In a fascinating well-poised match at Abbeydale Park Northamptonshire thanks to the diligent obstinancy of their tail established a solid first- innings lead

In a fascinating, well-poised match at Abbeydale Park, Northamptonshire, thanks to the diligent obstinancy of their tail, established a solid first- innings lead. If there is a title to be won, Northamptonshire can be relied on to lose it. It will, however, take a resilient lot to beat them, a bill Yorkshire could fit. Presumably Warwickshire will be set 350 for victory tomorrow, but whoever does win will be left with a fairly sour taste in the mouth - like today's spectators.. DOUBTLESS Northamptonshire will eventually devise some way this summer of failing to win the County Championship. Their teams have been doing so with supreme conviction for 90 years, and the winds of change which are purportedly about to sweep through the first-class game may not be up to blowing away that kind of history. When Keith Parsons was caught off bat and pad for five, Somerset were 19 for three and the game was departing from the script.The next 12 overs were gentle and short-pitched from Andy Moles and Mohin The threat to Somerset's second innings had been lifted.

Marcus Trescothick, having driven a huge six, pulled clumsily at the next ball and was out for eight. Warwickshire's safety net had been put in place by Wasim Khan, a 24-year- old from Birmingham. He has batted five times in his first season in the first team and on each occasion has made his highest score in first-class cricket. He rode his luck (dropped three times) and struck 13 fours and a six in five hours.Khan added 96 with Knight and 99 with Trevor Penney, who then put on 79 with Dermot Reeve. Penney's century suggested that the wicket was not as difficult as the earlier batsmen had made it look; his hundred came in 190 balls before Reeve's opportunistic declaration.The first 10 overs of Somerset's innings looked like proper cricket. Mark Lathwell swiped at Douglas Brown and was out without scoring. They took this advice literally, scoring 20 runs in the first hour.

At lunch Warwickshire still needed 190 to avoid the follow-on, but the only wicket to fall was Nick Knight's for 58.It was stern stuff, and Somerset were helping Warwickshire recover from a mistaken decision to let them bat first by dropping a succession of easy catches, especially off the leg spin of Mushtaq Ahmed, whose rage was so powerful that it came in four shades of black, and whose despair led him to leave the field for a while, presumably to recover from injuries to his pride.When Warwickshire did finally increase the run rate, it was at the expense of Somerset's spinners Poor Mushtaq ended with figures of one for 89. Warwickshire coach Phil Neale's message to his batsmen was that they should forget the Somerset the score and pretend they were batting first. This is the way it finally worked out, but it was not always easy.English sides tend to collapse when confronted by a dominating first- innings total. Yesterday was typical, with four counties following on, and two losing by an innings before lunch on the third day. But you had to look hard to uncover the logic behind a bizarre day's play.Warwickshire's tactics were, first, to make sure they could not lose and, having done so, to tempt Somerset into accepting a position from which Warwickshire might win.

The fielders were not chasing the ball hard to the boundary, either. When bad light and rain stopped play 35 minutes early, Somerset were 247 ahead with seven wickets still standing. Warwickshire began by batting as though this was a timeless test, scoring only 59 in 38 overs before lunch, and soon after Somerset had begun to bat again, Reeve seemed to be offering them easy runs by bowling his No 1 and No 3 batsmen. Dermot Reeve declared when Warwickshire were still 180 runs behind Somerset's first innings of 495. After eight sterile sessions, the captains had decided to go for a result The cricket here yesterday was not a pretty sight. THE fix went in four overs after tea when Trevor Penney completed his century. But Northamptonshire being Northamptonshire, the faithful are not holding their breath just yet..

"I'd hate to see us when we're really performing!" he said, urging his players to work harder.The view from the players' balcony has certainly changed, and not only because the football stands of Northampton Town FC have been demolished since last year Optimism is, for the time being, looming. He, for one, believes it could be a historic season for the club. "At the moment we're playing to about 70 per cent of our potential. If we can improve on that, then given the average slice of luck that every side needs we should be more than in contention.