Date-stamped : 30 Apr97 - 06:16
Derbyshire held back by Dalton

By Charles Randall at Lakenham

Derbys (166-2) need 91  runs  to  beat  Minor  Counties (256-7)

AN  innings  of  extraordinary  deftness  by  Richard  Dalton,  a
plastics  factory supervisor from Wellingborough, left Derbyshire
with  an  awkward  task  before  rain   intervened  at   Lakenham
yesterday.

Derbyshire resume today with the pugnacious Chris  Adams  perched
on  95,  and  they should maintain  a  five-an-over  tempo easily
enough for a repeat of last year`s victory at Derby.

It had earlier looked far from  straightforward  and,   as  Minor
Counties had won only six out of 65 Benson  and  Hedges Cup games
to date, the embarrassment factor for Derbyshire in the outskirts
of Norwich was quite high.

The bearded  Dalton,  a  Northamptonshire   reject,   was  making
his  debut  in  the  competition  at   the  age  of  31,  perhaps
better known as  England`s  leading  indoor   cricketer   in   an
obscure branch of the sport.

Batting at six, he sweetly timed 76 off 59 balls to all quarters,
including four  sixes  -  one  of  which  was driven cleanly over
third man off an Andrew Harris outswinger.

Aided   by   Mark   Fell`s   quick-fire    67,    Dalton     took
Derbyshire`s  back-up bowling to the cleaners in a glorious stand
of 76 in 10 overs;  the  flow  was  halted  once  by   a  plastic
dustbin lid being blown on to the field and holding up play.

Phil DeFreitas and Devon Malcolm   dominated   the   first  hour,
with  the  former  England  batsman  Wayne  Larkins, now Dalton`s
Bedfordshire team-mate, taken at first slip for a duck.

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

Adams easily seals victory

By Charles Randall at Lakenham

Derbyshire (260-4) bt Minor Counties (256-7) by 6 wkts

NO upset in Norfolk yesterday; not even a hint  of   one.   Chris
Adams,  with  138,  helped Derbyshire score  the  91  runs needed
overnight   in   an   hour   on    another     bleak     morning,
weatherwise, at Lakenham.

A 91-ball hundred and a haul of six sixes against   club  bowling
was  only  a modest chit to David  Graveney,  but  Adams, who has
scored two rapid hundreds in three innings, would  have done  his
prospects  no  harm. The chairman of England`s  selectors already
knows he is probably the most awkward  batsmen  in  the  land  to
contain.

Minor Counties showed enough ability  to   suggest   they  should
not  be  underestimated or patronised by the pros,  certainly not
by Warwickshire at Edgbaston today.

Ian Cockbain`s team needed  to  remove   Adams   or   Dean  Jones
early  yesterday  to  stay   in  the  game,  and  the  issue  had
effectively been settled by the time  Jones  ran   himself   out.
He  appeared  to  ignore  Adams`s   correct  call  of  `no`,  and
Jonathan Fielding had time to jog from mid-on to claim the bails.


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

<END> Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)