Date-stamped : 22 Jun97 - 14:20 By Mike Beddow at Worcester First day of four: Surrey 382-7 v Worcs THE core of Surrey`s batting has been conscripted for Ashes service at Lord`s, but yesterday Jason Ratcliffe and Alistair Brown looked after the shop with per- formances of considerable personal signifi- cance. Surrey have failed to win a championship match in a run which began with defeat by Worcestershire last September. England`s re- quirements are an obvious factor, though not always a de- fence. Ratcliffe, on the eve of his 28th birthday, made his first century for the county and Brown continued his rehabilitation from the demise of last summer when a one-day international hun- dred was followed by only three championship fifties. Their partnership of 179 - in which Brown took just 107 balls to complete his second century in four innings - was the sub- stance of an entertaining day, not least for the Solihull-based Ratcliffe family. The opener`s mother, Sheila, took her seat in time to see the seventh ball of the day disappear into the adjacent marquee for the first of 23 boundaries in a career best of 135. Worcestershire`s bowling, almost devoid of spin, drifted be- tween the adequate - notably when Graeme Hick held two slip catches off Stuart Lampitt - and the impoverished, when Brown clattered 19 of his 121 in boundaries. One of three sixes rattled the tiles on the Ladies` Pavilion. Yet Surrey were not allowed to disappear into the distance. In four overs from Alamgir Sheriyar after tea, Ratcliffe, who made his only previous championship century for Warwickshire in 1993, played a tired shot to cover point and Brown clipped low to short mid-wicket. The final session belonged to Worcestershire, with four wickets for 87. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Surrey pair stage crucial last stand By Mike Beddow at Worcester Second day of four: Worcs (81-1) trail Surrey (452-9 dec) by 371 runs FOR the third consecutive match, Worcestershire were seriously inconvenienced by a last-wicket stand of 40 or more, and on this occasion the deeds of Saqlain Mushtaq and Alex Tudor repre- sented a double hit from the recent past. Last August Tudor made 134 in a second XI match at Kiddermin- ster, and in October Worcestershire`s coach, David Houghton, was playing for Zimbabwe against Pakistan when Saqlain (79) and Wasim Akram put on 313, a world Test record for the eighth wick- et. If this took the surprise element out of yesterday`s partner- ship, which yielded 59 with nine boundaries, it did nothing to ease Worcestershire`s frustration after Stuart Lampitt had in- duced outside edges by James Knott and Martin Bicknell. Surrey added 70 in 20 overs and declared during a 5.25-hour hold up for rain. Only 15 overs remained when Tim Curtis was caught behind from Bicknell`s first ball. Graeme Hick was effectively cast in an opening role and re- sponded with 10 fours in an unbeaten 48. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)