Date-stamped : 06 May97 - 10:16 Rocky day for Kent proves students are learning fast By Charles Randall at Canterbury Kent (225-6) beat British Univs (223-8) by 4 wkts BRITISH UNIVERSITIES put themselves back on the cricketing map by giving Kent, one of the strongest one-day sides, a difficult afternoon at Canterbury yesterday. The students looked likely winners when Kent lost their fifth wicket for 99, but luck, a crucial ingredient, eluded them and the end arrived with five overs remaining. A brilliant 75 off 65 balls by Nigel Llong for his first Gold Award pushed Kent to victory in a run-a-ball partnership of 122 with Mark Ealham, a stand that guaranteed a quarter- final place. The universities, with no chance now of qualifying, at least restored some credibility, which had become notably lacking in recent years. The last time the students reached the knockout stage was in 1989 under Mike Atherton`s captaincy and they almost reached the semi- finals that year, losing at Somerset by three runs when a Nasser Hussain hundred seemed to have tipped the balance. Since then, university cricket has achieved little, certainly in the Benson and Hedges Cup, while Oxford and Cambridge have barely done enough to justify the privilege of first- class status. John Crawley (Cambridge), Nick Knight (Loughborough) and Jason Gallian (Oxford) have joined Atherton and Hussain as England players since then, but that seems to be that for a while. Perhaps this year will be seen as a turning point. A British universities premier league has been inaugurated, pitching Oxford and Cambridge in with other consistently strong universities such as Durham, Loughborough, Exeter and Swansea. Yesterday Anurag Singh, one of four Cambridge players on view, Tim Hodgson and Mark Chilton, both Durham, showed obvious ability with the bat, and there were other encouraging aspects. Scott Boswell (Wolverhampton) and Steffan Jones (Cambridge) looked solid county-class seam-bowlers and Toby Bailey impressed behind the stumps. Ed Smith and Will House, both Cambridge, enjoyed big reputations on return to their contracted county, though both failed this time in ignominious fashion. Smith was held at slip by Llong two balls after a similar chance had been dropped and the left-handed House snicked an airy waft to slip for a third-ball duck. The students lost, convincingly in the end, but they did compete strongly against a Kent side who had won all five of their one-day games, including two against Surrey. Oddly, the fielding proved the weakest area for the students. A direct hit from cover by Hodgson accounted for Matthew Walker in the second over but all-round misfields were too common for comfort. Matthew Fleming picked up the cudgel for Kent after the run-out, which might have been his fault, and he had scored 63 in 44 balls when he pulled once too often and was bowled off an edge by Boswell. The score was 76. Trevor Ward had already been caught behind off a perfect delivery that left him, and Alan Wells squirted a catch to cover off the accurate Jones, whose whippy pace had been a feature of the cup campaign. In the 24th over Graham Cowdrey chopped Umer Rashid, the left-arm spinner, on to his stumps, and Kent, five down, had to contemplate defeat. This time Chilton was unable to repeat his five-wicket slow-medium intervention that defeated Sussex last week. The universities` innings was nicely paced, even if the final thrash never materialised. Anurag had his toe bruised by an attempted yorker from Dean Headley, which handicapped his timing further. Nevertheless he found the gaps well during his 53 not out off 72 balls, which included only four boundaries. Chilton was athletically held by a diving Fleming at extra cover short of what would have been an excellent fifty. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)