Date-stamped : 16 Jun97 - 10:20
By Christopher Martin-Jenkins

Essex (220-2) bt Sussex (216-6) by 8 wkts

THERE  was  a  large crowd at Hove, the weather was sunny but not
cold and Peter Eaton and his  groundstaff  had  manicured   their
turf  until  it  looked as invitingly pretty as the fairway of an
American Open golf course; but for most of Essex`s leisurely can-
ter  past  a  Sussex  score  of  216  the  members  ensconced  in
their  deckchairs at the Cromwell Road End were as peaceful as so
many  vicars   reading   their  Sunday papers on the lawn. It was
all far too easy for Essex for the game to be exciting and  there
was nothing for it but to sit back and  ad- mire.

Stuart  Law  is  a batsman worthy of quiet contemplation and cer-
tainly of appreciation. He scored 123 off 94 balls and he  batted
with   a  cultured  ease which rather belies those startling fig-
ures. How the Aus- tralian selectors came to leave out  a  player
of   his   utterly  indis- putable accomplishment  is a  mystery,
but that much was obvious from the moment that their team was an-
nounced.

Law made 12 hundreds last season, six in the championship, and at
least one in each of the one-day competitions.  This,  his  high-
est  Sunday  score, was only his second century so far this  sea-
son, but there are bound to be many more. He makes  batting  look
so  very  simple  and the stillness of his head as he plays every
shot is a mod- el.

Having  struck  six fours and a six in fifty reached  out  of  85
from  only  41  balls,  he  celebrated with a six bludgeoned over
long-on off Sussex`s  own overseas player, Vasbert Drakes, and by
the  time that he drove James Kirtley to mid-off in only the 27th
over  he  had added a third six and 10 more fours.

Paul  Prichard,  who  had won the toss, simply had  to  ease  the
ball over the stripes of the outfield and his side were only  two
runs from their facile victory when he was bowled off his pads by
Kirtley. Es- sex`s eight-wicket win, reached with a little matter
of 19 overs and four balls to spare, keeps them top  of  the  AXA
Life League.

Sussex   had   batted   well  enough  but they would have to have
scored at seven an over to have stretched Essex and  the  bowling
was   too  steady  for   that,  especially when Ashley Cowan, the
smiling young man of the moment, came on for a  second  spell  at
the Sea End and  removed Bill Athey  and Rajesh Rao, who had both
timed the ball sweetly, in three overs.

Keith Greenfield made sure that there was  no  dis-   integration
and by shrewd improvisation scored 58 off 51 balls.

Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/)

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