Bicknell ton gives Nottinghamshire hope
By Ananova
September 12 2002
Darren Bicknell's century put Nottinghamshire in a solid position on the first day of their Frizzell County Championship clash with Worcestershire.
| Bicknell made 112 off 231 balls, adding to an earlier half-century from captain Jason Gallian, with whom he shared a stand of 102. A late lbw decision removed Bicknell shortly before the close, but his knock was enough to set his side up for a decent total after finishing on 344 for seven. Gallian and Guy Welton had given Notts a good start when the first wicket fell with 42 runs on the board. Welton (16) edged Matthew Mason to wicketkeeper Steve Rhodes, who took a simple chance. Gallian reached his 50 shortly after lunch with an edge down to third man for four and Bicknell notched up a half-century with the 12th boundary of a highly-entertaining innings. However, the partnerhsip was ended when Gareth Batty trapped Gallian lbw for 62. New batsman Usman Afzaal immediately found the rope, but he was soon returning to the pavilion after an inside edge off Mason carried into the gloves of Rhodes to leave Notts on 151 for three. Bicknell, though, maintained his scoring rate and new man Bilal Shafayat joined in with a series of quality shots to keep the home side in control. But Worcestershire fought back as Shafayat's positive approach was exploited with the last ball before tea. The right-hander tried to clip Kabir Ali off his legs but he mis-timed the shot and lifted the ball into the hands of Anurag Singh at short leg. Paul Johnson came to the crease and his intentions were made clear with a boundary in the first over. He hit three more fours before launching Batty back down the ground for six, racing on to 29 from just 18 balls. Bicknell had been far more steady at the other end and two singles took him to 100. Johnson's lively innings was ended on 36 when his square cut off Batty was well held by David Leatherdale, reducing Gallian's men to 256 for five, but Bicknell and Chris Read put on 53 for the next wicket to give their side a boost. Bicknell was finally dismissed for 112 shortly before stumps after being trapped leg before by Alamgir Sheriyar, and their position was weakened further when Read (50) was trapped lbw by Batty.
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