Date-stamped : 03 Jun97 - 06:16 Tour Match: Blewett grabs his chance as Taylor suffers By Scyld Berry at Derby First day of three: Derbyshire (68-1) trail Australia (362-6 dec) by 294 THIS was the best day the Australian tourists have en- joyed since they defeated the aged and infirm of the Duke of Norfolk`s XI. At the 11th hour, in their last game be- fore the first Test, the Australian batsmen found their feet on the most amiable surface that Derbyshire could have supplied, and they helped themselves as if they had found a cash till gone haywire. Matthew Elliott had made a hundred on Thursday, and yesterday reached 67 with off-driving of great ease. Greg Blewett crashed 121 from 172 balls and has probably seized the No 3 Test spot for himself. The Australians have only been given the two first- class matches against Gloucestershire and Derbyshire to switch from the limited-overs mode that has been their fate since March: 14 one-day matches in a row in South Africa and England. If this had been a wet weekend in Derby Australia would have gone into the series not undercooked but raw. Whereas in 1993 they allowed themselves 22 days of cricket before the first Test, on this tour it will be only 13. The one bright spot for England amid the constant sun- shine was that Mark Taylor failed again. He began with a push for a single off his first ball, and picked up a couple more singles behind square leg. When he was given two in overthrows, he might have thought it was his day. Taylor says that he has sustained himself with the be- lief that his next hundred is around the corner and that he is only an innings or even a stroke away from form. He might even have thought his luck was turning when he pulled a shortish ball, on- ly to hit it straight at wide midwicket. But the signs are that he is not simply out of form but past his peak, and Eng- land will be happy if he stays in the Australian side beyond the first Test. A left-handed opener himself, England`s coach, David Lloyd, was present to watch if not sympathise. Devon Malcolm watched as well, though he did have to make occasional appear- ances as 12th man, since David Graveney had requested that Mal- colm be withdrawn from this match. As chairman of England`s selectors Graveney had decided on Friday night that England`s cause would be better served if Malcolm were to watch the Australians at work, but not they him. When he rang the county club, he found the chair- man, Mike Horton, sympathetic and the captain, Dean Jones, "up- set". "I`d like to apologise to the Derby public," Graveney com- mented. "I ac- cept we should have made the decision earlier." Ever since his best ever start to a season Malcolm was likely to be recalled for the Edgbaston Test, though whether he will play has to be seen. If the pitch is too slow for him, the best available partner for Darren Gough and Andy Caddick will be the one man who could be relied upon to put the ball in the right place when it matters, Angus Fraser. "I know there was an obstacle. Well, now I`m aware that the ob- stacle has been removed," declared Malcolm in what might have been a reference to Ray Illingworth. "I`ve bowled a lot of overs, the last thing I wanted was to bowl another 40 or 50 here" - on a pitch of plasticine. Good batting pitches and second-string attacks played the Aus- tralians into form in 1993 and this Race Course pitch has fast-tracked them there. By the 10th over Karl Krikken was standing up to the stumps for Kevin Dean, and soon af- terwards for Paul Aldred too. If Taylor in his second innings cannot improve on his record so far - nought, 30 and five - he might not make runs anywhere. But Taylor is still guaranteed his Test place for the moment, if only because Michael Slater, like Ricky Ponting, has been de- nied a first-class innings. Taylor`s partner at Edg- baston will be Elliott, while the shoot-out for No 3 was prob- ably decided when Justin Langer was given out leg before - he departed with a dark look at Bob White - and Blewett cashed in. England may not mind too much if Blewett bats at three when the ball is moving around. Here he threw his bat at the ball to off-drive and danced forwards to straight-hit the spin- ners twice for six to the pleasure of a large crowd. Michael Bevan took the Australians to 300 at four runs an over. He began well in Test cricket and has clammed up since, but Bevan has his wrist-spin as a second string. It may not be until later in the summer that Bevan finds the bounce he needs, but he has some mystique, more than Shane Warne, who has paid 51 runs for each wicket in his last three Tests against England, and that was before his finger operation. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Tour Match: Taylor`s 59 just in time By Neil Hallam at Derby Second day of three: Australians (362-6 dec & 148-2) lead Der- bys (257-9 dec) by 253 runs HAVING failed to trip Australia`s captain Mark Taylor on the threshold, the last-chance saloon instead served him with a re- viving tonic at Derbyshire`s expense. His unbeaten 59 counted only as a single measure, perhaps, but it was enough, in his last innings prior to the first Test, to soothe Australian neuroses about the viability of a captain who has not made a half-century in Tests since 1995, a dispiriting sequence of 20 innings, and whose form on this tour had been worryingly sketchy. His place at Edgbaston could hardly have been in doubt with Michael Slater, the likeliest alternative to open the innings, left out of Australia`s two first-class fixtures thus far. It would, nonetheless, have added significantly to Taylor`s crisis of confidence had he not been dropped when he had made only one, a nervy drive against Phil DeFreitas slicing low to first slip where Dean Jones failed to hold on to a sharp chance. Not until the 10th over, when he steered a full-toss from An- drew Harris past point for four, did Taylor produce a shot of re- al authority and it was three overs later before a rippling cov- er-drive hinted at returning confidence. Taylor drove the occasional medium-pace of Adrian Rollins through the off-side for fours off consecutive balls and a glori- ous cover drive off Vince Clarke brought up the captain`s fifty off 110 balls, with seven boundaries. This was only his third half-century in 31 first-class innings. With Michael Bevan reach- ing fifty off 89 balls the Australians finished 253 ahead and in a position to set a steep target today. Matt Elliott chopped into his stumps in the second over and Justin Langer played round a straight one but the arrival of Der- byshire`s second-line bowlers enabled Taylor and Bevan to add 115 in 30 overs overs with minimal anxiety. Derbyshire`s first innings, which resumed at 68 for one, was memorable only for a woeful incident which followed an lbw judgment against Chris Adams. Video replays suggested that he clipped Shane Warne to leg off the full face of the bat but his arrival at the other end found the finger of umpire Vanburn Holder raised and there fol- lowed half a minute of blatant dissent as Adams tried in vain to get the decision re- versed. An angry departing gesture towards the celebrating Aus- tralians, who had appealed in unison, added to the unpleasantness of an in- cident which reflected badly on all concerned and only the stolid re- sistance of Michael May and a tail-end flourish from Harris and Kevin Dean redeemed Derbyshire`s flimsy effort. Courtney Walsh has been reappointed West Indies captain for this month`s two-Test series against Sri Lanka in the Caribbean. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Australians facing a crisis of confidence By Neil Hallam at Derby Derbyshire (257-9 dec & 371-9) beat Australia (362-6 dec & 265-4 dec) by 1 wkt AUSTRALIA, having had their confidence massaged obligingly by a below-strength Derbyshire side for more than two days, had it severely dented in their last game prior to the first Test as Dean Jones and his men pulled off a historic victory by one wicket and with three balls to spare. Although the tourists` captain, Mark Taylor, insisted he had "no particular qualms about losing such a good game of cricket," this most untimely under-achievement must surely further deflate morale as they head for Edgbaston to confront an England side buoyed by a 3-0 Texaco Trophy success. Even Shane Warne`s seven for 103, which earned him the man of the match award, offered little real comfort. There was an uncom- monly rich supply of loose stuff from him as Chris Adams launched Der- byshire with 91 off 76 balls and Dean Jones, Warne`s team-mate at Victoria, kept the pot boiling with a hard- running 57, which contained only three boundaries. In eight games, so far the Australians have won only twice - in the opener against the Duke of Norfolk`s odds-and-ends team at Arundel and against Northamptonshire two days later - and since defeat by Worcestershire, their two first-class games have ended in a draw against Gloucestershire and this defeat by Der- byshire. While Taylor was able to cite "mitigating factors" - among them Andrew Bichel`s recurring back and hip problems and a toe-injury which yesterday limited Jason Gillespie to five overs - the statis- tics of Derbyshire`s victory cannot be glibly dis- missed. To achieve only their second success in 29 matches against a senior Australian touring side, by reaching a daunting 371 for nine, they had to make the highest fourth innings score in their 127-year history - beating the 350 for three with which they beat Northants at Derby 15 years ago. In recording their eighth victory over a senior touring side, they also surpassed their previous highest total against Aus- tralia, the 336 with which they failed by only nine runs to beat them at Chesterfield in 1968. Brendon Julian, who Taylor said had "a fair shout" at being chosen as the third seamer at Edgbaston, can hardly relish fac- ing Eng- land after taking two for 126 in 22 overs against sever- al of Derbyshire`s second-stringers. "Defeat in a game in which we lost only 10 wickets doesn`t bother me nearly so much as our injury situation," added Taylor. "Gille- spie has a bruise under the little toe of his left foot and though I`m 99 per cent sure he`ll play in the Test, I doubt he`ll be 100 per cent right. "I promised Shane he`d get only 15 overs but I had to give him a lot more and if he can take seven wickets holding something back and just rolling his arm over I`m looking forward to seeing what he can do in the Tests." Jones`s prediction that Adams would play for England was hard to dispute as he cut loose in a stand worth 148 in 28 overs with Adrian Rollins. A full toss from Warne was smashed for six over long-on and there were 16 fours to all quarters before Australia made what looked like being the crucial breakthrough. Adams heaved Warne high to midwicket with a shot which would have been six on most grounds but with a boundary of at least 90 yards on that side the ball was instead held by sub Glenn Mc- Grath. Rollins, whose fifty came off 83 balls, followed in the next over, lbw on the sweep, and when Ian Blackwell perished working to leg and Vince Clarke`s flurry ended with a catch at backward point, Der- byshire`s chance seemed lost. Jones, however, was at his most resourceful and though his timing was erratic he had taken his side to within 28 of victory before he slashed at a wide one from Julian. Karl Krikken and Phil DeFreitas fell on the charge and Andrew Harris was bamboozled by Warne but Paul Aldred and Kevin Dean kept their heads to prey on Julian`s inaccuracy and Der- byshire had a splendid victory to add to those over India last summer and New Zealand in 1994. Adams, meanwhile, has refused to accept a fine, believed to be -L750, imposed by Derbyshire for his prolonged show of dissent to- wards umpire Vanburn Holder on the second day. Holder up- held appeals for lbw when Adams appeared to clip a ball from Warne off the middle of the bat. Adams has exercised his right to a hearing by the England and Wales Cricket Board`s disciplinary sub-committee. Derbyshire chairman Mike Horton said: "I am disappointed that he has chosen this course of action and more disappointed that after apologising to the Australians and the umpire, he has not seen fit to do likewise to Derbyshire or to our supporters." Adams successfully overturned a fine of -L1,000 imposed by Der- byshire last winter after criticisms he made when he repeated his re- quest for release from the last two years of his five- year contract. The fine was instead suspended on that occasion but it is hard to imagine Lord`s doing anything but endorsing Derbyshire`s deci- sion in this case and it is within their powers to increase the pun- ishment to a maximum of -L2,000 in fines and a five-day sus- pension. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)