Date-stamped : 04 Aug97 - 14:31 Maddy ruins Essex chance to go top By Nigel Fuller at Colchester Leicestershire (225-9) beat Essex (190) by 35 runs ESSEX squandered the opportunity to move to the top of the Sunday League as Leicestershire collected their first victory in the county for 17 years. It was the younger generation who inspired the visitors. None more so than teenager James Ormond, who is widely regarded as one of the most promising fast bowlers in the country. He did so by undermining the Essex top order with a hostility which certainly made batsmen hurry their strokes. He ripped out Stuart Law, who survived an earlier life against him, Nasser Hussain and Paul Prichard - setbacks from which Es- sex never really recovered. It left them on 68 for three and though Paul Grayson briefly threatened Leicestershire`s authority, Essex were never able to mount a serious challenge. Grayson struck 31 from 33 balls but once he departed the in- nings subsided. Darren Maddy was the other influential figure in the visitors` triumph. He picked up the last three wickets to fall, but his performance with the bat was of greater significance. Before he went in, Leicestershire`s batsmen flattered to de- ceive. Three of their first four failed to progress after reaching their 20s and it was left to Maddy`s control and ag- gressive approach to carry his county to a match- winning total. He drove with power as well as style while gathering 75 from 61 deliveries, and put one soaring six over midwicket off off- spinner Peter Such. Jonathan Dakin was the only partner who provided Maddy with meaningful support. He straight drove Grayson for six during a stand yielding 69 in eight overs, just when acceleration was desperately needed after Leicestershire had become becalmed in mid innings. They had started encouragingly enough, Vince Wells and Neil Johnson taking the total to 45 after only eight overs. Steve Andrew, in one of his rare appearances, was then given the ball and proceeded to undermine the visitors` authority with a sus- tained spell of accuracy which gave him three wickets at a cost of 20 runs. He bowled Johnson in his first over, and then breached the de- fences of Wells in his second before having Ben Smith caught on the mid- wicket boundary in his sixth. With Such keeping things reasonably tight at the other end, Le- icestershire needed 15 overs to advance from 50 to 100 be- fore Maddy upped the tempo. He was eventually undone by Ashley Cowan, when he tried to in- crease the run-rate even further, but by then he was left with only the tailenders for company. He could not have known it then but his efforts, despite only a handful of runs added by the tailenders, were quite enough for victory over a disappointing Essex. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)