Date-stamped : 11 Jun97 - 10:48 Kent adopt lordly swagger By Charles Randall at Canterbury Kent (206-8) bt Northamptonshire (140) by 66 runs KENT gave themselves another tilt at Lord`s glory by barging past Northamptonshire in a semi-final that never hit great heights at the St Lawrence Ground yesterday. Kent have not won a major one-day final for 19 years, and they will have to play better than this to erase an irritating blot on their record of five final defeats in the two major compe- titions since their last success, the Benson and Hedges Cup, in 1978. Nevertheless, the feel-good factor that has enveloped cricket since England`s Test victory at Edgbaston had clearly penetrated the Garden of England, where the crowd were noisy and brash, liv- ing every ball from the start, through Trevor Ward`s imperious 78 to Northamptonshire`s all-too-tame demise. Even the players seemed to have a swagger that caught the mood. Is that stretching the imagination too far? Probably not, because it is amazing how the knock-on effect can lift the county cohorts. They can stroll down the street proud of their profession and walk into their local pub to be greeted by a sea of smiling faces. And now there is a Lord`s final for Kent to savour. Yesterday supporters began trooping into the Canterbury ground for breakfast as soon as the gates were opened, three hours be- fore the start, so a trip to London on July 12 would reward per- haps the most loyally-supported county on the circuit. Mark Ealham, one of the Edgbaston victors, was given a rousing reception when he emerged to bat, the sort of noise usually reserved for century-makers, but this time he was overshadowed by Ward and, later, by Dean Headley with the ball. Northampton- shire`s bowlers made Kent scratch around for runs on a slow pitch, with wickets lost in all sorts of interesting ways. David Follett`s side injury only added to the comings and goings. Matthew Walker and Alan Wells, for example, swatted at leg- side deliveries that would have been wides, Nigel Llong was sent back and run out first ball before Ward himself comprehen- sively lost his gamble against David Sales`s throwing arm. Ealham, unusually for him, found run-making a chore, mustering one four and 26 singles in his 41, but Kent were not to know they had more than enough runs in the bag, despite two 300-plus scores here in the quarter-final against Warwickshire. Headley soon showed Northamptonshire they had a struggle on their hands by ripping out three early wickets, and steady sup- port bowling blotted out any counter-attack. Headley, part of the Texaco Trophy squad and ruled out of Test contention through injury, tore out Russell Warren`s middle stump with his third ball, which must have made gruesome watching for the Northamptonshire balcony. Mal Loye fell plumb lbw and Kevin Curran, so often a saviour, miscued to mid-off where Walker held a fine diving catch. The only hope of an upset lay with Rob Bailey, the captain, who produced a sweet early four through midwicket off Mar- tin McCague and implored his colleagues, by example, to pace their innings for what should have been a reasonably undemanding target. McCague, though, produced a peach of a delivery for Bailey that left him and found the edge. Kent knew at that moment they were go- ing back to Lord`s. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)