Date-stamped : 17 May97 - 06:16 Fortunes swing towards Gloucs By Geoffrey Dean at the Oval First day of four: Gloucestershire (190-5) lead Surrey (115) by 75 runs [LINK] IT WAS perhaps a tale of two balls at the Oval yesterday. The one that Gloucestershire selected from the umpires` box swung consistently from the first over for all their bowlers; Surrey`s swung much less, at least until it was much older, but the visitors, and championship leaders, were far superior in the field. Their bowling was outstanding, being at once shrewd, skilful and persistently well-directed. Even with some assistance from the batsmen, to bowl out this Surrey side on a good pitch inside 39 overs was a notable achievement. It was not as if Surrey, with their over-abundance of stroke players, got themselves out playing like millionaires. But the top four will know that indifferent batting was the root cause of their dismissals. Mark Butcher was late with a hook shot of dubious wisdom and caught off a top edge at long leg; Alec Stewart followed an outswinger he could have left; Graham Thorpe played round a full-length inswinger; and Darren Bicknell badly misjudged the line of an inswinger to which he padded up. Bicknell was the first of four victims for the Tasmanian Shaun Young, who bowled his outswingers quite beautifully to the right-handers. His ability to throw in the occasional inswinger meant that batsmen always had to play at him. Adam Hollioake, Nadeem Shahid and Jason Ratcliffe were all caught in the slips playing forward-defensive shots. It was only thanks to Ben Hollioake, a late replacement for Chris Lewis, who like Ian Salisbury is injured, that Surrey edged past 100 during a memorable duel with David Lawrence. Judging by his body language and looks down the pitch, Lawrence could scarcely believe that a young upstart would dare to give him the charge. It seemed to upset his length, however, as Hollioake took 10 off the next three balls. He also clipped Mike Smith for six off his legs before being caught off a leading edge. After no success in an excellent opening spell, Smith thoroughly deserved the last three wickets. Surrey did not bowl as well as Gloucestershire, unlucky though they were that their new ball swung less. Nick Trainor and Rob Cunliffe did a good job seeing it off after the early loss of Tony Wright to a nip-backer. Both fell to Alex Tudor, who bowled the fastest spell of the day. All three of his victims were undone by extra bounce. Trainor and Monte Lynch, who would have enjoyed taking 33 off his former team-mates in just 22 balls, were out pulling before Cunliffe was gloved by a lifter. Sussex have been told by the English Cricket Board they can begin play in a championship game at 1pm next month, two hours later than usual. The county intend to play until 8.30pm during the as yet unnamed fixture to attract people who could watch half a day`s play after work. Sussex have not confirmed which game, though it is believed that the match with Essex at Hove, starting on June 12, could be used. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Tudor`s best offers hope as Surrey struggle By Geoffrey Dean at the Oval Second day of four: Surrey (115 & 59-3) trail Gloucs (371) by 197 runs GLOUCESTERSHIRE will be mindful of their last championship match at the Oval, when Surrey followed on but still won. History seems most unlikely to repeat itself. Surrey, well below par for the second successive day, will surely be beaten unless the weather intervenes, as it did yesterday when 43 overs were lost. This match will, however, be remembered as the one in which Alex Tudor, 19, provided the most concrete evidence yet that here is a fast bowler of awesome potential. Tudor`s career-best return of six for 101 apart, this was a wretched day for Surrey. Some often poor bowling was followed by yet more disappointing batting during an awkward little session before the close. David Lawrence`s pace and aggression in difficult light had an unsettling effect on both openers. Darren Bicknell clipped a half-volley to backward square leg and Mark Butcher fell to a top-edged hook for the second time in the match. For Jack Russell, it was a notable day. He created a club record by scoring his ninth half-century in his last 11 County Championship innings. This was his third in succession, and of key importance in ushering his side to a lead of 256. So too was a well-crafted 49 from Tim Hancock, who is a real nuisance coming in at No 8. With the ball not swinging, Surrey ran out of ideas as to how to finish off the innings and had to endure the intense frustration of some controlled late-order slogging that came off. The last two wickets realised 69 runs off just nine overs. Tudor did not deserve to go for 100, but his extra pace counted against him as bats were swinging and carving. A good slower ball that accounted for Russell indicated a cricketing brain to go with the lithe 6ft 4in West Indian frame. "In two years time, if he carries on pumping the weights like he does now, he`ll be a monster," Surrey`s coach, David Gilbert, said afterwards. Tudor bowled some express-pace deliveries yesterday, one thudding into Mark Alleyne`s body before he had even had time to play a shot. "It`s so exciting to have that sort of strike-power," purred Gilbert. "He`s got a God-given talent to bowl fast, but I hope sanity prevails as far as England selection is concerned. He shouldn`t be picked before the tour to the West Indies." The watching chairman of England selectors, David Graveney, admitted that he had not seen better fast bowling this season, high praise given that he has taken in every county bar Durham already this year. "Let`s hope that he can say fit," Graveney added, aware that Tudor hardly played last year owing to injury. Worryingly for Surrey, they may lose him for the whole of August for the under-19 international matches against Zimbabwe. A letter has gone off to Lord`s asking that both Tudor and Ben Hollioake be allowed to stay with the county instead. They argue, justifiably, that the signing of an overseas player would have restricted the first team opportunities of both youngsters. Surrey aim to play Tudor only in the championship this year. "We have got to try and look after him, and ideally bowl him in five or six-over spells three times a day," said Gilbert. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Gloucestershire hit a high note By Geoffrey Dean at the Oval Gloucs (371 & 15-1) bt Surrey (115 & 269) by 9 wkts GLOUCESTERSHIRE confirmed themselves as worthy championship leaders with a crushing victory, the margin of which must have been a surprise to even themselves. They played as a team in contrast to Surrey, who were among the pre-season title favourites but who showed worrying signs of reverting to type in the years of under-achievement. Surrey`s batting was lamentable in this match and, as has often been the case, a side capable of brilliance failed to deliver upon its promise. They went down with scarcely a murmur, just taking the game past tea. It was not as if they were prised out yesterday - nearly all of the batsmen made presents of their wickets. Mark Alleyne was rewarded for his steadiness with career- best figures of six for 64. The Surrey coach, David Gilbert, complained that his side is suffering from a lack of cricket and is "horribly under-cooked." But that can be no excuse for a widespread lack of application in the second innings, Graham Thorpe being a notable exception. He grafted his way to 81 in 72 overs without looking to be in anything like great form. Surrey had some bad luck in the first innings when the ball Gloucestershire used swung like a boomerang, and theirs largely refused to. But in the Surrey second innings, Gloucestershire likewise got a ball that barely swung. Some balls will and some balls won`t in identical conditions, and the reasons why will probably remain one of the mysteries of life, or cricket at least. On a pitch that offered little movement off the seam, Surrey should have cashed in. But, after resuming on 59 for three, they lost wickets at crucial times just when it appeared they might make a game of it. Nadeem Shahid went first, driving loosely, and was soon followed by Adam Hollioake, who played across a straight one. Thorpe and Jason Ratcliffe showed what might have been achieved with some good batting for 27 overs, while they added 83 with little difficulty. But a well-flighted delivery from Martyn Ball turned just enough to beat Ratcliffe as he took a risk coming down the wicket to hit over the top. Ball`s variation underlined how badly Surrey missed Ian Salisbury. They are considering signing Saqlain Mushtaq as their overseas player for the season, or if not him then the Sri Lankan left-arm seamer, Chaminda Vaas. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)