Cricket: Ealham strikes a rich seam of form

FOR KENT the Championship season may be about to begin at last. After defeats by Surrey and Sussex something was needed to restore confidence and yesterday their bowlers provided it, not least Mark Ealham, whose 5 for 23 was his best performance for two seasons.

By one of those cricketing quirks of fate, it was a comprehensive defeat here in the Benson & Hedges Cup which put the skids under Kent. That day they lost an important toss, but Trevor Ward, their acting captain, won an equally valuable one this time.

It enabled him to give Ealham and company first use of a pitch that had sweated under the covers all the previous day, giving some slow movement off the seam - ideal for someone of Ealham's pace.

The pattern was set early on when Dean Headley and Martin McCague admirably located a full length and tight off-stump line, leaving the pitch to do the rest. They were rewarded with the wickets of Vince Wells and Darren Maddy, both bowled by balls that moved off the seam.

It was to Ward's credit that despite the early success, he still lost no time in introducing Ealham, who immediately had Ben Smith picked up at slip. At 37 for 3, Leicestershire could have done without the error that cost them the wicket of Iain Sutcliffe, who had coped better than most with the moving ball.

As a left-hander, he looked capable of upsetting the bowlers' line but he was run out by Headley's direct hit from cover when Phil Simmons, fretting to get off the mark after seven overs, called him for an unlikely, unnecessary single.

Simmons had made only 33 runs in five Championship innings and his anxiety showed. This pitch hardly seemed his scene and although he managed to deal effectively with the rare half-volley, it was no surprise when he departed at 66, going off an unthreatening ball from Matthew Fleming. Leicestershire did not have much to offer after that despite Aftab Habib's composed resistance. Worse for them, the pitch looked to be improving.

Kent had reached 41 with few problems before Chris Lewis entered the fray and removed Robert Key and Ward in one over before a low slip catch by Simmons gave Leicestershire the important wicket of Carl Hooper, who edged a ball from Alan Mullally.