Date-stamped : 10 Aug97 - 11:42 Butcher must learn in adversity By Charles Randall at the Oval [INLINE] Scoreboard First day of four: Surrey 164-2 v Durham MARK BUTCHER had his off-stump knocked out against Durham yes- terday, scotching any bounce-back in response to being dropped by Eng- land for today`s fifth Test. During a rain-free morning Michael Foster curved one through Butcher`s drive, the ball clipping the left-hander`s pad and shattering the stumps. His score was 24. Foster, busy and reasonably accurate, was no Glenn McGrath, but Butcher was not up to it. One or two lovely crisp strokes by the left-hander against a testing Durham attack once again proved short of what was expected for Surrey. Butcher`s frustration was evidenced in the AXA Life league at Lord`s last Sunday when he knocked off his own bails on dis- missal, but he should regard this summer as a heaven-sent op- portunity to learn. Since his 153 for England A against The Rest at the start of the season, he has passed fifty in all cricket only four times in 35 innings, twice in Tests. His selection for England arrived as a stroke of luck because, though a quality batsman with little form, he managed to shape up against the Australians in difficult circumstances. Now dropped, he has nothing to lose, and nobody will be surprised when he returns, even if it is from Surrey`s second team. Jason Ratcliffe batted freely for a 65-ball fifty, almost reaching his half-century with a six off the last ball before lunch, his drive off James Boiling falling just short of the pavilion boundary. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Surrey v Durham Third day of four: Durham (136 & 241-7) lead Surrey (350-9 dec) by 27 runs MARTIN SPEIGHT benefited from one large stroke of good luck at the Oval yesterday before his 51 prevented Durham slipping to a fourth successive innings defeat away from home, writes Charles Ran- dall. Surrey should still win comfortably today, but Durham, without a batting bonus point since mid-June, at least restored some pride with hours of graft after following on 214 behind. Speight enjoyed his let-off on 20, miscuing one of his habitu- al sweeps gently to square-leg where Chris Lewis somehow allowed the ball to slip through his fingers, quite an embarrassment after his diving catch-in-a-million at second slip the previous day. Saqlain Mushtaq, the unlucky bowler, was not allowed to repeat his first-innings figures of five for 17 in 14 overs. The Pak- istan off-spinner even looked fallible when John Morris punished a loose over with four fours on his way to an 86-ball half- century which was full of character. Morris hit 10 fours before he was bowled off-stump by a deli- cious delivery from Rupesh Amin that turned across him for the first of the Beddington left-armer`s two debut wickets. Amin, with boyish looks that make him appear younger than his 19 years, showed notable spinning ability with a strong hand ac- tion. More predictable is his nickname - "Idi". Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Two new spinners winners By Tim Wellock at the Oval Surrey beat Durham by 9 wickets SURREY and spin-bowlers have not been the best of bedfellows in recent seasons, but the value of having top-quality twirlers at the Oval was seen as they beat Durham by nine wickets yesterday. The unlikely combination of Saqlain Mushtaq and Rupesh Amin, just short of their 21st and 20th birthdays respectively, sent down 110.2 overs in the match and captured 13 wickets. Ten of them went to Saqlain, who had previously taken only eight in his four championship games, having arrived in early June and taken time off to play for Pakistan in the Asia Cup. Amin, drafted in for his debut as a late replacement for Ian Sal- isbury, who has a shoulder injury, had second-innings fig- ures of three for 58 in 36 overs of well-controlled left-arm bowling. Whether he has done enough to earn a contract could depend on who Surrey see as their likely overseas player next season, but with Richard Pearson and Richard Nowell likely to be re- leased, there may well be an opening. The fact that the Oval has rarely looked so verdant in August un- derlined what a difficult summer it has been for spinners. But as the sun again beat down on the 97 minutes of play yesterday, the only Surrey wicket to fall ironically went to James Boiling. Durham lost their last three wickets for 33 runs to be all out for 274, leaving Surrey to score 61. They had reached 58 be- fore Boiling was introduced. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)