Date-stamped : 30 May96 - 02:14 County Championship 1996 Derbyshire v Essex County Ground, Derby 23, 24, 25, 27 May 1996 ====> REPORT (Day 1, 23 May 1996) Law cut short by weather By D.J. Rutnagur at Derby First day of four: Essex 225-3 v Derbys ESSEX, more than Derbyshire, had cause to regret the loss to rain of all of the final session for, with Stuart Law cutting loose, they were gathering momentum and building on a sound foundation laid by Darren Robinson and Nasser Hussain against keen, disciplined bowling. Robinson and Hussain, coming together in the fifth over on Graham Gooch`s exit, put on 158 from 59 overs and departed in close succession. Devon Malcolm, claimant of 17 wickets in four matches hith- erto - eight in his last - could only have advanced his cause during a short confrontation with Gooch, who had announced him- self with two fours off Andrew Harris in the first over. The England selector did not quite middle a hook at a Malcom bouncer and was then bowled off his pads. Malcolm did not strike again thereafter, but was always consistent with his line. There was some moisture in the pitch, but the ball moved off the seam and also swung as clouds shut out the sun. Early on, Robinson stirred the air a few times with a flurry of missed drives against Harris, but then settled down to play solidly, as did Hussain against bowling that was seldom off the mark. The breakthrough came from an unlikely source, the off-spin of Dean Jones, who put himself on for just one over. Robinson, probably playing for turn which did not materialise, edged to the wicket-keeper. Hussain departed in the next over, lbw to Harris, who got the odd one to nip back sharply. ====> NO PLAY DAY 2 ====> REPORT (Day 3, 25 May 1996) Barnett falls short of record By Neil Hallam Third day of four: Derbyshire 215-3 in reply to Essex 353-7 dec KIM Barnett`s hopes of putting beyond statistical doubt his right to be hailed the leading batsman in Derbyshire`s history was frustrated at Derby yesterday. Barnett began the first innings against Essex needing 91 to overtake Denis Smith`s record of 20,516 first-class runs for the county. But his untypically stodgy innings ended 52 runs short of the target when seamer Neil Williams made one lift and seam off a good length to provide wicketkeeper Robert Rollins with a straightforward catch. Nonetheless, former wicketkeeper George Dawkes, who played with Smith, said: "It`s a marvellous performance, and he`s had the responsibility of the captaincy for most of his career. "Denis Smith was a fine, attacking batsman. In one respect they are similar because Denis went for his strokes from the first ball." While Smith took 711 innings to establish the record aggre- gate for a career average of 31.41 - albeit on uncovered pitches - Barnett has averaged around 40 in 562 first-class in- nings. He has scored more centuries - 47 - for Derbyshire than anyone else and topped 1,000 runs a season most often, a dozen times. Now his sights are set on "making a couple of the Derbyshire records look a bit more respectable." He explained: "Our record aggregate is the lowest apart from Durham`s, so I`d like to change that before I`m done. "I`m certainly looking beyond the 25,000 mark and seeing the way Graham Gooch and Mike Gatting have kept the runs coming makes me confident I can carry on for at least another four or five seasons." Barnett`s next chance to claim the record looks likely to come in a run chase tomorrow since only declarations seem likely to produce a positive outcome to a rain-blighted game. At tea Derbyshire were 120 for two in 36 overs in reply to Essex`s 353 for seven declared. ====> REPORT (Day 4, 27 May 1996) Owen left to toil in vain By D. J. Rutnagur Final day of four: Essex (353-7 dec & 44-1) drew with Derbyshire (315) WITH the ravages of overnight rain holding up play until 20 minutes after lunch, Derbyshire and Essex, who were deprived of four sessions on Thursday and Friday, were left with no scope to contrive a result at Derby. But bonus points remained at stake and Essex completed a full hand in dismissing Derbyshire, who resumed at 215 for three, 27 minutes after tea. Derbyshire`s decline would have been swifter but for John Owen, whose 78 off 115 balls was his third innings of over 50 in five outings this season. Owen`s overnight partner, Dean Jones, did not stay long, and was caught at slip. Only Karl Krikken provided Owen with meaning- ful support, the pair adding 41 for the sixth wicket. When Essex batted again, Devon Malcolm made short work of Graham Gooch, clipping the top of his off stump with his first delivery. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http.//www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by Shash (shs2@*.cwru.edu)