Hick bounces back

he Zimbabwe capital, Dale Benkenstein, ended up on the losing side, despite scoring 144 not out in Durham’s first innings against Warwickshire in Birmingham. Bulawayo-born Heath Streak, the ex-Zimbabwe captain who now skippers Warwickshire, played a key role in a remarkable 18-run victoiry. Streak, batting at No.10, made a defiant 37 as the last two wickets mustered 133 runs and Durham, left to score 160, collapsed from 62-2 to 141 all out.

Another former Zimbabwe star, Murray Goodwin, failed twice with the bat–he managed just three runs–as his team Sussex lost their unbeaten record when Lancashire thrashed them with two days to spare in Manchester. Sussex still top the table, but only by five points from Shane Warne’s Hampshire who routed Notts, the reigning champions, by 299 runs at Southampton. John Crawley, Hampshire’s one-time England batsman, scored a century in each innings.
Surrey are runaway leaders in Division 2 after Ali Brown’s 215 inspired an innings defeat of Leicestershire at The Oval.

* Lancashire and Sussex look to be heading for the final of the 50-over C&G Trophy. Lancashire lead the Northern Conference table after beating Derbyshire by nine wickets in Manchester, while Sussex top the Southern Conference following a seven-wicket success against Ireland in Dublin.

An innings of 71 by Andy Flower, one of Zimbabwe’s all-time finest batsmen, steered Essex to a five-wicket home win over Gloucestershire and 100 from Andrew Hall, the South Africa all-rounder, helped Kent to a 41-run defeat of Glamorgan in Cardiff where the total of 100 overs produced a monumental 623 runs.