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Drakes excels under pressure

Northants (228-5) bt Notts (225-9) by 5 wickets.

Clive Rice, Nottinghamshire's director of cricket, believes the West Indies would be unwise to ignore what Vasbert Drakes has achieved for the county this summer and the Barbadian underlined his claim to recognition by galvanising a flagging innings.

Drakes' 65 championship wickets are his main qualification for a Test call-up, but he has also made useful runs in first-class and one-day cricket and it was his enterprising 40 off 34 balls, including four fours, which changed the tempo of Notts' innings and thrust them to a respectable 225 for nine. Matthew Dowman, who made 52 off 63 balls, including five fours, was the resourceful ally Drakes needed in a stand of 86 in 11 overs, reviving Notts' hopes of making up a 10-point deficit on third-placed Northants to dispute one of the promotion spots.

Notts, who won the toss, began briskly enough but lost wickets regularly to the swinging ball, with Jason Gallian prodding to slip, Paul Johnson and Chris Read playing around full-pitched deliveries, and Guy Welton's diligent acquistion ending with a carve to backward point.

Graeme Archer looked well set until Richard Logan found some steep bounce to defeat him in mid-pull and Notts were in danger of subsiding well short of par for these conditions when Chris Tolley perished on the sweep.