Date-stamped : 06 Jul97 - 10:17 Donald finds some life in damp pitch By Mike Beddow at Edgbaston First day of four: Surrey 157-6 v Warwickshire WARWICKSHIRE triggered an early warning to Lord`s yesterday morning. The gist of their message was: the pitch is very damp through circumstances beyond our control. Apparently they were not the only county to lodge mitigatory evidence with the ECB. The legacy of the wettest June this century lived on with a stop-start day - only 50 of the 104 overs were bowled - but per- haps not as much hardship as Surrey may have envisaged when Adam Hollioake lost the toss. The pitch was more a pudding than a minefield and all parties had to work for results. Graeme Welch bowled for 90 minutes to dis- miss the openers in a spell of 11-6-13-2; on the batting side, Hol- lioake and Alistair Brown waited for anything short or too full. Hollioake edged his second ball wide of gully for four but failed to score from the next 31 until taking two boundaries off Allan Donald. His last scoring shot was a pull for six and next ball he was lbw. Brown`s progress to 46 off 54 balls was more destructive. Three times in one over lofted drives clattered into the fence, but Don- ald`s extra pace resulted in a nick to first slip. Surrey`s earlier batsmen played more tentatively in an unin- terrupted morning session. Welch`s swing troubled everyone and there was one success for Donald with a catch behind the wicket. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Penney and Brown gain the initiative By Mike Beddow at Edgbaston Second day of four: Warwicks (159-4) trail Surrey (193) by 34 runs ANOTHER rainy day, another pay day for the seamers: Surrey lost their last four wickets for 31 runs and Warwickshire their first four for 55 before recovering with an unbroken stand of 104 by Trevor Pen- ney and Dougie Brown. Warwickshire polished off Surrey`s lower order with not too much fuss, other than some hair-tearing for Allan Donald as Jamie Knott consistently flirted outside the off-stump. At least it is a sign that Donald is slipping into a groove after five weeks` absence from the championship side. A return of four for 64 was good for mind and body in terms of the 23 overs involved. Martin Bicknell was the perpetrator of Warwickshire`s early troubles as he removed Nick Knight, Andy Moles and David Hemp in the space of 37 balls. Alex Tudor`s fourth delivery was swatted low to cover by Do- minic Ostler and the fifth almost brought a legside chance for Knott. Brown benefited from this and proceeded to regalvanise Warwickshire with Penney, who pulled Tudor for six in the spirit of their progress at four runs an over. They have put Warwickshire in the ascendancy despite the loss of 95 overs in the first two days. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Surrey routed by inspired Donald By Mike Beddow at Edgbaston Third day of four: Warwicks (306 & 23-4) require 9 runs to beat Surrey (193 & 144) ALLAN DONALD took six for 55 - completing a match return of 10 for 119 - to usher Warwickshire to the brink of victory. Surrey lost nine wickets for 57 and were embarrassingly close to defeat in a fraction over two days` playing time. This was only avoided when Warwickshire`s openers were dis- missed without scoring, and by necessity, they abandoned their notion of making 32 to win in nine overs last night. Donald`s ability to impose himself on batsmen was last seen in this country to a consistent effect when he captured 88 wickets in Warwickshire`s 1995 championship triumph. Last year was spent in the Lancashire League with Rishton; this summer he has had a back injury. Yet, in an abbreviated contribution so far, he has taken 20 of his 21 wickets in two matches won by his county and another which should end in success this morning. The effect on Surrey was terminal as they collapsed from 72 for one at tea to a dis- mal 102 for six dur- ing a spell of 8-2-18-5. Ian Ward was bowled driving, Adam Hollioake and Alistair Brown were beaten for pace, and of the three balls faced by Chris Lewis, one was played off the ribs and another fended off for a catch by Nick Knight, diving forward from second slip. There were two repercussions from this dismissal. Knight dis- located a finger -not the one he broke in New Zealand - and Lewis ap- peared to aim a kick at the pavilion gate on his re- turn. Surrey retained some prospect of survival while Jason Rat- cliffe, once of Warwickshire, followed the basic principles of a sound technique. Confident enough to drive Donald, he was ultimately caught at point after making 59 in 2.75 hours. Graeme Welch and Dougie Brown maintained Warwickshire`s progress, but Donald was required to come back to remove Ian Sal- isbury. Warwickshire`s first innings lead of 113 almost exactly repre- sented the cost of an inexplicably poor fielding performance by Sur- rey. Brown escaped once during a stand of 131 with Trevor Penney, who, in turn, was dropped twice on his way to 99 - his fifth half-cen- tury in eight completed championship innings this sum- mer. To prove that careless hands can make a crisis out of a rea- sonable bowling performance, the benevolence extended to three lives for Neil Smith. Surrey got what they deserved - seven fours and four sixes as the destructive all-rounder reached 69 from 66 balls. If anyone deserves sympathy, it was Martin Bicknell. His work- load was demanding with 15 overs and the reward was scant with one wicket in bowling Brown for 66. Instead, Lewis inherited the privilege of tidying up with three for three in 12 balls. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Gilbert agony as Surrey let it slip By Mike Beddow at Edgbaston Warwickshire (306 & 34-5) beat Surrey (193 & 144) by 5 wickets SURREY have all but conceded that their 26-year wait to win the Championship will spill over into yet another summer. What was seen as their last chance to make up ground slipped through their fin- gers - literally. Their five-wicket defeat at Edgbaston was directly the result of a disastrous performance in the field. The most forgiving esti- mate in the press box was six missed chances in Warwickshire`s first innings. A less charitable estimate hit double figures. Surrey`s coach, Dave Gilbert, took the middle ground, though he did not sit on the fence in his summing up. "I`d say it was eight," he offered. "It was unprofessional and everyone should feel em- barrassed. The whole thing became conta- gious. We became panic stricken about our catching. If we had been more disciplined, we would have won." Probably not the words that one would gladly emphasise a week before a major occasion at Lord`s, but the outwardly laid back Aus- tralian is a stickler for high standards. The players were taken through their mistakes at a team meet- ing on Friday, and no-one is expecting their amateurish goofs to be repeated in the Benson and Hedges Cup Final against Kent. Not when Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe and Mark Butcher are ready to be re- stored to the side. To many, the England calls are a convenient excuse, but for Surrey, the problem has been greater than even they envisaged. "We had got used to being without Stewart and Thorpe," said Gilbert, "but when you throw in Butcher - and Adam Hollioake for one match - it`s a heck of a strain." The counter argument is that Surrey have a broader depth of talent than almost any other county. Gilbert would not dispute this, but he will quote other factors. Darren Bicknell and Nadeem Shahid were not in the best of form; Gregor Kennis, Ian Ward and James Knott have yet to function consistently at se- nior level. "We are in the process of having to find out whether these younger players have got what it takes," Gilbert explained. "It`s in games like this, when they are facing Allan Donald, that you find out. It`s the only way. "The frustration for Adam Hollioake and myself is that they have not really grabbed their opportunities, but we know we will be a different side when the big boys are back." Changes will be made for today`s AXA Life League game with Darren Bicknell recalled after his 244 in a second XI fixture and Jon Batty, last year`s Oxford University wicket-keeper, making his first- team debut. At this late stage, Gilbert feels it unlikely that anyone will break into the side for Lord`s. "The Benson and Hedges team has been fairly settled and I can`t see it changing much, if at all, from the semi-final against Leicestershire. The biggest concern is Ben Hollioake. He picked up a strain in the warm-up at Edg- baston and is struggling for Sunday. We are desperate to get him bowling this week because if we play two spinners, Ben is our third seamer." Another issue - and one which could not be dismissed lightly - was cleared up yesterday when Chris Lewis was expected to express his regret to Warwickshire for kicking the gate in the pavil- ion fencing following his dismissal by Donald on Friday. "I don`t think this was acceptable, though I could understand what Chris was feeling," said Gilbert. "He had been bounced out by a guy bowling at 90mph and his pulse rate was racing. "It was an isolated incident and it`s only a bit of damaged timber, but if Warwickshire are happy with an apology from Chris, they will get it." An unhappy match for Surrey actually ended with their heads held high after taking five wickets as Warwickshire scored 32 runs to win. The intensity of the bowling effort from Lewis and Martin Bicknell met with approval from their coach. The remaining nine runs required yesterday morning were scored in 11 balls for the loss of Dougie Brown, caught at long leg off Bicknell, in front of fewer than 100 spectators. Warwickshire entered the Championship reckoning with this re- sult, but they will have to continue their challenge with- out Nick Knight. Another broken finger means he is unlikely to have time to re- claim his England place this summer. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)