England assume an air of confidence

ENGLAND got just the conditions at Canterbury yesterday that would give them a chance against more gifted teams when the World Cup starts next Friday. Overcast and with moisture in the air, even after a two-hour interruption for rain in the morning, it allowed the medium pace bowlers to move the ball around off the seam all day. Gough and company made sufficiently greater use of the life in the pitch after the Kent target had been reduced to 196, one fewer than England's total, in a match cut by the rain to 38 overs.

It was a good start, if not an unblemished one. Probably the most encouraging feature of the England performance was the fielding. Nasser Hussain held a phenomenal high, left-handed catch at backward point and a quick bit of thinking by Adam Hollioake, removing a stump with the ball in his hand to run out Mark Ealham when he and Andrew Symonds were scoring swiftly during a fifth-wicket stand of 54, was no less important. Flintoff and Croft held droppable catches in the closing stages, too. Tighter matches than this will turn on such moments.

Angus Fraser's "minor knee niggle" was not risked; otherwise, Kent might not have got as close as they did while Ealham played for Kent against his World Cup team-mates and made effective contributions with bat and ball. Symonds, however, hit the biggest six of the day, into the top tier of the Colin Cowdrey Stand and it puts things into perspective to remember how far away he was from the Australia side.

England's start was uncertain after Fleming had put them in. Knight edged a drive off a ball from Thompson that lifted and Stewart was run out by a brilliant bit of work by Ealham. Hussain made 36 off 53 balls and Thorpe and Fairbrother both did their job well, reaching their fifties, respectively, off 63 and 58 balls. Hollioake was striking it well when Fleming caught him brilliantly at wide mid-on. Since he cannot make the England side, he might apply for Peter Schmeichel's job when he vacates it.

This was one of several vivid moments on a grey day. There were about a thousand schoolchildren in a crowd of 5,500 and they had a wonderful time. Canterbury's wide open spaces are ideal for tennis ball cricket and many of the youngsters played as much as they watched, which is just what the World Cup should do to spread the gospel.

May 08, 1999

Scoreboard from Canterbury

ENGLAND XI

N V Knight c Willis b Headley 		10
*+A J Stewart run out 			4
N Hussain lbw b Fleming 		36
G P Thorpe c Walker b Symonds 		55
N H Fairbrother not out 		54
A Flintoff run out 			3
A J Hollioake c Fleming b Symonds 	16
R D B Croft c Key b Thompson 		5
I D Austin not out 			1

Extras (lb 6, w 2, nb 5) 		13

Total (7 wkts, 38 overs) 		197

D Gough and A D Mullally did not bat.

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-16, 2-39, 3-68, 4-149, 5-153, 6-173, 7-195.

BOWLING: Headley 8-0-38-1; Thompson 7-0-37-1; Fleming 6-1-35-1; Ealham 8-0-26-0; Symonds 8-0-46-2; Scott 1-0-9-0.

KENT

T R Ward lbw b Gough 			3
R W T Key c Stewart b Austin 		11
E T Smith c Hussain b Mullally 		11
A Symonds c Croft b Flintoff 		57
M J Walker c Fairbrother b Flintoff 	10
M A Ealham run out 			26
*M V Fleming c Flintoff b Austin 	23
†S C Willis b Austin 			2
D W Headley b Gough 			1
J B Thompson b Austin 			0
D A Scott not out 			1

Extras (lb 6, w 11, nb 1) 		18

Total (36 overs) 			163

FALL OF WICKETS: 1-6, 2-28, 3-35, 4-65, 5-119, 6-146, 7-160, 8-162, 9-162.

BOWLING: Gough 7-1-24-2; Mullally 8-1-27-1; Austin 8-2-39-4; Flintoff 6-0-33-2; Croft 4-0-19-0; Hollioake 3-0-15-0.

Umpires: J H Hampshire and K T Francis.