Date-stamped : 25 May97 - 06:15 Pierson lands body-blow By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester Second day of four: Surrey 235-8 v Leics THESE two heavyweight championship sides sparred with each other until tea, neither managing to land a telling blow, but in the final session Adrian Pierson bowled superbly to give the champions an advantage. This is a sporting pitch, nonetheless, offering turn and bounce, and Surrey`s attack ought to cause problems on it, though Ian Salisbury`s swollen spinning finger ruled him out again. Following their woeful performance with the bat against Gloucestershire, the worst in his time as coach according to Dave Gilbert, Surrey`s batting was as disciplined as Leicestershire`s bowling. What was disappointing for them was that everybody got a start but no one went on to play a major innings. To Leicestershire`s credit, they bowled one side of the wicket, giving very little width. Pierson, extracting some turn, was highly effective pitching well outside off stump with Alan Mullally`s footmarks an obvious target. It was Pierson who took a crucial wicket when Surrey were on top at 151 for two. Aftab Habib took a brilliant catch at leg slip after Nadeem Shahid had flicked fast and very low. After Jason Ratcliffe top-edging a pull, Pierson worked his way through the middle order. Alistair Brown was beaten by one that spun sharply; James Knott was lbw working to leg; and Chris Lewis taken at short leg. Alex Tudor was then run out by Ben Smith`s direct hit. Earlier, David Millns had removed both openers with late inswingers. Mark Butcher played some fine shots, including three successive fours off Mullally. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Maddy`s 103 provides the perfect gift By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester Third day of four: Leics (305-6) lead Surrey (278) by 27 runs LEICESTERSHIRE lost five wickets in 15 overs in mid- afternoon yesterday but either side of this blip they had much the better of Surrey`s bowling. The champions have a chance of forcing a win, but the loss of the first day makes a draw more likely. Surrey, however, will have to show some steel. Darren Maddy, 23 yesterday, underpinned his side`s advance towards maximum batting points with an excellent hundred, prompting a raucous rendition of Happy Birthday from Leicestershire`s most vocal supporter, Louis Springette. The 71-year-old West Indian, complete with floral shirt and hip flask, has become the great character of Grace Road, bellowing non-stop encouragement and advice from the members` enclosure. When Maddy eventually fell for 103 in just over five hours, he was met, and embraced, at the steps of the pavilion by Louis. Leicestershire`s players love him. Maddy played hardly a false shot, and very few away from his body. Dean Jones rated him the best young player in the country last year, and it was easy to see why. He got behind the line of the ball, moved his feet well and played straight. Only once did he give a chance when a top-edged hook off Joey Benjamin was misjudged by Alex Tudor, who came in too far from long-leg and then could not back-pedal quickly enough. Maddy was then 32. Maddy, who scored his first championship century against Northamptonshire last season, has made a bright start this summer with a century in the Benson and Hedges Cup against Nottinghamshire plus 80 in the championship game against Gloucestershire. Yesterday`s hundred came in 237 balls and contained 14 fours as he pushed his claims for England recognition after playing for The Rest against England A at Edgbaston at the start of the season. Maddy, like Vince Wells, with whom he put on 131 in 42 overs, profited from some variable Surrey bowling. Richard Pearson did not extract the same amount of turn as Adrian Pierson and did not locate a consistent enough length. Wells, with 13 runs from his five championship innings this season, hardly looked out of form though he was dropped when 16 at second slip off Tudor. Wells eventually fell to the first of three slip catches for Mark Butcher when an edge bounced out of the gloves of James Knott, making his championship debut. Wells`s innings of 56 was the first time he has reached double figures in a championship innings this season, having made two double-centuries last summer. Alex Tudor delivered two very rapid overs in his second spell, forcing Neil Johnson to play on, but he was under- bowled by Chris Lewis. In the last hour Surrey did not bowl well with Paul Nixon allowed to pull too regularly on his way to a typically positive fifty. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Leicestershire on the right line By Geoffrey Dean at Leicester Leics drew with Surrey THE truth about this game, clearly one of the more important ones this season, is that, after losing the first day, both sides cared much more about avoiding defeat than winning. A result yesterday was only going to be possible if Leicestershire made quick inroads into Surrey`s depleted and short-of-form batting, but on a pitch that, if anything, played better as the match progressed, a draw was virtually certain at tea with Surrey 30 ahead with six wickets remaining. Leicestershire coach Jack Birkenshaw criticised Surrey for their lack of urgency in their first innings. His opposite number, Dave Gilbert, countered that Leicestershire`s bowling had been overly defensive at times, pointing to a line of attack wide of off stump. That, however, is part of the champions` disciplined game plan - all their seamers get the ball to leave the right-hander and Adrian Pierson, a quality off- spinner, bowls outside off stump in any case. Had these two sides not been genuine title contenders, there might have been some contrivance. Leicestershire could have declared 70 or so behind at tea on the penultimate day. Some meaningless fare might have followed together with a run-chase yesterday of the type so prevalent when championship games lasted three days. That was exactly the sort of rubbish cricket that the four-day game was brought in to end. All credit to James Whitaker for not colluding. He effectively left his bowlers around 60 overs to bowl Surrey out. On a pitch that offered scant movement off the seam and some slow turn, that was always going to be difficult. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)