GRAEME Hick stole the show in the Parks on the first day of Worcestershire's match against Oxford University with a magnificent century.

The England batsman hit 17 boundaries as he raced to his 97th century.

His superb knock finally ended when he pulled a long hop from Ross Garland and was caught for 124.

Hick shared in a stand of 210 off 43 overs with David Leatherdale as visitors Worcestershire closed on 238-3 with Leatherdale 97 not out.

Earlier, Oxford University's bowlers did their best to make up for lost time after the effects of overnight rain held up the start for three hours.

The bowlers run-up at the Norham Gardens end was the cause of the delayed start, but it didn't trouble David Mather when the county won the toss and batted.

Earlier, Oxford University's bowlers did their best to make up for lost time after the effects of overnight rain held up the start for three hours.

The bowlers run-up at the Norham Gardens end was the cause of the delayed start, but it didn't trouble David Mather when the county won the toss and batted. The left-arm seamer dismissed Phil Weston with the third ball which rolled back onto the stumps and Vikram Solanki the other opener was out in the fourth over.

The left-arm seamer dismissed Phil Weston with the third ball which rolled back onto the stumps and Vikram Solanki the other opener was out in the fourth over.

The new ball was shared by Salman Khan, who was making his first class debut, and Solanki cut the first ball of his second over into the safe hands of Nick Pirihi in the gulley.

However, the remainder of the day belonged to Hick and Leatherdale, who put the bowling in perspective.

WORCESTERSHIRE

1st Innings

P Weston b Mather... 0KV Solanki c Pirihi b KhanM-I2KG Hick c Mather b GarlandM-I124KD Leatherdale not outM-I97KA Hafeez not outM-I7KExtrasM-I8KTotal (3 wkts)...238KFall: 1-0, 2-6, 3-216.

Bowling: Mather 16-4-51-1, Khan 17-1-75-1; Byrne 8-0-55-0, Lightfoot 7-1-33-0, Garland 5-0-20-1.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.