Round-up

Speedy Jones delivers express victory to press claims

Simon Jones, the distinctly lively Glamorgan pace bowler who has been widely touted for a place in the England Test side, has impressed more by virtue of his potential than his actual performances. But yesterday at Swansea he prod-uced the figures to back up the faith. He also brought Essex's run of five successive victories in the County Champion-ship to a juddering halt.

The Second Division leaders resumed on a parlous 60 for 5, with a lead of just 88. Jones is not known for showing sympathy to those who wield the willow, and tore through the rest to return 5 for 28 and leave Essex all out for 139. The Welsh side required just 112 for victory, and this they duly achieved for the loss of two wickets, captain Steve James opening up with 56.

There was little chance of Essex's closest rivals catching them up as poor weather had consigned most of this round of matches to draws. Middlesex managed to avoid the follow-on against Worcester- shire at Lord's. They reached 417 for 8, declaring just 85 in arrears thanks to Paul Weekes' 127 not out batting at No 7, with 20 boundaries in his 233 balls, and Ed Joyce's 70. Then Pakistan seamer Abdur Razzaq ripped out the top three for 20, and Phil Tufnell's slow left-armers reduced the visitors to 69 for 5 before stumps were pulled at 99 for 5.

Derbyshire took their first innings from 226 for 4 to 398 against Gloucestershire at Derby, giving them a lead of 219, skipper Dominic Cork scoring 67 to mirror his figures of 5 for 67 while the injury-plagued left-arm seamer Mike Smith picked up 4 for 87. Gloucestershire drew on 225 for 7, ex-New Zealander Craig Spearman contributing 95.

A contrived game for two of the basement clubs at Northampton produced a thrilling finish. Northamptonshire declared their first innings after one over and Durham then forfeited their second, leaving the home side to chase 353 for victory. David Sales' 74 and Graeme Swann's 109 off just 82 balls with six sixes and 10 fours set up an extremely tight victory on 353 for 9 and left Durham still without a win this season.

In the First Division, the Taunton run feast continued and, in the current climate of draws, Surrey could afford to lose to Somerset and still maintain their status at the top.

Given the benevolent state of the pitch and some recent fourth-innings targets which were reached with ease, almost any run-chase is now deemed an acceptable challenge. In his first Championship match this year, Adam Hollioake stuck to his attacking style of captaincy, setting Somerset 379 to win.

After two marathon first innings, Surrey resumed on 96 for 0, 150 runs ahead. Jon Batty, opened the innings again in spite of his duck first time around and responded with a career-best 151 off 203 balls with 22 fours and two sixes. Ian Ward made 75 and Mark Ramprakash 53 off 43 balls as Surrey declared on 324 for 5.

Matthew Wood followed up his first century of the season in the first innings with 131 off just 148 balls with 19 fours and a six, and the stand-in skipper Michael Burns hit 68 but the chase faltered on 329 for 7 in the 57th over, the Pakistan off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq taking 4 for 111 to leave Somerset without a win in five games.

Hampshire, who had drawn the last four games, endured another against Sussex at the Rose Bowl because of a controversial damp square. But, having reduced the hosts to 88 for 6, it was the Sussex captain Chris Adams who was furious not to be able to press home the advantage on Friday in conditions which he considered fit for play.

Robin Martin-Jenkins took 5 for 37 to polish off Hampshire for 163, giving his team a lead of 83. Sussex took 43 overs to reach 111 for 4 before a miffed Adams declared and the game frittered away with Hampshire on 56 for 0.