Taylor again shines in County draw

Date: Saturday 05 September 2009

Final Report: Leicestershire (9 points) 282 (Henderson 79*, White 68, Harris 4-85) and 259-6 (Taylor 96*, White 38*, Cobb 34) drew with Glamorgan (8 points) 218 (Powell 61, Croft 40*, Henderson 3-31, Benning 3-43)

Leicestershire moved off the foot of the Championship table after playing out a draw with Glamorgan, with James Taylor suffering the misfortune of being stranded on 96 not out when time was called.

The youngster again played quite superbly and shared stands of 98 with Josh Cobb and 58 with Wayne White (38*) as the day progressed to ensure the final day passed without scare.

With virtually the whole first day lost to rain and periods of the second lost to the elements, a result was always going to be difficult to force.

And that was how it proved, although there was the possibility that something could happen if either side produced absolute brilliance or if both teams agreed on a chase of some sorts for Glamorgan.

In the end, neither materialised and County ended their second innings on 259-6, which was a lead of 323 by stumps.

During the innings, Taylor continued his rich vein of form – he has now scored 837 runs in his last eleven Championship innings at an incredible average of 93 – while Cobb also knuckled down well and White provided a late flourish with a fine knock.

The first session was always going to be the key to seeing if anything was to develop, and with County adding 68 runs and Glamorgan taking three wickets, in effect, the match was pretty much dead.

It needed some quick runs from County in the opening session, and that had looked on the cards until the team lost Matthew Boyce and Paul Nixon in quick succession just as they were looking to up the ante.

If Glamorgan were to force a result, they needed a flurry of wickets, and although three in a session generally represents a decent return, they needed at least half the team out by lunch to keep victory hopes alive.

The early signs were promising for Leics, as Nixon and Boyce both played nice pull strokes off Garnett Kruger early on. The bowlers were pitching too short and Nixon was happy to take advantage.

He cut James Harris powerfully through cover point before another cut on his tiptoes off Kruger provided the batsman with another boundary.

Nixon continued to look in fine, aggressive form and played another well-executed pull stroke for his third boundary of the morning.

A healthy flow of runs enforced Jamie Dalrymple into a change of tack, with Robert Croft bought into the attack at the Pavilion End. Chris Ashling also entered the equation from the Bennett End.

The move mirrored Leicestershire's plans of Friday afternoon where Claude Henderson and James Benning operated with the emphasis on bowling wicket-to-wicket. Indeed, it had the same effect as three wickets fell for nine runs.

It was an intriguing battle between Nixon and Croft. They have had plenty of good contests over the years and this was another, with Nixon looking to be positive against the off-spinner by using his feet and utilising the sweep.

Croft was to win that duel later in the session, as two wickets fell in quick succession. Firstly, Boyce was completely luckless as he lost his wicket. Nixon drove Ashling straight back and the bowler diverted the ball onto the wicket at the non-striker's end.

Nixon then slipped out of his crease looking to push Croft to leg, but the ball drifted down the leg-side. Mark Wallace had the bails off in a flash and Nixon couldn't quite get his bat back down in time.

It was a shame that the duo departed as it looked as though they were ready to advance the scoring rate and take the game to the visitors.

A third wicket also fell shortly afterwards. Dippenaar looked in good touch in playing a nice drive through extra for his first boundary but he edged a snorter from Ashling to Dalrymple at slip for eight shortly after. It means the batter still requires ten for his Championship thousand; a landmark he'll be looking to reach in the next fixture at Kent.

That paired young duo Cobb and Taylor at the crease, and the pair were in a far from ideal position as neither had scored a run as they started their partnership.

Both battled away though, with Taylor launching into a super cover drive to open his boundary account. A cracking pull to the right of backward square-leg bought another boundary, with Taylor unbeaten on 21 at lunch. Cobb had batted with great application also, making six from 44 balls by the break.

Croft had ensured the rate was under control at lunch, sending down thirteen overs at a cost of just fifteen runs. Ashling was also impressive in taking 1-28 off ten, while Harris had conceded just ten runs from eight tidy overs as the visitors refused to give anything away.

Croft almost made a second breakthrough upon the resumption, but a nick from Taylor died on Dalrymple at slip. The hundred came up when Cobb, who had been largely patient, lofted Croft back over his head for an almighty six.

The duo took their partnership past 50 as the session went on. Taylor took the attack to Kruger by playing a powerful cut through gully and then timing a drive through mid on and Cobb also continued to play nicely, including a fine drive through mid-off.

Taylor, meanwhile, passed a score of 50 for the ninth time this season from 95 balls with four boundaries. Unfortunately, the stand ended just two short of a century as Cobb chipped a catch back to Dalrymple, who often breaks partnerships with his golden arm.

Tom New joined Taylor and scored his first boundary with a pulled four off Dalrymple. He also fell to the off-spinner though, caught by Gareth Rees at short-leg.

Taylor was still there at tea, unbeaten on 68 in a score of 190-5, with Benning unbeaten on four - which was a lovely cut off the back foot.

The match was not heading anywhere in particular, but everyone was hopeful that Taylor could make a fourth Championship ton of the season. He continued in fine form, playing a delicate late cut off Dalrymple before greeting the arrival of Mark Cosgrove with a lovely cover drive.

Cosgrove got his name on the scoresheet shortly after though, trapping Benning leg-before. White came to the wicket and got off and running with two cracking fours; driving stylishly with a shot that pierced extra cover and mid off and then following that up with an equally good shot through mid-on.

Taylor pulled Cosgrove powerfully for four in the 84th over and that prompted the bowler to take the new ball. Taylor continued to move toward three-figures, while White looked a million dollars at the crease. His next strokes were a nice cut off Dalrymple and a pulled four off Ashling.

The pursuit of Taylor's century was always going to be a race against time. Captains can generally shake hands at 4.50pm when the game begins at normal time, so the game looked as though it would be ending at 4.20pm with no prospect of a positive result.

However, play continued beyond that time, so it looked as though Taylor would be able to complete his hundred. The youngster had moved to 96 by the end of the 92nd over at 4.30pm – but then time was called, which was mightily cruel on the batsman.

Still, Taylor had taken his Championship tally to 1,148 by the end of this innings at a mightily-impressive average of 71.75, so although he will be disappointed to miss out on three figures, he can be delighted with those statistics.

Only two batsmen have made more runs than him in the Second Division so far, and that duo is Mark Ramprakash and Martin van Jaarsveld – experienced batsmen of the highest class.

Special mention must also go to White, who made his runs from just 36 balls. It took his match aggregate up to 106 - being dismissed only once in the process - and he really looked the part at the wicket.

With hands shaken, County took nine points from the game to take them above Middlesex and level on points with Surrey, while Glamorgan finished with eight.

The team have a break from Championship action next week, returning against leaders Kent at Canterbury in a match that begins on Tuesday week.