Date-stamped : 10 Aug97 - 11:43 Britannic County Championship: Weston wipes off the smiles By Neil Hallam at Northampton First day of four: Worcestershire 433-5 v Northants A DAY which started in positive fashion for Northamptonshire ended with them toiling in the field as Worcestershire left-han- der Philip Weston hit a career-best unbeaten 196. Weston and David Leatherdale rattled up 241 in 51 overs for the fifth wicket as Northants suffered from severe injury prob- lems and a lifeless pitch. The first good news for Northants yesterday was their securing of a -L1 million National Lottery grant towards the building of a new six-lane indoor cricket centre on the Football Ground side of the Coun- ty Ground. The next was that Graeme Hick, for whom this pitch and an at- tack lacking Mohammad Akram, Paul Taylor, David Capel, David Fol- lett and Jeremy Snape could have been designed, was missing with a hand injury. But the optimistic mood, which strengthened after Northants` un- familiar new-ball pairing of Scott Boswell and John Blain in- flicted early damage, soon disappeared. Blain, the Scotland seamer making his championship debut, found some nip with his fifth ball to bowl Tim Curtis off the edge and Boswell widened the breach in the 11th over when Tom Moody paid the price for moving only half a stride forward . Thereafter, however, it was a chastening day for Northants, made more so when Leatherdale, who went on to make 110 off 158 balls, was dropped on 70 at the expense of left-arm spinner Michael Davies, making his first-class debut. Reuben Spiring fell when backing up too far in pursuit of a single to mid-on and Gavin Haynes played round a straight one but with the fifth-wicket pair cutting loose, Northants had time aplenty to ponder the fact that Weston would not have played but for Hick`s in- jury. With only three championship half-centuries to his credit and a top score of 65, Weston had lost his place in Worcestershire`s two previous matches but after reaching 100 off 216 balls, with 15 fours and a five, he provided evidence of mounting confi- dence by scoring his next 50 off only 46 balls, with three sixes and five more fours. Leatherdale`s confidence was already in full bloom after a century and an unbeaten half-century against Kent in his last match and apart from a skimming chance to Rob Bailey at mid- on his innings was a model of astute selection and accurate plac- ing. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Warren in step with the banal By Neil Hallam at Northampton Second day of four: Northants (208-3) trail Worcs (551) by 343 runs WHATEVER new direction Lord MacLaurin persuades county cricket to take, any upturn in spectator appeal must surely be dependent on some move towards the extinction of pitches as comatose as that on which Northamptonshire, needing 402 to avoid the follow-on, saun- tered to 208 for three. The sight of Tom Moody wheeling away in rare off-spin mode, said much about the banality of conditions as Russell Warren`s unbeaten 85 reduced Northamptonshire`s deficit to 343 and made a positive outcome to this game unlikely without contrivance. Worcestershire, resuming at 433 for five, took 39 overs to dawdle to 551 all out with Philip Weston, 196 overnight, needing 50 min- utes to complete the first double-century of his career. A miscued pull dislodged him for 205, containing 30 fours, a five and three sixes, and Scott Boswell mopped up for a ca- reer-best five for 94. Alamgir Sheriyar and Gavin Haynes were warned for running on the pitch as Northamptonshire`s openers launched the innings with a stand of 79 and Warren shared another prosperous part- nership of 119 in 35 overs with Alan Fordham. David Roberts fell pulling and Fordham perished hooking to confirm that indiscretion is more likely than anything to lead to a batsman`s downfall on this surface. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Northamptonshire v Worcestershire Third day of four: Worcs (551 & 219-5) lead Northants (403-5 dec) by 367 runs THE comfort with which Northamptonshire surpassed a follow-on total of 402 for the loss of only five wickets on a sunbaked pitch at the County Ground will doubtless ensure they are asked to make rather more at a fairly brisk run-rate by Worcester- shire today, writes Neil Hallam. Northants` declaration, 148 behind, was a matter of necessity if this contest was to be revived and half centuries from Reuben Spir- ing and David Haynes enabled Worcestershire to extend their lead to 367 for the loss of five wickets by the close. Tim Curtis clipped straight to mid-wicket to fall to John Blain for the second time on the Scotland seamer`s Championship debut and there was a first victim in first-class cricket for Michael Davies when Tom Moody was held at slip. Davies, a 21-year-old left-arm spinner from Ashby-de-la- Zouche, is rated a player of promise by Northants and his in- telligent variations made it possible to see why. Phil Weston, the first innings double-century maker, also edged to slip; a fourth-wicket stand worth 96 ended similar- ly when Davies slanted one away from Haynes and the spinner claimed a third victim by luring Spiring from his crease. Northants, resuming at 208 for three, soon lost Rob Bailey and Kevin Curran but Russell Warren`s unbeaten 174 showed that a batsman with the patience to wait for the bad balls could pros- per. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Moody`s variety act tops the bill By Neil Hallam at Northampton Worcs beat Norts by 101 runs WORCESTERSHIRE captain Tom Moody, punishing batsman and test- ing seamer, can now add a third strand to his qualification as an all-rounder, that of match- winning off-spinner. His decision to omit slow-left-armer Matt Rawnsley and go into the game at Northampton without a front-line spinner seemed ques- tionable once the benign character of a sun-baked pitch be- came appar- ent. But Moody supplied vindication in full measure by taking five for 148 in 35 overs to earn his side victory by 101 runs. Off-breaks are a very occasional part of the big Aust- ralian`s repertoire but you would hardly have guessed it as he wheeled away to extract enough turn and bounce to command respect and punish indiscretion. With former England left-arm-spinner Richard Illingworth not yet recovered from a shoulder injury suffered pre-season and off- spinner Vikram Solanki unable to bowl because of a hand injury, Moody`s demand for Northampton to make 421 to win off 90 overs was not unrea- sonable on this pitch. Never before had Northants made this many in a fourth innings to win - 384 for eight against Worcestershire in 1961 standing as their best ever - but a daunting feat seemed possible at 290 for five with 25 overs left and Rob Bailey on course for a cen- tury and it took a late collapse, in which four wickets perished for one run in three overs, to leave them 319 all out. That hoary adage "If you want a job doing properly, do it yourself" seemed particularly appropriate as the two captains, Moody and Bailey, dominated an absorbing struggle. First-in- nings century-maker Richard Warren launched Northants` pursuit with a brisk 67 and Kevin Curran made a half-century off 63 balls, but thereafter it was Bailey who disputed domination. He announced his intentions with a four and two sixes of con- secutive balls from Moody but was forced to temper aggression with a degree of circumspection once Curran had fallen to the even more occa- sional leg-spin of Tim Curtis to end a stand of 103 in 27 overs. Fittingly, Moody applied the coup de grce by having Bailey, whose 115 came off 195 balls, taken at slip with almost 12 overs of the final hour remaining. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)