The pitch, according to hearsay, was going to take spin, and Middlesex, looking for their first win at the County Ground since 1984, had Phillip Tufnell hard at work early on.In the event, there was more in the pitch's uneven bounce for the seam bowlers. The fall-out from those rumbles on.Having resumed 217 ahead with seven wickets in hand, Middlesex were restricted to just 70 more runs as the Northamptonshire bowlers, assisted by the sharp catching of Alan Fordam and Richard Montgomerie, worked through the innings.Fordham, standing in behind the stumps for the injured Russell Warren, took a spectacular diving catch down the leg side to dismiss the left- handed Paul Weekes and capped it with a marvellous reflex take, low to his left, off Angus Fraser's inside edge. The last time Taylor took 10 wickets in a match was against Middlesex here four years ago - a game which coincided with the publication of Allan Lamb's allegations of ball-tampering against Pakistan's bowlers. Weekes, the previous day's century- maker, added only seven runs to his overnight 133 and in all batted just over five hours, hitting 21 fours.Having finished off the Middlesex innings on the stroke of lunch, Northamptonshire had five sessions - a minimum of 169 overs - in which to score 288. In the film Bull Durham, Sarandon gives a wayward pitcher her suspender belt to wear when pitching and the boy comes good. This match has seen the transformation of Paul Taylor from the wayward bowler who opened for Northamptonshire in last Saturday's Benson & Hedges Cup final Not that I'm suggesting anything.

These days it is dangerous to suggest anything about a cricketer. On the other hand, I'd certainly venture on the evidence of this match that the left-arm Taylor is unlucky not to have played in more than two Tests for England. Nerves, obviously, get to him on the big occasion, but given his consistently aggressive pace and ability to move the ball both ways, he deserves another chance from what is touted to be a sympathetic England management team.Yesterday, Taylor punctured Middlesex's potentially match-winning second innings with three wickets in six balls to bring his match return to a career best 11-104. Going back to those suspenders, it might be worth a rethink. This was something of a Bull Durham day - sticky and steamy even without Susan Sarandon, the sex and the suspenders. But some elements were there, in the sense that this is a minor league affair while the majors are elsewhere slugging it out for the title. "It's an exciting time - we've made some serious signings and now have the spine of the team in place It won't be long before we win the Premiership.

Hopefully, Ruud can become our greatest manager, somebody has to. He will have our support and I will continue to do everything to help the club fulfil its potential."After Harding's half-time thoughts, Vialli, di Matteo and Leboeuf took their seats in the press box and were all smiles. As were the press - until Chelsea officials said that the players were there to watch the game and not to give interviews.. A 7-0 scoreline certainly helped, but the real reason for the calm was summed up by the Chelsea director Matthew Harding, who conceded: "We're all mad - that's why we keep coming."There is, though, a new wave of optimism to fuel the supporters' dreams. Harding's financial input, allied to the attraction of playing under a renowned, respected individual such as Gullit, and Glenn Hoddle before him, has transformed Chelsea into a talented force.And more money will be available if required "The spending is never over.

If a player whom the club want becomes available then we will be interested," Harding, who is estimated to be worth pounds 100m, said. Leboeuf, Di Matteo, John Spencer, Dennis Wise, Craig Burley and Dmitri Kharin were excused duty as they appeared in Euro 96, while Gullit preferred to accustom himself to the surroundings of the dug-out.There was not a murmur of discontent from the paying Chelsea public, who produced welcomed receipts of pounds 20,000 for their non-league hosts. Capacity gates are expected at Exeter, Plymouth and Swindon this week as the Dutch player-manager takes to the road with his new-look squad. So it proved on Friday evening at Kingstonian's neat little ground on the outskirts of south-west London, where 4,000 Chelsea fans packed in to welcome the Italian international Gianluca Vialli, his compatriot Roberto di Matteo and the French international sweeper Frank Leboeuf, bought from Strasbourg. There was, however, one slight problem None of them played.