Of the last 163 innings a number not entirely chosen at random played for England by those coming in at the fall of the

Of the last 163 innings (a number not entirely chosen at random) played for England by those coming in at the fall of the fourth wicket, a mere four have resulted in a century, and only 16 have reached the sunny uplands of fifty. The most recent century, to boot, was struck not by the side’s intended No 6. Graeme Hick scored it against West Indies last summer after Richard Illingworth had been sent in before him as night watchman.
Discounting that, it is necessary to go back 64 England innings for a century by a No 6. That, too, was made by Hick, his first in Test matches, in India in 1993. WHEN Ronnie Irani obligingly left both his leg stump and batsman’s dignity exposed at Lord’s on Thursday he was merely continuing a long line of failure associated with the middle position in the England order.

The acting county captain, who finished with figures of five for 34, claimed all his wickets as the students collapsed from 131 for four, and they had to rely on their last pair to save the follow-on with a 10th- wicket partnership of 22.
Then the Essex batsmen took control, stretching their first- innings lead of 143 by 197 for the loss of four second-innings wickets.At the start of the innings, it was the Essex seamers, Steve Andrew and Mark Ilott, who did the damage, claiming two wickets each to reduce Cambridge to just 56 for four on a pitch of uneven bounce.However, Cambridge rallied, and were rescued by a 75-run fifth-wicket partnership between Russell Cake, their captain, and Will House before Such caught and bowled House to initiate the collapse.Cake battled to his ninth half-century before falling to Such and it needed lusty blows from Andy Whittall to avoid the university making a quick return to the wicket.Essex lost Jon Lewis, but Darren Robinson and Robert Rollins shared a century partnership before off-spinner Rob Jones dismissed both – Robinson just three short of a century.. Evidently it fits very well.Salisbury, meanwhile, may never be picked for England as a batsman, but as rabbits are being hunted to the point of extinc-tion at Test level, his improved showings with the bat will not go unnoticed. He was out for 83, skying an attempted straight drive off Robert Croft to mid-on. He had added 172 for the seventh wicket with Greenfield, who finished unbeaten on 154 as Sussex set Glamorgan 274 to avoid an innings defeat. By the close, they were 152 short of that target for the loss of three wickets, with much depending on Maynard and Tony Cottey.. Peter Such took five wickets for the 30th time in his career to dismiss Cambridge University for 170 as Essex took command of the game at Fenner’s yesterday. Greenfield’s third-successive century at Hove confirmed that the 27-year-old Brighton- born batsman has struck the richest vein of his career.

After making his debut in 1987, he had to wait until a fortnight ago to be awarded his county cap. Alan Wells’s decision to put in Glamorgan had paid off on Friday when the visitors were bowl- ed out for 133, Jason Lewry taking six for 44. But with the exception of Wells, who made 78, the Sussex batsmen had failed to take advantage of the situation.Greenfield and Salisbury steadied the ship, Greenfield’s application complementing the bolder Salisbury. At lunch they had taken the score to 258, Salisbury reaching his first 50 of the summer shortly after, with Greenfield becoming somewhat bogged down as his partner threatened to overtake him.