All posts by csb10.top

Somerset Sabres new mascot, the friendly dragon, who made his first appearance at the NUL game against Yorkshire Phoenix on May 12th is no longer nameless.As a result of a competition that was run by the Somerset County Gazette the dragon is now to be known as Stumpy, which is quite an appropriate name for a cricket club mascot.The name Stumpy was submitted by twelve year old Caty Larcombe, who lives in Ilminster, and many congratulations to her.Caty was delighted with her prize which is to spend the day as a guest of the club at one of their home matches later on this season.Stumpy the dragon has been taking it easy in Taunton since his first appearance a month ago, but this Sunday all being well he will make the long journey to The Rec at Bath to make a celebrity guest appearance and watch the NUL game against Leicester Foxes.Earlier today Stumpy told me through his interpreter Jo Betsworth: "I’m really looking forward to going all the way up to Bath on Sunday and meeting everybody in that part of the county.It’s along way for a dragon to travel, and I hope it is not too hot because I get very warm inside my dragon skin suit! Please tell people that I am very friendly and I want everybody, both young and old, to look out for me at The Rec and come up and say hello."

There are two ways to approach the new day if you leave the field within one shot of a century. Both were displayed at The Oval today.Alex Tudor, on the brink of a first century in what should be a long and successful all-round career was as nervy and excitable as he had been imperious on Day One. Alec Stewart, fast approaching his fiftieth hundred, simply hit the first ball of the day, admittedly a gift almost half-volley length outside his leg stump, to the ropes.His partner looked to have slept little and worried lots and could only play and miss, and even attempted to give catching pratice to the slips (he couldn’t even do this right, it fell well short) before an edge finally beat the cordon and he was safely a real batsman at last. Pressure relieved, Tudor could hardly miss a ball for a while – one cover drive would have stood out in any innings ever played, other shots were more brutal, but just as effective.With the two-hundred partnership having been hoisted Stewart (106) missed a ball keeping low, and after an interval Tudor (116) was caught in the deep from a top edge. Essex may have breathed a sigh of relief but losing the eighth wicket does not signal the arrival of the Surrey tail(more commonly pronounced Giddins). Salisbury and in particular Bicknell looked set on hoisting 500 to make their bowling tasks later in the day simpler.After the leg-spinner was caught off McGarry, the entire Essex team seemed to retreat to the fence to stop Bicknell scoring boundaries and offer him singles, a tactic which failed as theyhad but nine outfielders and would have needed twenty.The second loudest cheer of the day (after Tudor’s hundred) greeted a four to Giddins before Irani, strangely underbowled, ended the carnage by bowling Bicknell (38).The game seemed to resume on a different ground. Whereas the Essex bowlers had struggled to achieve a hint of movement, though with occasionally variable bounce, Bicknell, faster than any of the Essex bowlers and getting much more bounce, could not control the ball at all in his first over, the ball swinging enough to have two wides called.Tudor at the other end got little movement and seemed to be unable to hit the seam consistently – perhaps a symptom of a sleepless night – but generated alarming pace. The first runs from the bat came from an edge past third slip in his first over that reached the pavillion before any fielder had moved.Bicknell soon had the measure of the swing and by the time he decieved Prichard (0) with a slower ball he had beaten him on both sides of the bat more than once. Robinson (7) left a beautiful inswinger, perhaps assuming it would bounce over the stumps. It did, but not over the bails.The wicket bringing Law out to join Grayson. Law immediately looked more assured than hiscolleagues but hardly comfortable, clearing the slips with an uncomfortable edge, and playing and missing at Bicknell. Giddins replaced Tudor bowling as fast as I have seen him for his new county and getting much more movement than Tudor, finally getting Grayson (37) caught at point by Ward.Ben Hollioake replaced Bicknell and the scoring rate improved, the young allrounder showing both sides of his bowling. Some unplayable away swingers were mixed with too many short balls and half-volleys allowing Law to get well underway.Law, on the way to a classy but hardly chanceless hundred (he was dropped or missed either side of 50 and on 99, all hard chances). The rest of the Essex batting however seemed unable to cope with any of the Surrey bowlers.Irani (17), surely over-promoted at number five in a first-class game, looked to slog the side out of trouble before pulling a fast shortish ball onto his stumps. Peters (23) was correct but not able to cope for long with Bicknell’s return to the Vauxhall end.Neither Foster or Anderson (who had earlier been the pick of the Essex bowlers) looked to be middle-order batsmen, Foster in particular looking very uncomfortable facing Tudor. From a stance inside the crease, a step back before the ball is bowled inspires little confidence.Ilott however played well got into line and drove with some force before both sides seemed todecide that enough was enough and Salisbury and Ramprakash bowled a few overs to bring a long day to a close, not without Salisbury spinning the ball enough to suggest that the second Essex innings will be any easier.At the close of day two of the CricInfo Championship Division One game at The Oval, Essex were 265 for 7 in their first innings, still 223 behind Surrey’s first innings total of 498.

Division One

James Adams’ career-best 86 guided Hampshire to a five-wicket win against Somerset at Taunton. His 98-ball innings ensured the visitors eased home to their adjusted target with seven balls to spare. He added 95 with Chris Benham to make sure the run chase was completed in efficient style. Somerset fell away after a positive opening from Justin Langer and Marcus Trescothick, who was caught at mid-on, and slipped to 87 for 4. James Hildreth (47) and Wes Durston (42) repaired the damage with a stand of 82, but Liam Dawson took two key wickets and Hampshire kept control at the death.Lancashire suffered their third washout of the season as they shared the points with Middlesex at Old Trafford. There were just occasional showers during the afternoon, but the heavy overnight rain had left the outfield saturated. This was the final match of the season at Old Trafford as the outfield is now being dug up and relayed while Lancashire finish 2008 at outgrounds. At least the early call-off allowed everyone the chance to watch Manchester United take on Newcastle a few hundreds up the road.

Division Two

Stewart Walters fell nine runs short of a maiden one-day century, but his 91put Surrey on course for a welcome victory as they beat Northamptonshire by 63 runs at The Oval. Surrey produced a display of attacking batting, led off by James Benning’s 46-ball 55 as he and Walters added 89 for the second wicket. Walters then held the innings together as the middle order all chipped in. He hit 10 fours and two sixes before being bowled by Jason Brown with his century in sight. Northamptonshire suffered a horror start as they sank to 7 for 3 in the third over, but they didn’t give up without a fight. Rikki Wessels struck his first limited-overs century, an even 100 off 86 balls, adding 107 with David Sales for the fourth wicket. But no one else could stay with him and he became a first wicket for Robert Frylinck, a 23-year-old South African Kolpak making his debut.

Forced to follow on after being dismissed for 170 in their first innings, Bangladesh have shown resilient defence in their second innings of the first Test against South Africa at Buffalo Park in East London.The hosts took just 50 minutes to finish off the Bangladesh first innings. Makhaya Ntini, the pick of the bowlers, wrapped it up with 5/19 in 15 overs. He would have ended with six wickets, and his best Test figures, but for a dropped catch by Graeme Smith in the slips.From the moment the Bangladesh second innings started one sensed a completely different attitude. A defiant opening stand, against some hostile bowling from Ntini and David Terbrugge, saw Bangladesh reach 22 before Javed Omar played his first loose shot, spooning a slow wide ball from Mornantau Hayward to Herschelle Gibbs at backward point.Habibul Bashar and Al Sahariar attacked the bowling at every opportunity,especially the many given by Hayward, who had trouble with both line and length, and soon posted a 56-run partnership. Bashar’s attacking innings came to an end on 21 when he mistimed a pull off Hayward to be caught on the long-leg boundary.Al Sahariar, showing some fine on-side shots, became the first Bangladesh player to score a Test 50 against South Africa. His half century came off 71 balls and included eight excellent boundaries. But with the return of Ntini the pressure was reapplied. First he had Sanwar Hossain dropped, again by Smith in the slips, and he then bowled Al Sahariar, off the stomach, for 71 excellent runs, which included 11 boundaries to all parts of the ground.Sanwar Hossain also played his shots, piercing the field on eight occasions to take him to 49 when he was adjudged leg before. Replays suggest that it was a close call, and that the umpire missed Terbrugge overstepping. When Tushar Imran was caught at silly mid-off off Claude Henderson for eight Bangladesh were 176/5 and in danger of losing the Test in three days.Khaled Mashud and Alok Kapali had other ideas. Applying themselves fully in the final hour they stayed focussed no matter what the South Africans dished up. At stumps Khaled Mashud had scored 32 from 143 balls and Alok Kapali nine from 62. A stern effort from the two players and a feather in the cap of the Bangladesh top order, who showed they are learning from experience.South Africa should still win it at a canter, but questions should be asked oftheir bowlers. Apart from Ntini, the pick in this innings as well, they were far too inconsistent.

Innings of the day
After Daniel Vettori had bailed out New Zealand’s batting on Friday afternoon, a Kiwi journalist asked at the close-of-play press conference whether any thought had been given to pushing him up the batting order. Unfortunately, he chose the wrong person to direct such a question to. “What, above me, you mean?” growled the man in the chair, Jacob Oram. And yet, it was a valid observation. Oram has struggled against this English attack – in five Test innings since March, he had made 76 runs with a best of 30 at Napier, and his nemesis, Ryan Sidebottom, had claimed his wicket on each of the last four occasions. And yet today he put such woes behind him, and in conjunction with the rookie, Daniel Flynn, rescued New Zealand from the depths of 120 for 4 (effectively five), with a gutsy and essential 101.Body blow of the day
On Thursday afternoon, England were a touch bemused by Brendon McCullum’s onslaught. In seam-friendly conditions, they plugged away on a full length but found themselves being lamped for 97 of the finest counterattacking runs you’ll ever see. The penny dropped at the close of play, and they resolved to treat him with more aggression the next time he came to the middle. So it proved today, with Stuart Broad employed as the baby-faced assassin. McCullum persisted in standing two feet outside his crease, but he was peppered with a selection of well-directed bouncers and eventually pinned by an arrow-straight lifter that thudded sickingly into his unguarded forearm. Thankfully X-rays showed no break, and he was later able to resume his innings, but the breach had been made, and England did everything they could to flood through it.Shots of the day
Oram and Daniel Flynn, however, held them back manfully in a 132-run stand. Though Flynn remained resolutely one-paced, the tension in Oram’s innings dissipated as the afternoon session wore on, and by the time New Zealand had passed the 200 mark there was no holding him back. He climbed into consecutive balls from Broad, flatbatting him through midwicket for four before timing him sweetly past backward point for another boundary, then sent the members scattering as he came down the track to lift Kevin Pietersen into the Pavilion for six. As he approached the nervous nineties, Michael Vaughan called for the new ball and threw it straight away to Sidebottom, but Oram displayed not a shred of nerves as he cut the first ball, straight-drove the fifth, then clubbed the last through the covers to race to his fifth Test hundred.Ball of the day
And yet, it was Sidebottom who had the final say with an astounding delivery that pitched on off stump, hit the seam, and then swung late as a devastating final measure. Oram had no chance as the ball burst through the gate to clip his off bail, and he was reduced to looking back in bemusement afterwards to work out what had happened. By then, Sidebottom was at his right-hand side, offering a sporting word of congratulation for an excellent matchsaving performance. It was a touching gesture at the end of a good-natured contest.Tactical substitution of the day
It worked for New Zealand on Sunday, and again for England today. The ball won’t do a thing if it ain’t got that swing, and so both sides lobbied successfully for a change. And what a difference it made. After eight innocuous overs, Sidebottom was suddenly a bowler transformed – having pushed every delivery across the right-hander’s bows, his first attempt with the new ball bent wickedly back into James Marshall’s pads, to send him on his way for a ninth-ball duck. Thereafter, survival for New Zealand was an entirely different proposition. It’s remarkable quite how much rests on the choice of Duke ball.Misplaced frustration of the day
Ross Taylor wasn’t best pleased when Simon Taufel sent him on his way in the morning session, lbw for 20 in Monty Panesar’s first over. The ball dipped late and jabbed Taylor on his toe in front of middle stump, although there was more than just a suggestion of an inside edge – not least from the grumpy manner in which Taylor made his way from the field of play. And yet, inconclusive though the replays proved to be, they did at least demonstrate that the ball, after impact, looped gently into the hands of Paul Collingwood at slip – and therefore he should have been given out anyway.Forgotten hero of the day
Jamie How is not a man who basks in the limelight. He was New Zealand’s captain at the start of this trip, although nobody really noticed because the IPL was in full swing; he made a ballsy 92 in the Hamilton Test victory back in March, but his efforts were forgotten amid the dramas of England’s final-day collapse. And likewise today, it was his gritty half-century at the top of the order that set New Zealand on their way to safety. The dramas of McCullum’s injury and Oram’s hundred condemned his efforts to a footnote, but by surviving the first 15 overs on Sunday evening, as well as the first session before lunch today, he allowed his team to live to fight another day.

The cancellation of Australia’s tour of Pakistan could have been foretold, much before the terrorists struck in Murree and Taxila. Once the principle of neutral venues had been accepted, the tour was off.After all, it was the Australians who had refused to play in Sri Lanka in the 1996 World Cup and they had taken the West Indies along with them.In many respects, the Australians are like the Americans, they feel safe among their own. I cannot, in all conscience, say that their concerns for their players were unfounded.Of course, the terrorists can strike and, on the face of it, Pakistan seems to have become a high-risk country and that’s the view that one would get from the Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad. But from the measures that the United States is adopting in the name of Homeland Security, the United States too would be a high-risk country. But international sports events are not being cancelled and the US Open tennis tournament is due to get underway in New York in a few days time. New York is the city where the World Trade Centre was located and which is now called Ground-Zero. But everyone is entitled to his own perception of danger.When I went to Nairobi, some 20 years ago, the hotel manager advised me not to go walking about at any time of day or night for fear that I might get mugged. I don’t know what it is like these days but when I went to South Africa many years later, I stayed in my hotel in the evenings and even so the Pakistan team’s physio was mugged on the grounds of the hotel which was in a posh suburb. Danger lurks in many forms but you can’t opt out of life because danger exists.Some of the Australian players have been vocal about not touring Pakistan. One of them has been Mark Waugh. He has good reasons to give Pakistan a miss, provided he would have been selected. It was in Pakistan that he claimed that Salim Malik had offered him (and Shane Warne) a huge sum of money to “tank” the Karachi Test match.At that time, he did not disclose his relationship with a bookie who was then simply called John but who turned out to be a major player in gambling on cricket matches.Mark Waugh and Warne’s association with Mr John had not been one-off and he regularly received ‘pocket money’ from John for providing him with ‘innocent’ information!Twin-brother Steve has blown hot and cold about Australia’s tour, as if, getting signals or reading the mind of the Australian Cricket Board.Pakistan must now decide on a neutral venue. Last week, I had recommended that this option be shut out as I had wanted Pakistan to call the tour off. Now the Australians have beaten us to the punch. It re-arranges the scenery on the stage. If the Test matches are to be played at a neutral venue, so be it.The victory has already been handed to the terrorists and Australian troops who are in Afghanistan, as a part of a coalition military force, would have every right to wonder what they are doing there, putting their lives on the line. Pakistan is a victim of terrorist attacks because it too is a part of that coalition. Perhaps, the Australian High Commission in Islamabad is not aware of this.India has blooded a new wicket-keeper, Parthiv Patel, who is 17 years and some months old. The excitement shown at picking such a young player is such that one gets the impression that the Indian tour selection committee has invented sliced bread.Patel looks even younger than his age, as did Sachin Tendulkar when he toured Pakistan in 1989. But to us in Pakistan, catching them young is routine. Hanif Mohammad was 17 years and 300 days old when he was picked for Pakistan in 1952. Some of us forget that he was not only a batsman but first-choice wicket keeper.We now remember Hanif as one of the great batsman of his time. But his brother Mushtaq was even younger when he first played for Pakistan against the West Indies and Wes Hall in Lahore.There has been Khalid Hasan who played for Pakistan in England in 1954, Hasib Ahsan and Nasimul Ghani who were probably school boys when taken on Pakistan’s tour of the West Indies.Zaheer Abbas too looked terribly young when I first cast eyes on him and he went on to make a thundering double century on Pakistan’s tour of England in 1971. But the crown rests on the head of Hasan Raza who was 13 years and some months when he wore the Pakistan cap, prompting a lyrical editorial in The Times of London.The Indian school-boy Patel, looks a fine prospect and may turn out to be another Wasim Bari. Bari too was very young when he toured England in 1967 but one look at him and one knew that he would go on to be one of the best the cricket world would see. But Patel must not be spoilt because he hasn’t even started to shave. Test cricket is serious business and no quarter is given. But once selected, he should be persevered with, something we did not do with Hasan Raza.

ADELAIDE, Oct 25 AAP – New South Wales batsmen Matthew Phelps, Corey Richards and Michael Bevan all fell cheaply to leave their side at 3-85 at lunch on the opening day of its Pura Cup match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval.Hard-hitting youngster Michael Clarke was unbeaten on 18 and Simon Katich was on 13.After being sent into bat, Phelps was the first batsman out, caught behind pushing forward to a Paul Rofe delivery for 22, after an opening stand of 33 with Richards.Richards, who had looked shaky in his innings, was then caught at gully for 16, attempting to drive Michael Miller, who picked up the wicket in his second over.Then Bevan was dismissed for 15, caught behind off a short, sharp delivery from left arm paceman Mark Harrity.Bevan initially set himself for a backfoot defensive stroke, but attempted to pull his bat away at the last moment, getting a fine edge to SA wicketkeeper Shane Deitz.

Sri Lankan cricket officials have requested that the semi-finals of the ICCChampions Trophy in September be staged at the Rangiri Dambulla International Stadium, Sri Lanka’s newest and most controversial cricket venue.The interim committee running the Board of Control for Cricket in Sri Lanka(BCCSL) has spoken to the International Cricket Council and is now awaiting a response.Previously, all the matches had been scheduled to be played in Colombo, at the Sinhalese Sports Club and Premadasa International Stadium, primarily to ease the logistical difficulties of hosting 12 teams and broadcasting 15 days of cricket in 18 days.But the interim committee would prefer the matches to be staged at Dambulla,situated in a dry zone, to safeguard the tournament against the threat of anearly north-eastern monsoon, and to take cricket to the rural outstations,helping to spread the game.The eco-friendly stadium was built in just 161 days and staged its inauguralinternational match against England in March 2001. However, soon after thatgame, the stadium became the focus of a government led investigation into the cricket board after allegations of mismanagement.With payments to contractors then frozen, the final construction work was not completed and the stadium was placed under lock and key. The deadlock rumbled on for nearly a year, with confusion over the legality of the lease with the Buddhist temple owning the land prolonging the dispute.Finally, earlier this year, the BCCSL was cleared to pay outstanding bills owed to contractors, paving the way for international cricket to return. Since then authorities have been understandable keen to utilise a facility that has drained significant financial resources.

Division two seems, at this early stage to be splitting into two mini-divisions of its own, with Essex, Middlesex, Derbyshire and Worcestershire in pursuit of promotion while the rest struggle to contend with apparently limited playing resources. The division has seen far more gap between top and bottom, and far more results this season – last year Warwickshire were promoted with five wins, now, not even half way through the season two teams have already reached that number.Derbyshire v Gloucestershire – Derby
Gloucestershire lost narrowly to Essex, after making a challenging declaration target last round, while Derby sat to round out and saw themselves overtaken at the top by Essex and Middlesex. Gloucestershire’s last game saw three big individual scores and a bowling performance from Australian Ian Harvey that will have warmed the hearts of their supporters and the like of which is rarely seen in defeat. The west country side, for all their reputation as one day specialists, are certainly capable of raising themselves – though they need at least one more bowler to regularly perform alongside Harvey and Lewis. That said, like Glamorgan, Somerset and Lancs they suffer from a wet climate and with the rest of the country unseasonably dry in spring are at a particular disadvantage.Derbyshire, for their part, have the highest win ratio in the championship with a remarkable five successes from six games, their success has also been based on less high scoring players than the other counties at the top of division 2, with only Di Venuto passing four hundred runs so far, that has been compensated for by everyone else mucking in with the bat and by their bowlers – led by the irrepressible Dominic Cork mowing down all comers.Glamorgan v Essex – Swansea
The Welsh county have suffered from erratic form, erratic weather, limited resources and walking into some remarkably good days for their opponents, the absence of Matthew Maynard, a leader on the pitch and a key batsman for three of six games has also hurt. Their overseas player Michael Kasprowicz has had more one day success than in the four day game. Their two root problems are not enough regular run contributions – which goes part way towards explaining their awful total of just eight batting points from a possible thirty, and the fact that when Thomas and Jones are absent from the attack then opposition batsmen are able to stick around for a long time building totals.Their visitors on the other hand have benefited from team work, and opportune spells of form, when Irani and Hussain have been absent, then Robinson and Habib have taken on the job of scoring their runs, and always they have had leading international run scorer and keeper par excellence Andy Flower. With leading bowler Irani out then the rest of their on paper limited bowling has lobbed seeming hand grenades. The way in which Essex have attacked their recent games is shown by the fact that of their seven top bowlers by average none take more than nine overs to take a wicket – a statistic matched only by Surrey’s 1999 tour de force in recent years, and they had four international strike bowlers to lead the way!Middlesex v Worcestershire – Lord’s
With Graham Hick having returned to peak form with a bang last week to lead the Worcestershire batting and Middlesex having the best record with the willow in either division this is a serious battle of the batsmen, Middlesex’s 27/30 batting points is a phenomenal achievement, and shows where their powerhouse is, eight players average over forty and their eight centuries are shared between six men. With the ball they have seemed less assured, though now Razzaq and the eccentric but extremely able Phil Tufnell look to be getting into the season to compensate for the absence of Noffke and big `Gus Fraser.At Worcester things are looking brighter by the week, Alan Donald has now arrived and coinciding with his impact Hick has delivered in spades, often the start of a run of big innings from him. These welcome contributions come into a side who’s other bowlers and batsmen have already been performing well with runs and wickets both plentiful and shared around.Northamptonshire v Durham – Northampton
At the other end of the table Northants and Durham have had a torrid year so far raising only one win from fourteen games between them, as against nine losses. While Durham play at the traditionally bowler friendly Riverside Northants reside at their batsmen’s paradise, but both share the same greatest problem, other sides are able to build huge totals against them on a regular basis, and both have displayed batting frailties.Hussey has so far amassed an total of 852 runs from seven appearances, and Mal Loye has added another 536, figures that are hard to credit in a played seven, lost five context. Carl Greenidge is still the only Northants bowler to have taken a fivefer though Brown now joins him with a sub fifty average. They need the other regular bowlers to either take wickets or get their economy rates down to, or preferably below three to make any impression on the table.For Durham, who have eight bowlers already past the fifty over mark one gets the feeling that there is more to come, and that now that they’ve started to score some runs a bit more focus should bring about a first win and maybe even a run of successes.

P   W  L  D  Bat Bowl Deduct PointsEssex                     7   5  1  1  21   20   0.50  104.50Middlesex                 6   4  0  2  27   16   0.00   99.00Derbyshire                6   5  1  0  16   18   1.00   93.00Worcestershire            7   3  2  2  23   18   0.00   85.00Nottinghamshire           6   2  4  0  11   18   0.50   52.50Glamorgan                 6   2  3  1   8   16   0.00   52.00Northamptonshire          7   1  5  1  20   16   0.50   51.50Gloucestershire           6   1  3  2  13   17   0.00   50.00Durham                    7   0  4  3  13   19   0.00   44.00

Morning SessionThat this was Yorkshire’s best session of the match does not mean that the champions had the better of it, there continued to be too many deliveries that were more hard to reach than they were hard to play – a fact hard to pardon at the pace Hamilton and Fellows bowl at. As with yesterday Ryan Sidebotton was the pick of the bowlers, managing to pass the edge at times and to restrict the batsmen with his left arm seamers while the other quick bowlers were rattling along at better than five an over.The home side did, however, finally manage to dispose of the Surrey openers, Ward was first to go, bowled for seventy, with the score on 161 trying to continue the dominance he and Butcher had enjoyed over Chris Silverwood, he was shortly followed by Butcher playing at Kirby in similar fashion. The brief pause in scoring rate after that was the only respite the scorers had all session and was followed by yet another flurry of boundaries as Stewart weighed into Kirby and Ramprakash launched Fellows for the first six of the match. Surrey are 100 runs ahead at lunch on day 2 with Ramprakash looking comfortable and Stewart imperious.Afternoon SessionApril continues to shower the cricket following public with unaccustomed cheer as the sun continued to shine on Surrey’s tour de force, Stewart and Ramprakash continue to push on at four runs per over in front of another good crowd, Yorkshire’s slim hopes of saving this game are now dependent on either a huge change in the weather or a miraculous batting performance in the second innings – preferably both.It is as well that most MPs are too limited to appreciate cricket or on this evidence the county championship would surely be banned for cruelty, the sad truth about Yorkshire’s bowling figures is that for much of the time the run rate is only kept below a run a ball by the fact that neither batsman has been able to reach the damn thing. In this session Lehmann’s side have given up all pretence of trying to win the game by contrast their opponents streaked to a thousand runs for the season in only their second match having lost a grand total of ten wickets before Kirby finally got Ramprakash to edge behind with thescore on 309. It was a good delivery but the wicket was purchased in large part by the scarcity of reachable fodder, nobody can say though that his confrontations with Surrey have been anything less than high entertainment in three matches he has taken seven wickets for 230 at nearly five runs per over.The breakthrough seemed to give Yorkshire’s bowlers renewed hope as the next few overs, from Sidebottom and Kirby showed a fire and accuracy that had hitherto been lacking, for the first time in the game it looked as though two Yorkshire bowlers were intent on taking a wicket, but with the first innings lead marching towards two hundred it seemed too little too late. It was a lovely change to see Kirby putting the ball in the right place however, his whippy action appeared to straighten and he looked, for a while at least the bowler who brushed several teams aside last season.Despite the improved bowling the visitors continued to be able to keep the scoreboard ticking over, the pace with which they eliminated the home side and then ran up three hundred runs also allowed Ali Brown the luxury of a steady start, Yorkshire are one of the few teams in recent years to have contained the explosive middle order batsman restricting him to just a single century in recent seasons and dismissing him for numerous single figure scores. Fellows was brought back into the attack when Sidebottom tired with instructions to frustrate the batsmen while Kirby charged in at the other end. Stewart was not in the mood to throw away his wicket in the seventies having gifted it to Sussex on 99 the week before and Brown too was content to ride out the spell.Brown’s patience was such that his first boundary came forty minutes into his innings it ran out however shortly afterwards when he played loosely at a new bowler Gavin Hamilton who looked amazed to take the wicket – it was major a victory for the tykes, they’d finally got someone out for less than sixty. The arrival of Nadeem Shahid saw the scoring rate pick up almost straight away though as he slammed Hamilton for two boundaries in the the eighty ninth over before Stewart brought up the 350 in the ninetieth, seven bonus points to one a fair measure of the game’s progress to date.The biggest surprise of the afternoon session came shortly before the break when Stewart, for the second time in two innings got himself out in the nineties, caught by Wood from the mediocre, but at least often disciplined bowling Fellows for 96, Shahid and Azhar then took the score to within spitting distance of 400 and five batting points.Evening SessionWith the bounce of this pitch increasingly erratic and its cracks widening Shahid and Azhar set about the Yorkshire attack with alacrity. For the second game in succession the championship favourites lower middle order displayed a sense of duty to the cause of fast runs at any cost that even Stuart Surridge, champion of the fifties style of “positive cricket” would have found admirable. Their partnership lasted a bare fifty runs before Shahid’s departure prompted a mini-collapse which saw both Tudor and Bicknell depart cheaply, Azhar and Surrey’s last centurian, Ian Salisbury, who hadn’t actually had to bother batting in their previous demolition job then added yet another speedy fiftystand, Surrey eventually took the first innings lead to a vast 370 on a failing wicket, although it is arguable that they should have packed up and stopped the torture when Salisbury was caught for a brutal 27 from 28 balls.That Yorkshire were able to claim Surrey’s last five wickets for just eighty runs is pathetically small comfort, that four able batsmen sacrificed their wickets for a few quick runs in the opposing cause is ominous.The scale of Surrey’s first innings achievement and Bicknell and Tudor’s pique at being dismissed so cheaply was brought into sharp focus in the eight balls of Yorkshire’s second innings. In Martin Bicknell’s opening wicket maiden he beat, befuddled and drew an edge from Wood and then, to rub salt in the would it took the increasingly potent Alex Tudor just two balls to tear Richardson out clean bowled.The champions have been utterly outclassed in each of six sessions so far, they have little, or no, hope of survival in this game, their only crumbs of comfort are that Kirby joined Sidebottom in bowling well for the latter part of the Surrey innings and that Lehmann’s second innings wicket is still intact.From the other side of this great rivalry Surrey may be concerned with the occasional dropped catch and a failure to convert enough fifties into centuries. Both seem rather mild complaint for a side which is seemingly scoring runs and taking wickets at will, and whose two best players (Thorpe and Saqlain) and captain are yet to make an appearance this season.