By Charles Randall at Worksop
First day of four: Leics (27-1) trail Notts (61) by 34 runs
THE decision by England's selectors to release Alan Mullally from the Test against Sri Lanka proved to be the championship tonic Leicestershire expected because the willowy left-hander cut off Nottinghamshire at the knees at Worksop yesterday.
His four wickets with the new ball made up for a long period of frustration - muddy areas on the square prevented play until 4pm - and the success of Mullally and Vince Wells, who finished with five for 18, seemed to prove that Chris Lewis, Leicestershire's mysteriously absent captain, had not been missed.
Lewis did not appear at the sodden Castle Avenue ground yesterday morning, despite being passed fit after back problems, and James Whitaker, the manager, said he had ``no idea'' where the England all-rounder was. Lewis had been effectively dropped, but the club declined to elaborate.
There were rumours that Lewis and David Millns had been involved in some sort of fracas the previous day or had simply arrived late for training. Leicestershire, who are being led in this match by Phil Simmons, might have to make a statement today.
Whitaker was standing in for Jack Birkenshaw, who was absent owing to a family bereavement, and there was a ticklish selection decision to be made to cover all options on a pitch with a reputation for taking spin, yet containing more moisture than usual.
Whitaker's day ended on a happier note, with Nottinghamshire tumbled out for 61, the lowest total in the championship by any county this summer.
This was a bleak day for Nottinghamshire, who lost the toss and failed to cope with lavish movement off the seam and in the air. It was a pity from a cricketing and aesthetic point of view that this match was featured at Worksop so late in the season.
There was a lot of moisture around at this town centre ground, located between a canal and a river, and a high yellow brick squash court wall and a warehouse dominated the field uncomfortably amid a hotch-potch of buildings. The scene must have looked better in the days of the old gabled pavilion, which was demolished in 1972.
Mullally struck with the second ball of the day, an inswinger flicking the off bail through a hesitant stroke from Guy Welton. In his next over he bemused the left-handed Usman Afzaal, the ball pitching leg and uprooting the off-stump.
This set the tone for the rest of Nottinghamshire's innings. Paul Pollard was lbw playing no stroke and Mathew Dowman soon followed, clean bowled through no definable shot.
By then Jason Gallian had skied a pull at James Ormond. Nottinghamshire's ample soft underbelly was exposed and Wells sliced through for his career-best return.
Day 2: Simmons fills breach with Lewis suspended
By Charles Randall at Worksop
Second day of four: Leicestershire (457-5) lead Nottinghamshire (61) by 396 runs
THE most remarkable part of yesterday's 194 by Phil Simmons at Central Avenue was the surprise factor, because the West Indian's previous highest score for Leicestershire in the championship this season had been a mere 25.
After so many failures and an aggregate of 120 runs in his previous 14 innings, Simmons enjoyed himself immensely for almost 4.5 hours, and Ben Smith joined the party with a century of his own.
Leicestershire's fifth-wicket partnership of 322 was the highest against any county and set up what should be a handsome victory over their Nottinghamshire neighbours. Maximum points would lift them to second in the table, 15 points behind Surrey, the leaders.
Simmons produced a true captain's innings, his aggressive hundred arriving in only 128 balls, and it now seems slightly inappropriate that the leadership for the title run-in is due to revert to Chris Lewis, after his suspension from this match.
The county issued a statement yesterday explaining the suspension of Lewis and David Millns, who had both been ``a few minutes late'' for training. A statement said the club prided themselves on ``high standards in punctuality and dress code''. There had been no truth in the rumours of a fracas, it added, and no absence without leave.
Training involved a football game on the Worksop outfield, though an eye witness said Lewis had exercised alone, away from his team-mates - a captain's prerogative, no doubt. The club did not explain why he did not stay to watch his charges subdue Nottinghamshire at this critical stage of the season.
Lewis's presence, it seems, has not been totally accepted by the team after his opportunistic arrival this year from Surrey, whom he had joined after an acrimonious departure from Nottinghamshire in 1995.
Putting Nottinghamshire to the sword would have given Lewis satisfaction, but his colleagues did the job for him yesterday as Smith and Simmons punched boundaries regularly off some ordinary bowling, which would have been completely demolished without the high quality of fielding in support.
One oddity was the premature decision by the England Cricket Board to send Harry Brind, their pitches consultant, to the ground after 11 wickets had fallen in the 37 overs that soggy conditions permitted the previous day.
The pitch, which had not been reported, did not require action. Two early Leicestershire wickets fell in the sunshine yesterday, but Simmons and Smith proved there were no terrors in the turf beyond a lack of pace.
Iain Sutcliffe, the left-hander, stabilised the innings with a stylish 60 before misjudging the length of a Paul Strang leg-break, but Smith cut and pulled crisply for his third hundred of the summer.
Simmons put away any bad-length delivery with stunning power and he had collected 30 fours and a big six into the bowls green off Richard Bates before falling lbw to Mathew Dowman in the evening darkness.
Day 3: Mullally makes best of England omission
By Charles Randall at Worksop
Leicestershire (505-6 dec) beat Notts (61 & 221) by an innings and 223 runs
THE FIRST toast for an impressive victory that launched Leicestershire into second place on the table should probably go to the England selectors for allowing Alan Mullally to exchange the Test at the Oval for more modest surroundings at Worksop's Central Avenue ground.
Mullally, channelling his England disappointment, overshadowed all the other bowlers on view as he whipped the ball through on a pitch that showed no spite, and he handed Nottinghamshire one of their biggest championship defeats.
Mullally's return of seven for 55 was a career best and on this form it is safe to say the left-hander would have given the Sri Lankans a thorough examination in London, even allowing for Nottinghamshire's crusty batting.
The only satisfaction for Nottinghamshire was making their opponents wait for most of the day as Paul Pollard barricaded himself at the crease for 4.5 hours. The end of season run-in looks like becoming an ordeal as they will have met four of the top counties in their final four matches.
Two upper-order batsmen made a 'pair' - Guy Welton, who reported ill, and Usman Afzaal - and runs were depressingly hard to accumulate, though an encouragingly fluent 52 by Mathew Dowman helped Pollard restore some pride.
The pitch, a credit to the Worksop club after so much unfavourable weather, demanded more accurate bowling than Mullally's colleagues managed, notably Vince Wells, frustrated after his first-innings success.
Nottinghamshire's collapse on the first day was understandable, if not acceptable, because the dank, dark conditions lined up against them, but second time around they would have had no excuses for any similar slide.
Pollard, likely to be released by Nottinghamshire this year, was effectively putting himself in the shop window as a dogged opening left-hander. Though rapier-like strokeplay had long since been scrubbed off his repertoire, his defence kept him comfortably afloat.
Jason Gallian, one of Nottinghamshire's batting props, was beaten often enough by Mullally to make his dismissal at second slip no surprise. Afzaal was snapped up neatly at leg-slip, and Graeme Archer was caught at gully aiming to leg.
Pollard hardly made a mistake and just when he seemed likely to carry his bat he was easily run out by Carl Crowe after a mix-up with Paul Strang, eighth out with a hundred beckoning.
Leicestershire had batted on for 12 overs in the morning after Ben Smith, one of four Leicestershire candidates for an England A tour batting place, had been lbw off the day's sixth ball.