Jamaican Grant's ray of sunlight lifts Essex

Joe Grant has had an interest-ing career. In a previous incarnation he shared the new ball with Courtney Walsh for Jamaica, but last year he was plying his trade with Camb-ridgeshire at Minor County level. Essex have signed up the 34-year-old pace bowler and he brought a ray of Caribbean sunshine to Derby yesterday amid all the rain, helping his side to a convincing win that keeps them in the race for promotion in the Championship.

It was a timely boost for Ronnie Irani's side, who had not won any of their last four games after five successive victories early in the season, a decline that coincided with their skipper's sojourn with England in the NatWest Series.

Derbyshire themselves won five of the first six games after a dire 2001 but have not managed to win while their talismanic captain, Dominic Cork, has been on international duty. Now he is missing again and their promotion hopes are suffering accordingly.

Darren Robinson reached 115 off 226 balls with 18 fours before Essex were all out for 324, Graeme Welch returning from a hip injury to claim 5 for 66. So Derbyshire needed 292 for victory but Grant, coming on as third change, grabbed 4 for 45 as they were bowled out for 151 to lose by 140 runs.

The Division Two leaders, Middlesex, watched the rain fall all day on Friday and had to settle for remaining the only unbeaten side in the country, with the most batting points. Against Northamptonshire at Lord's they picked up maximum points again, declaring on 400 for 4 with Owais Shah unbeaten on 172 off 239 balls with 23 fours and two sixes. The visitors were all out for 231 but it was academic.

Worcestershire also hope to keep pace with the leaders and have tomorrow to finish off the job against a resurgent Nottinghamshire at Kidderminster, The latter have won three of the last four since their coach, South African Clive Rice, departed, and they have Austral-ian leg-spinner Stuart MacGill to help as stand-in for another South African, Nicky Boje.

They were dismissed for 161, 35 in arrears, with Matt Mason, a Western Australian paceman with a British passport, taking 5 for 59. But Graeme Hick defied MacGill's wiles to make 126 not out off 134 balls with nine fours and two sixes as his side made 253 for 4, Ben Smith contributing 65 in what is a very powerful batting line-up.

A draw was inevitable at Cardiff, Glamorgan compiling 407 against troubled Gloucestershire. Michael Powell made 135 off 188 balls with 23 fours and Robert Croft 101 not out off 160 balls with 17 fours and a six. The left-arm seamer Mike Smith took 4 for 83 and Australian Ian Harvey 4 for 71.

In Division One, Warwickshire's Nick Knight continued his outrageous run of form with 109 off 205 balls with 11 boundaries as his side made 216 for 4 and drew with lowly, winless ex-champs Yorkshire.

There was no play at Old Trafford between Lancashire and Hampshire, in the Under-19 Test against India, and in the washed-out women's Test, also against India, which has been changed to a one-day game at Beaconsfield today.