Cricket Diary: Silence of Lamb a doubtful benefit

AT LEAST two cricketers received more than pounds 200,000 from their benefits last year. Five others, all modestly rewarded journeyman players for whom the system could have been invented, did not manage to reach six figures.

A total of some pounds 1.36m was donated to the 12 players who have so far declared the results. Two others expect to finish counting shortly but perhaps the most intriguing case is that of Allan Lamb who has no intention of announcing publicly how much he got.

As it has been recorded that one of his dinners - at which cricket memorabilia was auctioned - raised pounds 90,000 it is possible that Lamb joined Robin Smith and the table-topping Mike Watkinson in the double- hundreds of thousands category.

But the former Northamptonshire and England batsman was distinctly reluctant to reveal precisely how much last week. "That's between me and the taxman," he said. "He knows and he's the only person who needs to know. There are a few people who helped who are aware of the total but that's all. I'm no longer employed as a cricketer so I'm certainly under no obligation to make a declaration to Northants or anybody else. It's my business."

While Lamb thanked all those who supported him, some cricket followers might feel that since they did the donating they are almost as entitled as the Inland Revenue to have some indication of a player's increased wealth. It was good of Lamb to reveal all to the Inland Revenue since benefit takings are not so far subject to income tax. Northampton confirmed that he was entitled to keep the figure to himself.

Whether this sets a precedent or not, others have declared at various times over the past three months. Watkinson, beneficiary and Lancashire captain in a year in which they won the two knockout competitions, was additionally rewarded with pounds 209,000, still well behind Graham Gooch's pounds 289,371 the previous year. Smith announced a precise sum of pounds 202,896.

Last year's least enriching benefit was the pounds 50,000 of Andy Pick, who has taken nearly 500 wickets in a 14-year career at Nottingham. "It was what I expected and I was perfectly pleased," he said. "A lot depends on how big a name player you are and whether you're actually playing at the time. I'm just an average county cricketer."

The table so far of 1996 beneficiaries, which perhaps confirms that geography counts as well as achievements, is: Watkinson (Lancs); Smith (Hants); Mike Gatting (Middlesex) pounds 190,000 - following pounds 205,000 from his first benefit in 1988; Steven Rhodes (Worcs) pounds 167,025; David Ward (Surrey) pounds 116,000; Peter Hartley (Yorks) pounds 107,500; Alan Wells (Sussex) pounds 90,000; Chris Penn (Kent) pounds 90,000; Richard Harden (Somerset) pounds 82,000; Tony Wright (Gloucs) pounds 70,000; Pick (Notts) pounds 50,000. Paul Prichard (Essex) and Dermot Reeve (Warwicks) have yet to make any announcement.

ONE of this year's beneficiaries is Graham Cowdrey, understandably taking full advantage of the family links by having prints made of him alongside his father and his brother. With a splendid organisation Cowdrey may break the county record but if not he should never be short of work in his retirement. Over the years, according to his entries in the Cricketers' Who's Who, he has qualified as an electrician, been completing his plumbing exams, additionally qualified as a glazier and, as of this year, is also a farrier. Of course, it is entirely possible that he is none of these things.

IN the first round of matches in this year's Championship, all abandoned as draws, 167 wickets fell. Of those, 37 were lbw verdicts - slightly more than 22 per cent.

The opening three days of the second round of matches, similarly played on surfaces where the ball might be moving around more than in June, July or August, yielded a higher proportion, 41 leg befores in a total of 142 wickets, or 28.8 per cent.

The bowler making the early running in persuading umpires of the strength of his case is Phil DeFreitas who has been awarded six decisions while Paul Jarvis's four wickets for Sussex have all been lbw. Further updates in the leg-before charts throughout the summer.

Book mark: "Once on the Sri Lankan tour, when I had been dismissed for 30-odd - one of my pet hates, getting out after you've done all the hard work - I came into the dressing-room and spat it. It was Mark [Waugh] who tried to placate me. 'You can't get 'em every time,' he said. I know that and told him so but ... you can never, ever be satisfied, even subconsciously, with yourself. You must try to get runs every day. You won't get them every time but you must care about your performance in each innings." From Under The Southern Cross, the autobiography of David Boon just published here and explaining a lot.