Cricket: Alleyne leaves white rose in shreds

A CENTURY full of invention by Mark Alleyne, the Gloucestershire captain, helped his county to their first trophy in 22 years. The Super Cup may be short for superfluous, but try telling that to the winners, or the losers for that matter. Yorkshire came into this Lord's final as the bookies' favourites. They left having conceded 291, the largest-ever total for a 50-over final, a score that ultimately proved 124 runs beyond them.

Seeing Yorkshire faces with egg on them is not a sight that generally brings sympathy from the rest of the country. In fact being bowled out for 167, after conceding so many, was a dire performance, and they were never in the game at any stage. It is a performance they will want to improve upon when they meet Gloucestershire in the semi-finals of the NatWest Trophy in two weeks' time.

Ironically, yesterday's final coincided with something called Yorkshire Day, a time when folk from the white rose county brag about all that is still great and good within its pre-decimal boundaries. Yet if beer and puddings probably got their traditional plugs, cricket, a staple in the past, must surely have been left out. They used to say that when Yorkshire cricket is strong, English cricket is strong. On yesterday's evidence, the inverse correlation holds true as well.

In the context of a one-sided game Alleyne was outstanding, and his 112, which came in just 91 balls and included two sixes and 11 fours, was the product of some deliciously clean hitting. Some players - mostly playing for England - tend to be overcome by the occasion at Lord's. Not so the man from Tottenham, whose trial for Gloucestershire in 1986 led to his becoming the county's youngest century-maker and double centurion.

Yorkshire helped him along mind, not so much by bowling poorly at him, but by erring too much at the start. Instead of exploiting any batting nerves, Yorkshire allowed their opponents to get off to a flying start. When Alleyne arrived in the 16th over, the score was 75 for 2, an ideal platform for his bold and powerful strokeplay.

In one over from Ryan Sidebottom, Alleyne's improvisations brought him 13 runs, while Gavin Hamilton's comeback over, despite creating a chance at long-on when the captain was on 88, was dispatched for 18.

In fact it was Alleyne's 157-run partnership for the third wicket with Rob Cunliffe, who made a useful 61, that was primarily responsible for his side making 168 from the last 20 overs of the innings. When you score at that kind of rate the opposition are bound to be shell-shocked, which presumably explains some of the dreadful shots played by Yorkshire batsmen when they came in.

The victory comes after a bad winter for Alleyne, who returned early from the one-day series in Australia following the death of his father. His absence for the last few games meant that he was overlooked for the World Cup squad, though in truth he looked out of his depth in the four games he played - something that was categorically not the case against Yorkshire's motley assortment of pie- throwers yesterday.

The worst of these was Gavin Hamilton, whose six overs cost 55 runs. Impressions on big occasions tend to stick in the mind, and it may take Hamilton some time to overcome the damage his wayward bowling has done to his reputation as an all-rounder close to Test selection.

Only Craig White, with 4 for 51, bowled with any degree of control as Yorkshire failed to give Michael Vaughan, their sole spinner, his full complement of overs. On a dry pitch taking some turn, it was a tactical mistake, a fact evidenced by Martyn Ball's excellent 3 for 39 as Yorkshire's middle order capitulated.

Both sides possessed Australians, and while it has become popular in cricketing circles here to promote all that is Australian, neither player had a game to write home about. Greg Blewett, a bigger cheese than Ian Harvey, has not rewritten the Yorkshire record books and yesterday's effort - caught at slip for nine off his countryman - did not detract from an otherwise disappointing season for the South Australian.

With a run-rate that soon climbed above six an over, shot selection became increasingly loaded with risk. David Byas having lofted Harvey for six into the Mound Stand, chipped a leading edge back to Mike Smith at the other end. For some reason best known to himself, the departure of his captain forced White into a frenzy of strokeplaying, some of his shots being majestic.

Unfortunately for Yorkshire supporters, he could not sustain it and attempting an ugly hack to leg, he was bowled by Jon Lewis for 38. Lewis who insisted on playing despite a cracked bone in his bowling hand took two more wickets as Yorkshire folded. Twenty-two years is a long time between Lord's finals, and, unable to recall when Gloucestershire were last at Lord's, this was one player keen not to leave it for another occasion.

LORD'S SCOREBOARD

Gloucestershire won toss

GLOUCESTERSHIRE

K J Barnett b Hutchison 28

54min, 39 balls, 5 fours

T H C Hancock b White 35

71min, 51 balls, 6 fours

R J Cunliffe b White 61

113min, 81 balls, 2 fours, 1 six

*M W Alleyne b White 112

106min, 91 balls, 11 fours, 2 sixes

I J Harvey c Vaughan b Hutchison 13

16 min, 9 balls, 2 fours

J N Snape c White b Hutchison 3

7min, 5 balls

R C Russell run out (Harden-S'wood TV ) 1

6 min, 1 ball

M G N Windows not out 18

20min, 15 balls, 2 fours

M C J Ball b Silverwood 2

7min, 4 balls

J Lewis b White 2

3min, 3 balls

A M Smith not out 1

2min, 1 ball

Extras (lb7,w8) 15

Total (9 wkts, 207 min, 50 overs) 291

Fall: 1-66 (Barnett), 2-75 (Hancock), 3-232 (Cunliffe), 4-255 (Alleyne), 5-267 (Harvey), 6-267 (Snape), 7-270 (Russell), 8-283 (Ball), 9-286 (Lewis).

Bowling: Silverwood 10-0-47-1 (w4) (4-0-9-0 2-0-11-0 2-0-16-0 2-0-11- 1), Hamilton 6-0-55-0 (w3) (4-0-23-0 2-0-32-0), Hutchison 5-0-30-3 (w1) (4-0-23-1 1-0-7-2), Sidebottom 10-0-54-0 (8-0-31-0 2-0-23-0), White 10- 0-51-4 (4-0-11-1 2-0-12-0 2-0-15-2 2-0-13- 1), Vaughan 6-0-24-0, Blewett 3-0-23-0 (one spell each).

Progress: 50 in 47min, 67 balls. 100 in 104min, 147 balls. 150 in 132min, 204 balls. 200 in 156min, 239 balls. 250 in 175min, 264 balls.

Cunliffe 50: 90min, 71 balls, 1 four, 1 six. Alleyne 50: 76min, 65 balls, 5 fours. 100: 101min, 86 balls, 9 fours, 2 sixes.

YORKSHIRE

C White b Lewis 38

56min, 53 balls, 5 fours

G S Blewett c Ball b Harvey (TV replay) 9

12min, 13 balls, 1 four

*D Byas c and b Smith 13

21min, 10 balls, 1 six

M P Vaughan b Ball 24

51min, 37 balls, 1 four

A McGrath run out (Windows TV replay) 20

52min, 26 balls, 1 four

R J Harden c Cunliffe b Ball 8

13min, 19 balls

G M Hamilton st Russell b Lewis (TV replay) 25

41min, 43 balls, 1 six

R J Blakey b Ball 14

24min, 19 balls

C E W Silverwood b Lewis 4

20min, 7 balls

R J Sidebottom c and b Snape 0

6min, 7 balls

P M Hutchison not out 2

5min, 6 balls

Extras (b1,lb5,w4) 10

Total (155min, 40 overs) 167

Fall: 1-14 (Blewett), 2-45 (Byas), 3-78 (White), 4-99 (Vaughan), 5-115 (Harden), 6-122 (McGrath), 7-156 (Blakey), 8-161 (Hamilton), 9-165 (Sidebottom), 10-167 (Silverwood).

Bowling: Smith 8-0-28-1, Harvey 5-0-25-1 (w2) (one spell each), Lewis 5-0-32-3 (w2) (3-0-29-1 2-0-3-2), Alleyne 6-1-17-0, Ball 10-1-39-3, Snape 6-0-20-1 (one spell each).

Progress: 50 in 38min, 56 balls. 100 in 89min, 131 balls. 150 in 132min, 211 balls.

Umpires: R Julian and P Willey

TV Replay Umpire: G Sharp

Man of the match: M W Alleyne.

Adjudicator: M A Holding

Compiled by Jo King