Date-stamped : 22 Jun97 - 14:20 By David Green at Bath First day of four: Leicestershire 337-3 v Somerset SOMERSET, whose performances this season have rarely reflected their talents, endured a grim day yesterday as Leicestershire built a strong position, with former Oxford University left-han- der Iain Sut- cliffe making a handsome maiden championship centu- ry. To compound Somerset`s woes, their brilliant leg-spinner Mush- taq Ahmed, having bowled an admirable first spell of 15 overs, went off with knee trouble after bowling three balls in his second, while quickie Andre Van Troost pulled a hamstring. Van Troost, capped along with Kevin Shine before play started, was wildly erratic, conceding runs at seven per over to assist openers Vince Wells (70) and Darren Maddy (58) to put on 133 in 31 overs. Maddy mis-hooked Jason Kerr and not long afterwards Mushtaq`s googly deceived Wells, whose previous five champi- onship innings were 56, 95, 107, 39 and 224. There was, though, plenty of toil ahead for Somerset`s bowlers. With the pitch, which had offered occasional bounce when the ball was hard, now apparently completely docile, Sutcliffe un- leashed some lovely drives square and through extra, reaching three figures off 182 balls with his 17th boundary. When Sutcliffe finally cut Shine to backward point the third- wicket stand had realised 192, James Whitaker contributing a sol- id if comparatively subdued 78 not out before bad light halted play 10 minutes early. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Somerset are spared late test By David Green at Bath Second day of four: Leics 442-6 v Somerset JAMES WHITAKER`S un- beaten 133, his third century of the sea- son, consolidated Leicestershire`s position after the rain re- lented yesterday, permitting 32 overs in which 105 runs were added, a modest rate of scoring in the circumstances. Leicestershire`s tactics were difficult to fathom. Once they had passed 400 a declaration would surely have been profitable on a pitch enlivened by having sweated under the covers until 3.45pm. As it was, Somerset were spared an awkward last hour at the crease while Graham Rose, getting generous bounce and movement, had a successful spell from the pavilion end, taking three for 27 in 13 hostile overs. Rose had Neil Johnson, aiming to leg, caught on the third-man boundary and Gregor Macmillan lbw to a yorker before Whitaker pushed Kevin Shine past cover to reach his hundred, which included 14 fours, in just over five hours. Mushtaq Ahmed, who has tendinitis of the patella, will see a spe- cialist on June 25. He seems likely to miss Tuesday`s NatWest tie against Herefordshire, but should be fit for Somer- set`s next championship match against Essex on July 2. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Somerset rueing losses By David Green at Bath Third day of four: Somerset (72-2) trail Leicestershire (442-6 dec) by 370 runs RAIN once more restricted play at Bath yesterday, delaying the start until 4.45. Somerset then responded uncertainly following Leicesteshire`s overnight declaration, losing both openers for 42 before Richard Harden and Piran Holloway stabilised their in- nings. Neither Peter Bowler nor Mark Lathwell has been in the runs and the latter looked thoroughly uneasy against David Millns, who beat him frequently before an attempted pull was top-edged to gully. Bowler, meanwhile, despite the pitch`s uncertain bounce, had been punishing Alan Mullally, taking boundaries from a glance, an off-drive and a couple of hooks, and James Ormond replaced the left- armer after five overs. Just before bad light caused a brief stoppage, Millns struck Holloway on the glove with one that lifted from a length. Shortly after the restart Bowler fell unexpectedly to Ormond, leg before playing slightly across the line. Harden had to dig out a yorker from Ormond early on but imme- diately clipped a sweet boundary to square leg and when the rain re- turned with three overs remaining, he and his partner were batting confi- dently. The weather has already cost Somerset dear. Peter Anderson, the chief executive, said: "We budgeted to take -L15,000 at the gate on the five days of the festival. We have actually taken barely -L2,000 from the first three." Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Millns makes Somerset suffer By Paul Weaver at Bath Leicestershire drew with Somerset LEICESTERSHIRE produced a performance worthy of the county champions here yesterday. Rain cut swathes of time from this match but there was never a whiff or sniff of a deal between the two captains to produce a contrived result. Leicestershire always felt they could win playing old fash- ioned cricket and pursued their plan to the end. Even when their batsmen were compiling 442 for six declared, mostly on Wednesday, their two fast bowlers, David Millns and Alan Mullal- ly were seen pacing the boundary, anxious to get at the opposi- tion. On Tuesday night, the team held a meeting to reflect on their start to the defence of their title. They decided that they had been too impatient in the early games and resolved to ap- proach matches with their old patient determination. Somerset resumed on 72 for two yesterday and were bowled out for 256. Millns returned his best figures of the season, six for 61, but he did more than that. He also struck Richard Hard- en, who suffered a broken finger, Robert Turner and Kevin Shine painful blows. With Mushtaq Ahmed and Adrianus van Troost injured on day one, Somerset were in disarray. Following on, 186 behind, Somerset were 31 for three after 10 overs of their second innings. Millns dismissed both openers Mark Lath- well and Peter Bowler. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)