Cricket: Morris bypassed twice in one day

Glamorgan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .329 and 352-5 dec

Nottinghamshire . . . . . . . . . . . . .346 and 338-2

Nottinghamshire win by eight wickets

TIM ROBINSON emulated his opposite number, Hugh Morris, by scoring a century in each innings as Nottinghamshire made sure that Glamorgan fell off the top of the County Championship table yesterday.

Set 336 to win off 90 overs, Nottinghamshire reached their target with eight wickets and 8.4 overs to spare. Morris had declared at 352 for 5 upon the completion of Anthony Cottey's first century of the season.

The early loss of Mark Saxelby was promptly countered by a 121-run second-wicket partnership between Robinson and Paul Pollard and when Pollard was bowled by Robert Croft for 72 with the total on 140, Paul Johnson took up the cudgels with relish.

Robinson, dropped by Cottey at deep backward square off Steve Watkin when 82, completed a fine century and played a perfectly paced innings. He reached three figures off 171 deliveries with 13 boundaries and added another five fours before finishing on 139 not out.

Johnson, much more aggressive, needed only 73 balls to post his century - the quickest of the season - and included a six and 14 boundaries along the way. He finished with an unbeaten 112 as the pair shared an unbroken 198-run stand that totally demoralised the opposition.

But the talk at Swansea yesterday was not so much about Welsh cricket as English cricket. 'And there it is, ladies and gentlemen,' Byron Denning, the Glamorgan scorer, said upon announcing the England squad. 'It seems that, unfortunately, Trevor Bailey was not available.'

Once again, the Taffies had been ignored: Morris, the leading first-class run-scorer with 996 at an average of 62.25; Watkin, the leading wicket- taker with 51 victims at the start of yesterday's play; and Matthew Maynard, the hard-hitting, in-form, middle-order batsman, were surely among the front runners.

Don Shepherd, a bowler par excellence during a 22-year Glamorgan career that saw him collect 2,174 wickets at 20.95 each but not a solitary Test cap, was one of the nonplussed. 'I am very surprised at Hugh's omission, especially as there has been such a cry for a left-handed batsman in the team,' Shepherd said.