England make light of lunch hour

ALL was well in the end, although hardly so for the Kenyans, who had to bowl with a damp ball as Nasser Hussain and Graeme Hick hastened England to another commanding victory on a murky evening in the South East yesterday. For the home side, it was almost an impeccable performance: for both Kenya and the umpires, an extremely difficult day.

At best, the umpires' misinterpretation of the regulations applying to the length of the interval between innings caused the game to finish at least 25 minutes later than it should have done. At worst, it could have denied England the two points that they deserved from a World Cup match in which they were, as was only to be expected, the better side.

When rain stopped play shortly before 6pm in a game that had started 90 minutes late, England were comfortably on course to pass Kenya's 203 all out. However, they had begun their innings after an interval ludicrously extended to an hour, a decision made with the approval of Talat Ali, the referee, but without recourse to common sense. Apparently K. T. Francis and Rudi Koertzen, the Sri Lankan/South African combination in charge in the middle, had believed that the relevant regulation applied only to the reserve day. In fact, they were obliged to contract the interval to a maximum of 35 minutes and a minimum of ten, because more than an hour's play had been lost.

The official embarrassment had been assuaged when the drizzle abated and the players returned at 6.40pm, which at least allowed the 25 overs for the side batting second, the amount required for a match to be deemed complete if the weather prevents its proper completion. Tim Lamb, the England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive, apologised on behalf of the officials and said that a note would now be sent to all the umpires in the hope of preventing any repetition of an error that, ultimately, mattered little. That said, however, it must also be noted that the interpretation of wide balls by the two experienced and respected umpires was often harsh in the extreme. Too little account is being taken at present of balls that move after pitching.

The experience of Martin Suji, Kenya's fastest bowler, epitomised the frustrations of his side with one ten-ball over containing a wide and three no-balls and another in which Hick, then 19, looked plumb leg-before but got the benefit of the doubt. Yet the truth was that Kenya's bowling was not nearly good enough to defend a total of 300, let alone only 203, on a true, easy-paced Canterbury pitch. By contrast, Steve Tikolo, their leading batsman, played a high-class innings.

These were cold, grey and inhospitable conditions for a side coming from the light and heat of Africa. Many a side put into bat and with the ball moving about a bit would have folded like a deck chair in response to England's hostile and abrasive bowling and fielding. Darren Gough hit the splice of the bat regularly with the new ball, but so beautifully did Tikolo bat and so stoutly did Ravindu Shah support him that it was only when Gough returned to break their second-wicket partnership of 100 that England assumed an unquestioned command of the game.

Once having done so, they did not let go and the final outcome was encouraging from several angles. Not only does victory give them half a foot already in the second round, but their cricket all round was sharp and impressive. Not a chance was missed and when two run-out opportunities presented themselves, Fairbrother and Thorpe took them with speed and a couple of deadly throws that hit the stumps directly. So often it is the fielding that reflects the mood of a side.

Ian Austin removed the potentially dangerous Kennedy Otieno in his second over, when he got a ball to bounce away from the off stump and Thorpe took the flying edge without fuss. It will have done the England bowlers no harm, however, that Tikolo and the tall, right-handed Shah should have made them work hard for a second breakthrough.

Gough, returning for the 27th over with a wicket badly needed, seamed a ball back to have Shah caught off an inside edge and then hit the stumps three times with inswingers of full length. His was the decisive performance, but the support all round was good, not least from Robert Croft, who more than justified his return at Hollioake's expense with some skilfully varied off breaks.

When, at last, England batted, it took time to get used to the pace of both the pitch and some eager, innocuous bowling. Nevertheless, Thomas Odoyo followed some bold, strong hitting with a beauty that cut back through the gate to bowl Stewart, the England captain, just as he seemed to be finding his finest timing.

Never mind: Hussain, after a sticky start, played quite brilliantly and he and Hick, driving regally, hustled England home in the gloaming with a series of bold and commanding strokes. Both hit seven fours in their fifties and the whole team will face South Africa on Saturday with reinforced confidence.

May 19, 1999

Scoreboard

KENYA

+K O Otieno c Thorpe b Austin	0
R D Shah c Stewart b Gough	46
S O Tikolo c Gough b Ealham	71
M O Odumbe b Gough	6
H S Modi run out	5
A V Vadher b Croft	6
T M Odoyo not out	34
*Asif Karim b Ealham	9
A O Suji b Gough	4
M Sheikh b Gough	7
M A Suji run out	0
Extras (b1 lb5 w6 nb3)	15
Total (49.4 overs)	203

Fall of wickets: 1-7, 2-107, 3-115, 4-130, 5-142, 6-150, 7-181, 8-186, 9-202.

Bowling: Gough 10-1-34-4; Austin 9.4-0-41-1; Mullally 10-0-41-0; Ealham 10-0-49-2; Croft 10-1-32-1.

ENGLAND

N Hussain not out	88
A J Stewart b Odoyo	23
G A Hick not out	61
Extras (b5 lb6 w13 nb8)	32
Total (1 wkt, 39 overs)	204

Fall of wickets: 1-45.

G P Thorpe, N H Fairbrother, A Flintoff, M A Ealham, R D B Croft, I D Austin, D Gough, A D Mullally.

Bowling: M A Suji 9-0-46-0; A O Suji 3-0-6-0; Odoyo 10-0-65-1; Asif 8-0-39-0; Odumbe 6-1-23-0; Sheikh 3-0-14-0.

Umpires: K T Francis (Sri Lanka) and R E Koertzen (South Africa).

Third umpire: D B Cowie (New Zealand).

Match referee: Talat Ali (Pakistan).

May 19, 1999