Glamorgan were 401 all out and at the close Hampshire were 208

Glamorgan were 401 all out, and at the close, Hampshire were 208 behind at 193 for 2, with Jason Laney unbeaten on 102 – his first Championship century.Phil Tufnell struck two late blows to boost Middlesex’s chances against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Lancashire need just 130 to clinch their first home win of the season. But Tufnell trapped Jason Gallian lbw and had John Crawley caught off a top edge, both for ducks. The figures of Mascarenhas, an English-born Australian of Sri Lankan parentage, compare with Charles Llewellyn’s 8 for 132 against Australia in 1899. Roberts reached 50 on his debut, including eight fours, before being well caught at cover. And when Harris played on, the Derbyshire total was a record against Somerset, passing the previous best of 495 for 7 in 1981. Somerset conceded 98 runs in 21 overs to the last four batsmen.

Andre van Troost’s injury meant they were a bowler short; they were also lacking professional pride.Hampshire’s teenage pace bowler Dmitri Mascarenhas took 6 for 88 against Glamorgan at Southampton – the best figures this century by a Hampshire player on debut. Krikken is known to be an awkward seven or eight; what was unexpected was the ability of Roberts and Harris to take advantage. Krikken and Roberts added 100 in 23 overs, passing the best for the eighth wicket against Somerset, 113 in 1929.Krikken might have been taken at slip, off Caddick, when 72 but added another 17 before being caught behind, swinging at Jason Kerr. Glen Roberts’ tidy bowling deserved a wicket.Somerset needed a lift after a dismal morning when the fielding vied with the bowling in ineptness. Peter Bowler’s excellent support ended when Andrew Harris won the second of successive lbw appeals. Harris, 1 for 17 in a spell of eight overs, was the first Derbyshire bowler to make the ball kick, at the River End, as Andrew Caddick had done on Tuesday.

The pair had reached 76 in 18 overs when the left-handed Trescothick, who had pulled Dominic Cork for a magnificent six, followed him down the legside, with Karl Krikken taking a splendid catch.
Lathwell made his 100 off 141 balls, including 19 fours, before stepping back to play on. With Derbyshire’s score looming, Trescothick set about some famous names while Lathwell picked off runs at the other end. Maybe I have got this wrong, but I thought it was batting, bowling and fielding that mattered, not pumped-up patriotism.. Mark Lathwell saved his first Championship century of the summer for this vital match, checking the contenders after they had made a record score. He was thinking mainly about television.Interestingly, then, last Monday’s match between the Premiership leaders, Sheffield Wednesday and Leicester City, put out live by the Sky network, drew barely more than 17,000 spectators to Hillsborough.In the past week, I have dared to wonder what sport will look like in the next millennium.

Will it enjoy the fruits of technical improvement or succumb to pervasive greed? By then people may have put their heads together and come to the conclusion that nothing is for ever.The belief in progress is certainly a stimulant to achieve but it disguises from us the truth that no game is guaranteed to remain as fashionable as football is presently.And what is this national pride people keep going on about? To my mind, nothing more ridiculous has been put forth recently in sport than the idea of playing tapes of Winston Churchill’s most stirring speeches to England’s cricketers. The rift with referees appears to be even wider and, as usual, clubs are grumbling about the needs of national teams.Everywhere, of course, there is the overwhelming smell of money. We have come to accept this as a way of life in sport, but there seemed to be some hope that common sense would prevail as rugby union took on professionalism. Instead, the game is in disarray, riven by internecine strife and mindless greed. When, you have to wonder, will sports performers realise that there are damn sight harder ways to make a living?Anyone old enough to read this has lived long enough to have witnessed growth in the popularity of sport, particularly football. What we are into now is an age when it matters more than some of us older guys find healthy.No doubt about it, someone said before last Saturday’s rugby match between Saracens and Leicester, sport is hostage to its paymasters. This is easier said than done, but to a large extent I succeeded It can be slightly disconcerting.

I returned not knowing that Newcastle had lost two of three Premiership games, Arsenal had paid off Bruce Rioch and Pakistan proved better than England in proper cricket matches.By all accounts, some of the tantrums tossed already by footballers and managers have been up to the unappetising standards of last season. You may think no harm was done by this, but when television starts tinkering with the truth it is time to worry.When travelling recently through a remote area of Spain, I came across a bar in which people were applauding a televised repeat of Ali’s medal ceremony. History was being altered for them.Before making that journey a personal vow was that no attempt would be made to remain in touch with current sporting issues. Sweetened by a handsome fee and the joy he obviously gets from fresh adulation, Ali agreed. No sports figure, to my mind, has made a more important social statement.A fact about the Dream Team in Atlanta is that it was what Americans call a “bust” in the television ratings. Might it not improve things, somebody at NBC suggested, if Ali was put on show to have his medal replaced?This where it gets cynical.