Date-stamped : 20 Jul97 - 10:20 Hollioake revels in lead role By Charles Randall at Guildford First day of four: Surrey 457-9 v Hampshire ADAM Hollioake, Surrey`s captain, announced in conversation that he would be dispensing with his agent, and about half-an- hour later he strode out to make 75 runs with brutal power at Woodbridge Road yesterday. It would be nice to think the two events were connected. He felt that having the hassle of an agent was not quite worth the finan- cial gain, and certainly nobody could ease his poor county season by scoring runs on his behalf, however big the percentage. On an easy pitch of low bounce, Surrey punished Hampshire`s weak attack entertainingly while stopping short of murder. Mark Butcher, Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe, Hollioake and finally Chris Lewis each batted fluently - superbly at times - without going on to the hundred. Hollioake`s team thus earned themselves a good chance of win- ning this match among the blue and white striped marquees, hop- ing to move into mid-table and perhaps cobble together a title chase. They bat- ted with an almost manic aggression against op- ponents who, to their credit, refused to fold. Hollioake needed only 69 balls making his highest first-class score of the summer, but his was a daft dismissal, stumped with his foot up third ball after tea pushing forward to Matthew Keech`s medium pace. Bearing in mind that Surrey have won only one championship game, the time has arrived when Hollioake should accept the re- sponsibil- ity of a batting place permanently higher than six. As a clear England batting contender, he needs opportunities to register quality hundreds and double hundreds. His argument that batting six is the best place for captain`s assessment, though unselfish, benefits neither Surrey nor his own career. Yesterday everything went well for a change as Surrey`s bats- men produced mayhem with delightful aggression and control. They were like a gang of film extras staging a spectacular sword fight - when one man fell, another stepped in immediately for death or glory. All that was missing was a chandelier or two. The loss of Jason Ratcliffe, caught at slip in the morning`s second over, was hardly noticed as Stewart creamed the ball dis- dain- fully over the turf, passing his fifty in 65 balls and reaching 98 before he touched a relatively innocuous ball from Stuart Milburn, forc- ing across the line. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Bicknell breaches defence to leave Hayden on brink By Charles Randall at Guildford Second day of four: Hampshire (200-5) trail Surrey (477) by 277 runs THE race to a thousand runs in first-class cricket could have been won by Matthew Hayden yesterday, but even that little bit of glory was denied Hampshire as they tottered towards the follow- on at Woodbridge Road. Hayden was bowled through the gate - the video would be a rar- ity worthy of the Victoria and Albert - when the Queenslander had reached 58, a personal disappointment to follow his gut- wrenching failure against the Australians in his previous first- class appearance almost three weeks ago. The left-hander`s aggregate crept up to 965, and this morning he lags 20 runs behind Steve James, of Glamorgan, having led the run race for about a month. The thousand-run tension has been prolonged this summer by the rainy weather and slow pitches. Last year Michael Bevan, an- other Australian left-hander, reached the figure for Yorkshire on June 24, al- most a month quicker. Hayden gave Surrey`s bowlers little hope of his wicket for more than 2.5 hours, and it was a surprise when Martin Bicknell brought one back through his defensive push to bowl him off a faint inside edge. This was the first time the sturdy Hayden had been bowled in the championship and only the third time in 33 innings in all cricket. Adrian Dale hit his stumps in the Sunday League at Cardiff, and there was his gaffe against the Australians at Southampton - no stroke to Jason Gillespie, off-stump cart- wheeling. Hampshire made a bright start yesterday when Hayden and Jason Laney put on 76 in 22 overs, cheekily taking a leaf out of Sur- rey`s book. But it did not last long. Laney, excelling off the back foot, hit Alex Tudor out of the attack with four punched boundaries in one over before falling lbw to Ben Hollioake and Hayden became bogged down when Surrey`s bowlers went round the wicket to tuck him up. Matthew Keech looked comfortable enough until he trod on his wicket playing Chris Lewis to leg. It was a relatively spec- tacular dismissal, because his off stump leant back some way. Surrey put themselves in business when Robin Smith gloved the penultimate ball before tea to short-leg, and Hampshire faced the task of grinding their way to respectability. The overcast day ended play 15 overs early immediately after four overthrows by Tudor from the boundary presented John Stephen- son with extra runs. The umpires conferred and the bad light offer was made, as though to protect Surrey from their own fielders. Rain delayed the morning start by half an hour before Lewis and Tudor continued their breezy last-wicket partnership, which had am- bushed Hampshire`s tired bowlers the previous evening. The stand was extended to 62 runs with some fine strokeplay, Tudor unveiling some classic cover-drives. The tall, young fast bowler found the slow pitch far less suitable for taking wickets. Surrey, after their Benson and Hedges Cup success last Satur- day, would like to consolidate with a charge up the champi- onship table. That is possible in this weather-hit summer, but the title looks a re- mote possibility. In the four seasons since the four-day championship was intro- duced, the eventual champions have always been tucked into the top four at this halfway stage. Surrey lay 14th before this match. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Bicknell homes in as Surrey seize control By Charles Randall at Guildford Third day of four: Hants (303 & 227-8) lead Surrey (477) by 53 runs MARTIN Bicknell derailed Hampshire`s second innings yesterday on the Woodbridge Road ground where he learnt his cricket, so he could hardly have timed his best performance of the season better. Thanks mainly to their home seam-bowler, Surrey stand on the brink of their second victory of the summer on a truncated fi- nal day this morning, one less excuse now for the citizens of Guildford to miss Saturday afternoon shopping. The only slight worry was an injury to Alec Stewart, who copped a bump under his right eye from a deflection off a pad while wicket- keeping - ugly, but not bad enough to keep him out of next week`s fourth Test. Mark Butcher took over the gloves and conceded four byes off Ian Salisbury next ball, and one wondered immediately if Hampshire could avoid the follow-on with extras alone. However, Hampshire`s remaining three first-innings wickets were wheedled out and they followed on 174 runs behind, though any hope of saving the game was then destroyed by Bicknell`s swing, which claimed a wicket in each of his first three overs. When Bicknell pinned Matthew Keech lbw with one that kept low in his fifth over, he had taken four wickets for three runs. Stub- born and skilful fifties by Adrian Aymes, still there with 83, and Si- mon Renshaw down the order only seemed to delay the in- evitable. A few more strong Surrey performances like this would surely persuade Dave Gilbert to stay on as coach with a new contract. He has to consider whether to emigrate from Australia with his wife, Hi- lary, and two young children, and sell their house in Brisbane. "I don`t want to be rushed," he said yesterday. The decision is a major one, but Surrey`s two trophies in two seasons after 14 barren years - the Sunday League last year and the Benson and Hedges Cup last weekend - has built him a formidable profes- sional reputation. Hampshire`s batting backbone was snapped second time around with a speed that left them in a state of shock. Matthew Hayden fell lbw for a second-ball duck in the first over, still needing 35 for his thousand runs. Hayden was defeated playing no stroke, and Bicknell`s swing accounted for Kevan James, another left-hander, in the same way. Jason Laney then played on trying an off-side force to a ball too full in length. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Stephenson still happy with leading role By Charles Randall at Guildford Surrey beat Hants by 9 wkts CONTRARY to some suggestions, John Stephenson is not on the verge of giving up the Hampshire captaincy and he remains sur- prisingly upbeat about the season. Hampshire have begun to drop down the table again after suc- cessive wins in June, though they lie only two points behind Sur- rey in lower mid-table after their nine-wicket defeat at Guild- ford yester- day. In Stephenson`s personal life the year could hardly have started better as he and his wife Fiona settled into their new house in Southampton, followed by the birth of their daughter, Emma-Ly- dia, on May 19. Their home at West End is a couple of miles from the site of the county`s new Lottery-backed ground. He denied that he had made any hints about standing down after suffering the bitter disappointment of a home NatWest Trophy defeat by Glamorgan. It was a match, consensus suggested, Hampshire should have won. "Captaincy is a hard job, but I`m not depressed at all," he said. "We`ve got a very good spirit in the team, considering the re- sults we`ve had. I know people think I`m intense and don`t smile a lot, but I enjoy captaining and I enjoy playing cricket. People proba- bly misinterpret my demeanour as miserable - which I`m not. In fact, cricket is my life." This season he has dropped himself down the order after two years of lengthy bowling spells, batting in the top three and carrying the burden of captaincy. "I thought my head would burst," he said. "You`ve got no space to breathe if you do so much, you need to sit back a bit." Stephenson did not say it, but Hampshire`s problem is that the team have grown too old. The captain himself and Kevan James are, amazingly, the two leading wicket-takers in the championship. At Guildford, Adrian Aymes batted beautifully in both innings and yesterday he was left stranded on 96. Hampshire lost their re- maining two wickets quickly, all out for 251, leaving Surrey with the formality of making 78 to win. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)