Cork swings back to the limelight

Hampshire 76 for 4 (Adams 33*, Balcombe 3*) trail Worcestershire 132 (Cork 4-10) by 56 runs
Scorecard

Dominic Cork has vowed to make Lancashire suffer for shipping him out at the end of last season. Well, that opportunity still awaits but the 37-year-old former England allrounder warmed up nicely for battles ahead by taking four Worcestershire wickets in 11 balls on his Hampshire debut.

Cork has never been short of confidence - and he certainly was not going to be put off by failing to take a wicket in his first four overs at the Rose Bowl after coming on as second change. Instead, he kept himself involved by taking a couple of catches, one in the gully and another at second slip, before bursting onto centre stage in typically dramatic fashion as the visitors were knocked over for 132.

Worcestershire, back in the championship's top flight after a season in Division Two, were going reasonably on 101 for 3 and were still capable of making a decent fist of it at 120 for 5 after opting to bat on a green-tinged pitch. But then up bobbed Cork.

Making the ball swing, as he almost always has done, and nibble just a little off the seam, Cork won three lbw verdicts in the space of four deliveries - pinning Gareth Batty, Kabir Ali and Chris Whelan in front of their stumps. And it was almost three in three with Whelan surviving one shout after being rapped on the pad before succumbing next up.

Cork's fourth victim, Matt Mason, wafted optimistically outside off stump to be caught behind, and it was odds on a Cork five-fer. Moeen Ali probably thought so as well, swinging determinedly at James Tomlinson but failing to clear wide mid-off. Still, the man of the moment looked happy enough with 4 for 10 from eight overs, and why not.

Hampshire's glee did not last too long, mind you. Within three overs of their reply, and with pitch inspector Tony Pigott watching on, the hosts were 10 for 3. Kabir Ali, following Cork's lead, had Michael Carberry and Michael Lumb caught behind either side of John Crawley snicking Mason to third slip.

Whoops! Pigott appeared in the media centre to announce that he was perfectly happy with the pitch, saying it was a good one for the time of year and pointing out that swing had done most of the damage. And, just to support the view that batting was not impossible, Jimmy Adams and Sean Ervine added 63 - comfortably the biggest stand of the day - before Ervine chipped Whelan to mid-on shortly before the close

The Rose Bowl is about to undergo a major redevelopment to make it ready for a Test match in 2011. Where cricket is concerned, though, some things never change - like no play before lunch despite pleasant sunshine and a drying breeze.

In fairness, a lot of rain fell during the night and a delay of just over two hours was about as good as could be expected. And, although Hampshire's bowlers had to be patient while the new ball was failing to bring success, two wickets in three overs from first-change David Balcombe meant that home supporters were not kept waiting too much longer for a bit of cheer.

Worcestershire's decision to bat looked bold, but Daryl Mitchell and Stephen Moore kept Chris Tremlett and James Tomlinson at bay without too many heart-in-mouth moments. In fact, the biggest scare for anyone early on came when Tremlett tried to make a diving stop on the fine leg boundary and tweaked an ankle after catching his studs in the lush turf.

Given that Tremlett and 'injury' have been too closely associated for anyone's comfort over the years, more than a few folk feared the worst. Happily, this one proved a false alarm and the big lad who has flirted with international cricket without ever managing to crack it was able to continue.

It needed Balcombe, however, to start making in-roads with the wickets of Moore and Solanki. And Cork, of course was still to come.