Cricket: Adams tops family fun
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Your support makes all the difference.Derbyshire 226 and 309
Essex 96 and 46-0
CHRIS ADAMS clawed the champions attack for a sparkling, aggressive 135 here yesterday. The wind still hints of winter and the shadows on the grass are long by three o'clock, but the pitch that gobbled up 20 wickets on Monday relented after an early snap, allowing the batsmen to recover a little of their pride.
Essex, despite being 394 behind, still have two days to win this match. Graham Gooch, having had virtually a day off (five overs and a catch in the deep) will be planning a long revenge for the first-innings debacle. Derbyshire's overnight lead of 134 was extended by only five when the county's leading batsman this year, Peter Bowler, was leg before to Mark Ilott.
The left-armer went on to have a field day, finishing with a career- best 6 for 87, and was a little unlucky not to win two more lbw appeals in the course of the morning. While the pitch was still difficult, he was able to make the ball skid into the pad at varying angles; as the pitch eased, he dropped into a rhythm of length and direction that meant a batsman had to address him with patience.
Adams arrived with Derbyshire at 38 for 3 to partner John Morris. The Peakites are quietly peeved that there were no England papers for Morris, Cork, not to mention Barnett, so that the stand that developed, 163 in the next 41 overs, was greeted with great acclaim, Essex unfortunately representing the England manager, the England captain, David Mellor, Norman Lamont and anyone else they could vaguely regard as personifying London and Lord's.
It was an extraordinary partnership: Morris batted as if he had never heard of Biggles, steady, sure, determined: Adams had the ball flashing around the sky as if newly promoted to von Richthofen's circus.
Adams scored his runs off 156 balls - 20 fours and sixes off Derek Pringle and Peter Such - for his fourth century of the season. Morris's 50 took 121 balls yet still contained a six and eight fours, one of the slowest half-centuries in his record. 'I had to keep reminding myself it was a four-day game,' he explained.
Paul Prichard gave Such 28 overs and the new England A off- spinner was good value for his 2 for 69, but why he came to be preferred to Shaun Udal is a mystery to be revealed only when Ted Dexter writes his memoirs as England chairman.
Ian Salisbury, the Sussex leg- spinner, destroyed Lancashire's batting the day after his controversial omission from England's winter tour of India. Named instead for the A tour to Australia, he took 5 for 27 in 14 overs as Lancashire slumped to 170 for 9 in reply to 563.
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