Happily Steve Waugh an Australian who knows loves and plays his cricket as passionately

Happily Steve Waugh, an Australian who knows, loves and plays his cricket as passionately as any of the other champions who have passed through the gate at Lord’s, offered the knockers some brain food: it’s still the tour, he said, emphasis on “the”.
Of course, “knocking” is a favoured pastime down here, almost as popular as swatting flies, and if the target is the England cricket team then so much more weighty the blow. It is reasonable to make a few telling points about England’s Test form and its similarity to a game of snakes and ladders, but it’s hardly the solid evidence on which to build the argument that the Ashes has now degenerated into some sort of marketing man’s fantasy.Such cynicism simply ignores the game’s great uncertainty and dismisses its traditions as immaterial. It left James Boiling, who had secured one end against all-comers, including Waqar, for 32 overs on 10 not out.. Nowadays every season is open season on icons and it’s a sign of the times that when Mark Taylor’s team set out for England voices were raised in Australia condemning this latest Ashes tour as “irrelevant”, no longer the ultimate contest because in the Test game England have been struggling like cows in a bog. Morris is still there, unbeaten on 84, but he will require a tremendous amount of help if Durham are to save the game.That Durham were able to recover from their first innings debacle of 81 for 5 on Friday afternoon was due in no small measure to Michael Foster’s maiden first-class century. He eventually fell yesterday, leg-before to Robert Croft, for 129 with the total on 328 for 8.Durham again had little to offer when they followed on. Alan Walker contributed a lusty 16 before he became Watkin’s fourth victim of the innings.

Openers Jonathan Lewis and Paul Collingwood were both back in the pavilion, less than nine over had been bowled and there were only 13 runs on the board.John Morris and Nick Speak redressed matters to a degree with a third- wicket partnership of 84 in 32 overs, with Morris reaching his second half-century of the season off 117 balls. The stand ended when Speak, on 25, chopped a ball from Darren Thomas onto his stumps.But it is Waqar who may have struck the crucial blow to Durham’s slim hopes by having David Boon leg-before on the back foot for 15, just four overs before the close. At last night’s close, Durham stood at 142 for 4 in their second innings, after being dismissed for 345 first time round and following on 252 runs behind Glamorgan’s county-record single innings total of 597 for 8 declared.
It leaves the visitors still needing a further 110 simply to make Glamorgan bat again and they have a great deal to do. Yet they will not be without hope, for this is a bland Sophia Gardens strip, on which batsmen get themselves out rather than find themselves dismissed by the bowlers.Durham’s cause looked considerably without hope yesterday afternoon. A veteran of two England A tours, Stemp consistently turned the ball and took five wickets in the morning for only 31 runs at less than two runs per over. The fast outfield made his figures even more impressive.Only Ronnie Irani batted with any composure and Essex can thank his tenacity for setting Yorkshire any sort of target at all. He was the last man out, on the stroke of lunch, for a well-deserved century after Lehmann had twice pounced panther-like at silly point to take excellent catches to dismiss Robert Rollins and Mark Ilott..

Survival will be the name of the game for Durham’s beleaguered batsmen on the final day of the County Championship match against Glamorgan in Cardiff tomorrow It will be an onerous task. It was certainly an anti-climax, but those who watched the day’s play can have no complaints about the quality of the cricket or its entertainment value.Resuming in the morning with a lead of 178, Essex struggled against the accurate and probing left-arm spin of Richard Stemp. Caddick, however, was too fired up for Weston later in the day, and with the left- hander’s exit (55 off 153 balls) this game, rather like those caravans, looks like going down the M5.. County cricket cannot have had an advertisement as good as the match between Essex and Yorkshire at Valentine’s Park for a long time. Since Thursday the balance of power has shifted back and forth between the two sides, often several times a day, and yesterday was no less gripping. The teams will return tomorrow with Essex needing two wickets for victory and Yorkshire six runs.

Set 276 to win, Yorkshire had recovered from losing both openers cheaply through a third-wicket partnership of 139 between the captain David Byas and the in-form Australian import Darren Lehmann.
Peter Such, however, made the breakthrough, trapping Lehmann lbw, and from the relative security of 229 for 3 Yorkshire collapsed, losing four wickets in five overs to be 235 for 7. The initiative was once more with Essex.Both Peter Hartley and Craig White perished trying to hit into the deep after Bradley Parker had been caught behind for 33 off the bowling of Such. Byas and Gough then added 31 to take Yorkshire to within 10 runs of victory before Byas was adjudged lbw to Such for 89. The extra half- hour was used but at the close of play Yorkshire were 270 for 8. He and Philip Weston saw Caddick take his sunhat and dealt capably and confidently with Mushtaq Ahmed’s fizzers to add 89.