Morris looks to the future

HUGH MORRIS may not have been dancing with delight here yesterday when he was given out leg before pushing forward to Manoj Prabhakar at the start of his side's second innings, but the Glamorgan captain had few complaints in general. The county, after all, are well placed in a short- and long-term sense.

Morris, a century at the outset, had hooked Simon Brown for a six over long leg and appeared well set again on 28 when Prabhakar struck. But then Glamorgan had the Indian Test player to thank for failing to give Durham the edge, on top of which they have just secured the purchase of Sophia Gardens.

It may sound harsh, but Prabhakar's first hundred for the visitors was not enough, as a rash smear to leg off Robert Croft cost him his wicket in the penultimate over on Friday evening. Durham's loss then became Glamorgan's gain as Hamesh Anthony mopped up within an hour of the resumption.

Besides which, negotiations with the athletic club which has shared the facilities in Cardiff since 1967 had just been completed, Glamorgan paying pounds 2.5m to hold the lease and a full takeover on 125-year terms soon to be finalised. All of which left Morris smiling, even if the death knell was sounded for cricket at St Helen's.

"I think this could prove to be a major turning point in our fortunes," Morris said. "We will now be on equal footing with other first-class counties who own their own grounds."

More immediately, Glamorgan took control of this match yesterday, initially through Anthony. The Antiguan fast bowler, recommended to the club by no less than Viv Richards, was on a hat-trick first thing when he had David Ligertwood and James Boiling leg before, and then David Cox playing and missing but denying Anthony the prize.

Anthony, though, soon had his revenge, his morning spell reading three for 3 in 32 deliveries as Durham lost their remaining four wickets for 23 runs. It was then time for some fun in the sun, although in this respect Morris missed out.

It was now down to Tony Cottey - having initially featured in a stand of 107 with Matthew Maynard for the fourth wicket in which both passed 1,000 first-class runs for the summer - to press home the advantage with a four-hour century. He struck 11 boundaries and was still there as Glamorgan closed eight down and 308 ahead.