IT SUITED Kevin Curran's side nicely when Minor Counties, the home team, selected Wardown Park, one of Northamptonshire's championship venues since 1986, for this game.

But instead of finding the normally bouncy and pacey pitches here, Curran's attack enjoyed the rare chance to bowl on an old-fashioned sticky dog. As a contest, the game was finished by the 23rd over with the Minors 32 for six.

Chief executioner was Franklyn Rose, whose figures of five for 14 were not only the best for Northamptonshire in this competition but also the best against the Minors in it. ``Just like the Lancashire League, this pitch, no problem man,'' said the Jamaican, who took nearly 200 wickets for Enfield in the 1995 and 1996 seasons.

Rose found the perfect length for this soft, damp surface in a match-winning opening spell of 8-3-11-4 that included the key wickets of prolific Birmingham League dasher Steve Dean and former Surrey batsman David Ward. Dean mistimed a drive to mid-off and Ward was out first ball to near-unplayable outswinger that began life on middle stump and grazed the off.

With all the Northants seamers maintaining an ideal line and length - notably Devon Malcolm whose first 29 deliveries were not scored off - the Minors found run-scoring virtually impossible.

Balls popped, cut and swung, and then turned square when the two off-spinners came on. Two former county players, Andy Roberts, who spent seven years on the Northants staff, and Dave Pennett, once of Notts, at least helped the score past 100.

Rose, who had also brought off an athletic run-out, was promoted as a pinch-hitter, as was Jeremy Snape, but both fell to Paul Newman, who nipped the ball around accurately and profited from Northants' risk-taking as they tried to finish off proceedings as soon as possible.

Run-rate could be decisive in this tough group, but when four quick wickets fell, Curran and Tony Penberthy had to bat with some circumspection. Curran fell to Staffordshire seamer Alan Richardson, who played two second eleven matches for Northants last year, before Penberthy hit the only six of the match to clinch victory.