Henderson helps to keep County on top

Date: Friday 04 September 2009

Day Three Report: Leicestershire 282 (Henderson 79*, White 68, Harris 4-85) and 21-0 lead Glamorgan 218 (Powell 61, Croft 40*, Henderson 3-31, Benning 3-43) by 85 runs

Considering Leicestershire were 95-7 at one point in their first innings, a third day lead of 85 with all ten second-innings wickets in hand against Glamorgan represents an excellent fightback by the team.

Although plenty of play has been lost to the weather and only one day remains in this contest, County are certainly in the better position of the two sides.

A lot of that came down to the performance of Claude Henderson, who top-scored with 79 not out and followed that up with the innings’ best figures off 3-31 as County made 282 and then bowled out Glamorgan for 218.

The final position could have been even better had Glamorgan’s last pair Robert Croft and debutant Chris Ashling not put on 31 for the final wicket and taken more time out of the equation, so the Welsh County will be delighted with the duo’s efforts.

A positive result may be an unlikely outcome on the final day, but stranger things have happened and both sides will certainly be interested in seeing how things develop tomorrow.

Friday got off to a good start as for the first time in three days, umpires Neil Bainton and Martin Bodenham were able to lead the players out for a 10.30am start rather than an inspection.

That fact provided relief all round and County resumed on 269-9 looking to squeeze as many runs as possible. Henderson started the day on 71* - just ten runs short of a first-class career best - and he began in stylish fashion.

Looking solid in defence and taking quick singles, Henderson also drove stylishly through extra to the boundary. AJ Harris provided some solid support, although that ended when James Harris trapped him leg-before.

That finished the innings with the last pair adding fifteen runs and unfortunately, Henderson ended three runs short of registering his PB. However, he could be more than pleased with his work in helping to add 187 for the last three wickets to help County to a respectable first-innings score.

There were shades of Colwyn Bay about the wagging lower order, as Croft and Adam Shantry famously defied County earlier this season by both making centuries in a huge ninth-wicket stand worth 197.

Croft’s turn to frustrate County was to come later, but the side must have been delighted with their recovery and turned that into a good advantage in the field.

The team immediately capitalised on the momentum shift with the returning Iain O'Brien bowling Gareth Rees, who offered no stroke to the Kiwi paceman and lost his off stump.

It was a misjudgment from the batsman as the ball did not deviate massively; it held its line slanting across the left-hander. It was a nice way for O'Brien to reunite himself with Grace Road and the signs were that he was going to be a handful for the visiting batsmen.

Although Rees was tempted into a shot on that occasion, his fellow left-handers looked more than happy to be positive.

Rees' opening partner Will Bragg looks to be an idiosyncratic player at the wicket, as he often looks up when the bowler is well into his run-up.

Cricket has always been a game of differing techniques and methods though, and Bragg’s serves him well. The youngster made 80 in the aforementioned game at Colwyn Bay earlier this summer and averages a shade under forty in the Championship since coming into the side.

He was again showing promising signs here; looking strong on the drive, cut and pull. Mark Cosgrove also looked eager to be aggressive - although he had to curb that enthusiasm early on when receiving a couple of good balls from O'Brien.

One delivery whistled past his head and another passed the batsman and went over the stumps after the Aussie had shuffled across his crease. However, he settled alongside Bragg and the pair both struck nice fours through the covers as the innings progressed.

Bragg also cut powerfully through backward point and he continued to go for his shots. A checked drive almost looped into the hands of Wayne White at cover, but the ball just had enough to clear the diving fielder.

Cosgrove then clipped AJ Harris beautifully through square-leg, but you could sense wickets were in the air with the visiting side's approach. Indeed, one came from the next ball as Harris shaped one back in nicely.

The Australian had got too far across his pegs and was trapped bang in front. Glamorgan were now 37-2 and that could easily have become three shortly afterwards when Bragg pulled O'Brien to Josh Cobb at square leg but survived as the chance went begging.

After this scare, Bragg decided to be rather more circumspect, going into his shell somewhat to ensure there was no further damage before lunch.

However, perhaps attack was the best form of defence on a pitch that was showing some hints of some uneven bounce. Bragg was possibly caught between two stools; for after being stuck around the twenty mark for some time, he nicked White through to Tom New with the score on 64.

That was how things stood at lunch with Michael Powell and captain Jamie Dalrymple at the wicket. The experienced duo were always going to be difficult to shift - and so it proved.

After the break, the pair compiled an 84-run partnership, with Powell playing a couple of nice cover drives to get it off and running.

Dalrymple also continued his seasonal good form by battling alongside Powell, who made a conscious effort to be more aggressive as the sessions progressed. He twice pulled O'Brien - once uppishly for a couple and once with more timing that raced for four - as he moved towards a half-century.

Dalrymple also played two cracking on-drives as the stand passed fifty, and then flicked another lovely shot off his pads which raced to the ropes.

Powell continued to accumulate and got through to an important fifty from 93 balls with a quick single; his knock included seven fours at that stage.

There was then a period where both sides sat in the game. James Benning and Henderson bowled wicket-to-wicket and totally applied the brakes to the innings, and although runs were not being offered, both batsmen were unprepared to give away their wickets.

However, something had to give, and stopping runs can be just as effective as bowling magic deliveries. By stemming the flow, County's fortunes changed dramatically as four wickets fell in the space of eight runs.

Firstly, Benning - who returned first-class career best figures of 3-43 from 14 overs - was rewarded for a nagging spell by taking two wickets in quick succession in identical fashion.

The all-rounder trapped Dalrymple (37) leg-before with one that jagged back sharply, before dismissing Powell in similar fashion after the batsman played around his front pad.

Suddenly, it was all happening. Tom Maynard decided to try to get the board moving with an ambitious stroke early on. He charged Henderson and lofted the ball in the air but Harris was unable to cling on to the difficult opportunity at backward point.

Maynard then survived a leg-before shout from the same bowler, before his knock ended in that manner - being trapped bang in front by the spinner.

The all-action theme continued as Benning bowled James Harris from the first ball the youngster faced. Croft was to provide resistance for his side, but almost perished to his first ball too by almost chipping a catch to James Taylor at short extra from his first delivery.

He lived to tell the tail, but all told, it was a cracking little period for County. Just 27 runs came from eighteen overs as Benning and Henderson really turned the screw.

The all-rounder had 3-28 from eleven at that point, and the spinner also did a sterling job, going for just ten runs in twelve overs and taking a wicket for good measure.

O'Brien returned for a two-over burst after tea before Henderson returned, and Croft greeted the tweaker’s reappearance with two fours in his first over; through cover and off the back-foot through mid-on.

However, the spinner had another victim in his next over when Mark Wallace's attempted reverse-sweep went straight to Benning at conventional backward point.

Former County man Garnett Kruger was not renowned for his batting during his Grace Road days, but he had only been dismissed twice this summer and averaged 38 prior to today's innings.

That was not to improve as he fell without scoring. O'Brien - who came back for a burst down the hill at the Bennett End - had him well caught by Matthew Boyce at second slip.

Last man Ashling (12) was an unknown quantity given this was his first knock in the first-class arena. A defiant lower-order knock from Croft was certainly predictable though, and Ashling provided superb support to the off-spinner.

The duo chipped away towards 200 and Croft guided the team to a bonus point with a deft touch down to fine leg. Ashling grew in confidence as the innings went on, and swept Henderson for four in fine style.

The situation was getting increasingly frustrating for County and the 74th over typified that. Firstly, Croft edged O'Brien to New's right, and the ball slipped through the keeper's gloves and also went for four to add rub salt into the wounds.

The next ball ballooned off Croft's glove but dropped agonisingly short of the 'keeper, but Henderson finally put an end to the stubbornness by bowling Ashling in the next over.

It meant County had a first-innings lead of 62, and there were eleven overs left in the day. By stumps, it had been extended to 85 as Paul Nixon and Boyce battled through to add 21 without any loss.

Nixon struck the first boundary of the innings with a powerful cut through backward point, but there was the odd scare before the close.

Firstly, Nixon left a ball that was perilously close to his off peg - although of course, that could have been exemplary judgment rather than fortuitous - but Boyce was certainly lucky to survive when attempting a very sharp single to extra cover.

The batter would have been some three yards short had the incoming throw hit the stumps, but he survived and County ended proceedings in good shape.

The first session tomorrow will hold the key as to how the game pans out, but there is still plenty of life in the contest; it’s just a shame so many overs have been lost to the elements.