CRICKET: SUFFOLK were again indebted to their skipper Phil Caley for keeping them in the hunt with another half-century against Cambridgeshire on day two of the Minor Counties Championship match at Mildenhall yesterday.

SUFFOLK were again indebted to their skipper Phil Caley for keeping them in the hunt with another half-century against Cambridgeshire on day two of the Minor Counties Championship match at Mildenhall yesterday.

Caley saved his side from complete collapse as poor batting had initially ruined the good work achieved by the bowlers during the morning session.

But some excellent resistance from Chris Swallow, who is unbeaten on 38 after a marathon stay of two hours, 26 minutes at the crease, together with tail-ender David Cross, have increased Suffolk's lead to 174 with two second innings wickets remaining.

It promises to be an intriguing final day today.

Cambridgeshire, resuming on 132 for three with Robert Rollins and Danny Wilson having shared an unbeaten stand of 100, were dismissed for 224, therefore conceding a first innings advantage of 40 to Suffolk.

The consistent Gary Kirk was again the pick of the bowlers, posting excellent figures of five for 69. Ian Graham snapped up three late wickets to put the hosts in the driving seat.

Former Essex stalwart Rollins was removed early on by Kirk, bowled for 65. The Clacton opening bowler also claimed the crunch wicket of Wilson, who added just three to his overnight 34.

One of the highlights of the day was a splendid diving catch by Russell Catley at square-leg to account for Cambridgeshire skipper Ajaz Akhtar. This gave Kirk his five-wicket haul.

Suffolk's grasp on the match slipped as the visitors soon made serious inroads into the hosts' second innings.

Only the in-form Caley advanced into double-figures amongst the top seven batsmen as Suffolk stumbled to 31 for five.

The Suffolk skipper, fresh from his excellent 95 against Staffordshire at Bury the previous week, had also top-scored with 71 on day one of this match.

He struck four boundaries off 56 balls to reach his 50, only to be dismissed off the very next delivery.

Paul King occupied the crease for an hour in support of Swallow, and the latter was still around when rain interrupted play with Suffolk 113 for eight at 5.15 pm.

They were back on the field, 90 minutes later, and it proved to be a successful last hour with Swallow and Cross frustrating the visitors with a fine rearguard.

Swallow has so far faced 130 deliveries in a very responsible innings, while Cross has kept him company for 64 minutes, unbeaten on 10 from 45 balls.