absence of four championship games to unfold quite like this, and his 58 in 59 balls will not have done his sore knee much good. In a match where every point counted, Yorkshire managed to earn three for batting when one had looked beyond them, allow- ing David Byas to contemplate the second day in a position of parity or slightly better. Yorkshire`s entertaining attempt to close a gap of 18 points on Kent marked this out as a crucial contest, which the club even re- garded as the most important for three decades. There was a sinister off-field undercurrent in the morning when it became apparent that Yorkshire`s proposed move to a new ground at Wakefield would be delayed for several years by legal action from the Headingley owners which would prevent the county applying for National Lottery funding. Lawyers for Paul Caddick have issued a writ for -L17 million against individuals involved in the signing of the 1982 lease, includ- ing Sir Lawrence Byford, Yorkshire`s chairman, and Chris Hassell, chief executive. The players went about their business after the toss had been won, though another crisis hung in the air when Kent reduced them to 137 for six soon after lunch. Anthony McGrath and Michael Vaughan, both apparently marginalised from the England set-up after their omission from the A tour, gave Yorkshire a flying start that was sustained only at the cost of wickets. Byas`s crisp 59 masked an impending collapse, with the middle order disintegrating when the left-hander missed an in-swinger from Mark Ealham, departing lbw. Alan Igglesden, whose controlled swing always bothered the batsmen, then dismissed Craig White, flashing a low catch, and Bradley Parker, lbw half forward, in successive balls. When Richard Blakey popped up a bat-pad catch to short leg next over, Yorkshire had lost three wickets in seven balls, and any mo- ment, it seemed, the cracks would widen. Gough missed with a lavish drive at his first ball and con- founded Kent with a mixture of carves over slip and orthodox boundaries, some of them quite pretty for a batsman with many failures and a high- est score of 34 this summer. With Gough spreading Steve Marsh`s field to all quarters and the ball softened by heavy morning dew, Darren Lehmann could proceed with reasonable confidence towards what proved to be a magnificent 87. The Lehmann-Gough partnership had risen entertainingly to 117 in 19 overs when Gough was beaten and bowled by a typical skidding seamer from the persevering Ealham. Lehmann, the backbone of an often brittle batting side, is an- other batsman unable to tempt Australia`s selectors - a de- pressing thought for the English circuit. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Gough`s exit hampers Yorks By Charles Randall at Headingley Second day of four: Yorks (312) trail Kent (374) by 62 runs THE loss of Darren Gough with a torn hamstring yesterday re- duced Yorkshire`s chances of narrowing Kent`s lead at the top on a Headingley pitch that seemed to drain energy and inspiration out of bowlers like sand through an hourglass. Kent may not have won in Leeds since before the war, but if they succeed this time, they will eliminate Yorkshire from the championship equation and guarantee the title if Glamorgan fail to win in Cardiff. Chris Silverwood produced bursts of pace and swing for York- shire that earned him a career-best seven wickets, but Kent`s tail turned this compelling contest around, Steve Marsh oversee- ing a recovery with an innings of 84 at number nine. Kent, as they had done against other opponents this summer, produced runs from seemingly nowhere, by sleight of willow, and nobody should be surprised if one day they bat in conjurers` top hats in- stead of helmets. Kent were assisted by Gough`s departure. Having jarred his in- jured left leg again while bowling, he is expected to need at least four weeks` rest. His attendance at England`s fitness camp in the Canary Islands early in November and the West Indies tour in January did not seem threatened, but his breakdown was nevertheless alarming. Gough left Yorkshire`s attack in mid-afternoon when their vis- itors were seven wickets down, and it was not readily apparent how damaging the consequences would be. Silverwood worked up disconcerting pace with his leaping de- livery and he was especially menacing at the start of each spell. When he dismissed Graham Cowdrey with the first ball after lunch, Yorkshire were in control. Cowdrey, snicking tamely, was seventh out at 202, with Matthew Fleming a new partner. By the time Yorkshire had added two more suc- cesses, Kent`s score had risen by 169. Silverwood and Paul Hutchison both demanded, and received, re- spect from Fleming and Marsh, but the score rose steadily and any luck going slid Kent`s way. Fleming had two escapes, once just eluding Gough at mid-on with a miscue and then surviving a slip chance to David Byas - again off Hutchison - when he had reached 22. Nevertheless, Fleming could rarely have batted better than he did for his 53 while he and his captain eased the aspiring champions out of trouble in crackling tension that entranced a crowd of about 3,500. One surprise was that Hutchison`s darting left-arm seamers snared only one victim, when Marsh missed a full-toss, but he showed enough pace and swing to justify the high reputation accorded to him by the England selectors. Possibly the workload of Yorkshire`s seam bowlers began to take effect, and switches to spin proved counter-productive. Kent`s revival continued even after Fleming edged to Craig White at slip. Paul Strang had an early swipe at Richard Stemp, slicing the left-armer over the covers, and after admonishment from Marsh, the Zimbabwean settled in to load frustration on Yorkshire. Kent`s innings was like those old Naafi sandwiches - quite tough top and bottom with nothing much in the middle - and perhaps Trevor Ward had made batting look too easy in the moring. Ward gave Silverwood and Hutchison a roasting at one stage, driving and pulling a starburst of boundaries on his way to an enter- taining 56 in 51 balls. White bowled Ward leg-stump through a drive, and Dean Headley, surviving shakily as nightwatchman for 1.75 hours, was run out. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Ealham heads Kent in the right direction By Charles Randall at Headingley Third day of four: Yorkshire (312 & 290-8) lead Kent (374) by 228 runs KENT took another stride towards their first championship ti- tle for 19 years when they wrested back an advantage over third- placed Yorkshire at Headingley yesterday. The leaders should win to- day, but there have been precious few certainties in this match so far. There had been plenty of fuss over Paul Strang`s availability, but it was Kent`s seam bowling that tilted the balance when Mark Eal- ham bustled in for four wickets in the afternoon. Strang was given belated permission by Zimbabwe`s cricket au- thorities to linger in England for the weekend, though the leg- spinner so far has taken only one wicket - albeit the important one yesterday of David Byas. Kent`s intended gamble, expecting Strang to miss today`s final session to catch a flight at Gatwick, was not required, allowing him a Sunday League comeback into the bargain after his emotion- al farewell last weekend. There were stayings, comings and goings all round in a weath- er-reduced day. Dean Headley missed the evening session with soreness around the hips and Steve Marsh, Kent`s captain, re- quired a visit to hos- pital for an X-ray on a bruised left thumb. Marsh had received a painful blow on his right thumb during his admirable 84 the previous day and he might find batting a problem if required in the second innings. David Fulton deputised behind the stumps. Headley followed Darren Gough on to the treatment table and, what with Ashley Cowan`s shoulder trouble in Cardiff, one can- not help wondering whether England`s selectors had put a curse on their seam at- tack before the West Indies tour. The morning`s session could have been crucial because Anthony McGrath and Michael Vaughan went out to bat with a first-in- nings deficit of 62 knowing that a bad start could feed Kent the victory that would eliminate Yorkshire from the title race. Rain reduced the morning to six overs and a healthy 35 runs, with Headley taking most of the punishment. The arrears were wiped out in only 12 overs for the loss of McGrath, who shuffled too far across his stumps. McGrath`s 32 off 28 balls set the tone for some melodious bat- ting by Vaughan, Byas and Darren Lehmann, whose 68 contained some pow- erful cover drives. Marsh`s decision to post a sweeper on the cover boundary might have looked ridiculous for any other batsman than Lehmann. The Aus- tralian`s aggression has added a new dimension to Yorkshire this year. The local prints have suggested that the sturdy South Aus- tralian would be returning home "wider" for his county experi- ence before yesterday`s hasty correction to "wiser". Byas`s innings had to be reclassified as an anchor role when wickets began to trickle away. Lehmann speared a high return catch to Matthew Fleming, who held on athletically, and Craig White soon fol- lowed when he was clean bowled. Ealham, whose quicker ball was consistently too dangerous for liberties, claimed Bradley Parker in the same way he had ended Vaughan`s stay. Both batsmen dollied up catches with attempted pulls. Byas, having reached a good fifty in 88 balls, then had to graft and shepherd his partners along, including Gough with a runner. Gough, hampered by his pulled hamstring, tried to repeat his first-innings fireworks with a slice over slips and a glorious cover drive for starters, but it could not last. Yorkshire slipped deeper into trouble when Byas, after four hours` concen- tration, prod- ded a tame catch to extra cover. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Britannic County Championship: Kent keep afloat for title de- cider By Scyld Berry at Headingley Yorkshire (312 & 301) drew with Kent (374 & 147-5) KENT came to Headingley with the record of not having won here in the championship since 1930. They leave here with that record in- tact, but they live to fight another day for the champi- onship title. While Glamorgan have sneaked one point ahead at the top, Kent can still pip them at the final post. In the last round of matches Glamorgan have to visit Somerset. Kent, on one of their fast re-laid pitches at Canterbury, will en- tertain Surrey, who can get out of bed on any side at the mo- ment. It was Chris Silverwood who destroyed Kent`s chance of staying top by matching Glamorgan`s win with one of their own. After a poor start to this season when his action was being readjusted, Silverwood recorded his career-best figures. Once Kent had been set 240 to win from a minimum of 89 overs, Silverwood produced an opening spell of 15 overs - either side of lunch - and five wickets for 38 runs. His burst of outswing on an uneven pitch prompted Kent to aim for a draw, after three-and- a- half days of championship cricket at its brightest. There was no suggestion of anti-climax when Yorkshire stretched their overnight lead by 11 runs for the loss of their last two wick- ets to Paul Strang, who will set off for Zimbabwe after today`s show- down for the Sunday league. Whether he returns next season depends on whether Kent can sign Chris Adams. If they do secure him, Kent would prefer Strang`s bowl- ing to Carl Hooper`s batting as their overseas presence. Marsh could not keep wicket for Kent with two bruised thumbs, and Dean Headley could neither field nor bowl. If the unwis- dom of choosing six England Test players for Sharjah wasn`t apparent at the time of selection, it should be after two fast bowlers have broken down. A quiet climb-down in October is in order, and the replacement of Darren Gough and Headley. The other objection to England`s otherwise well-made selec- tions is the overlooking of too many players in their early-to- mid twenties representing Midland counties. Aside from Dominic Cork, David Hemp and Paul Nixon had a definite case, while England`s search for a long-term left-handed opener could equally well come to fruition in Mathew Dowman or Iain Sutcliffe as in Mark Butcher or Nick Knight. Kent`s target was always going to be steep, though they did not have to score at three runs an over. They had lost the ini- tiative on Friday afternoon when Yorkshire had batted boldly against bowlers not straight enough to maximise the uneven bounce (England seem not to be the only team to under-use Eal- ham when Headingley is made for him). Not for the first time this summer Kent`s top order failed: eight of their players have made a championship hundred, but on- ly Eal- ham more than one. But this was one of the few times their top order has failed since July, when Ed Smith was no longer required by Cambridge and Ealham by England. The strong freezing cross-wind favoured Silverwood`s outswinger as he ran in from the Kirkstall end. He had Smith stretching and edging a widish one; David Fulton stunned a york- er but was himself stunned when the ball rolled off his foot into his wicket. Dickie Bird was standing at Silverwood`s end and was thrice persuaded to shoot up a finger in one spell, which may have made some kind of record. What happened then was a very English passage of play. In ef- fect nothing happened. Ealham and Matthew Fleming began to bat for a draw and three points. With only five wickets left, one of them the injured Marsh, and almost 200 needed, it was a enormous task, though Yorkshire lacked Gough and Craig White was not at full pace. But why Yorkshire spread their field for the defending bats- men, and posted a sweeper to either side as Kent blocked, was be- yond comprehension. For an hour the game was deadlocked. Richard Stemp floated in the wind with only a slip in close; 27 runs came from the next 20 overs. Neither side dared to move, or win. After tea Yorkshire changed tack. Darren Lehmann strode out in protective gear and crowded the batsman as the spinners found oc- casional extravagant turn, but by then it was too late. A shower cost nine overs. By the time the wind had blown it away, only 4.3 overs and the last hour remained for Kent to survive. Their first championship since 1968 is now only the most theo- retical possibility for Yorkshire. They can justifiably claim to have been the most consistent team in all competitions over the last two seasons but will have nothing to show for it. David Byas has got them to play vigorous cricket, and their physical fitness is self-evident. A little of the cunning that was once supplied by Rhodes and Robinson, Sellers and Illingworth, has been missing. Kent, two points ahead of Warwickshire in the Axa Life League, have only to win today to take the Sunday title, and their op- po- nents have no interest in the match. Their exceptional line-up of all- rounders should carry them through if their nerve holds. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)