Date-stamped : 13 Sep97 - 06:08 Atherton in command By Clive Ellis First day of four: Lancs 459-4 v Surrey MIKE Atherton`s batting life would be a bed of red roses if every innings took him into the same comfort zone which the Oval re- sembled yesterday. With the deceptive exception of the first three-quarters of an hour, in which Adam Hollioake egged on his bowlers with an ex- trava- gant array of close fielders, Lancashire made untrou- bled progress on a pitch of utter reliability. It all invited comparison with the equivalent, surreal fixture between the sides in 1990, when Surrey pummelled 707 for nine de- clared and Lancashire responded with 863. Atherton made 191 on that occasion and his domination here was so complete, against a Surrey attack who threw in the towel obligingly, that his mid-afternoon dismissal for 149 off 198 balls was a huge surprise. By then he and Nathan Wood had added 259 for the first wicket, a Lancashire record against Surrey, and Wood made the most of three pieces of good fortune to complete his maiden champi- onship hundred. Nothing illustrated the inequality of the contest better than Atherton v Hollioake junior. Ben`s brief morning spell conclud- ed with Atherton taking 18 leg-side runs off an over. His second pitiful at- tempt at line and length began with a cover-driv- en four and pull for six from the England captain. Surrey, who had drifted on to the fringes of the championship race before their draw against Glamorgan, played as if their sea- son was already over, an impression confirmed by the resting of Graham Thorpe. They also helped to ease Wood`s pre-century nerves in the last over before tea by introducing Alistair Brown`s occasional leg spin. One long hop later Wood was able to savour that bat- raising moment enjoyed frequently by his father Barry in the 1960s and `70s. Atherton fell in familiar fashion to a thin leg-side deflec- tion but John Crawley was into his stride even faster with 64 off 65 balls before being bowled by slow left-armer Rupesh Amin with a ball which turned to hit the off stump. Wood, an unobtrusive left-hander, was dropped on 41 and 81 and should have been stumped off Ian Salisbury, but it took Surrey`s 10th bowler, Mark Butcher, to remove him, ending an innings of 155 off 316 balls. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Spin duo hurry Surrey into losing position By Clive Ellis at the Oval Second day of four: Surrey (254-7) trail Lancashire (592-4 dec) by 338 runs THE Lancashire spinners, Mike Watkinson and Gary Keedy, intro- duced a welcome balancing note to a game which was in danger of being swamped by easy pickings for the batsmen. They were assisted by the first signs of turn on an ultra-dry pitch, but their reward - all seven wickets to fall - was largely earned by exemplary control against a free-scoring Surrey batting side who tend to fret when the shackles are imposed. Jason Ratcliffe, Adam Hollioake and Ben Hollioake all fell to catches when they miscued attempts to clear the inner ring of fielders and Lancashire should, weather permitting, be able to complete a comprehensive victory on the last two days. Surrey offered the traditional "bad day at the office" expla- nation for their disintegration on Wednesday, but there was only a minor improvement in the field yesterday as Neil Fairbrother and Graham Lloyd added 133 for the fifth wicket in the first 110 minutes to facilitate Lancashire`s declaration. Neither was frightened to lift the ball into unpoliced areas, but Lloyd has played much more flamboyant innings than this. Fair- brother, equally adept at finding the gaps and nudging sin- gles, sped to his century off 121 balls. There was some mitigation for Surrey, in that they were de- prived of the services of opening bowler Martin Bicknell, who damaged knee ligaments on the first afternoon. They were also without Chris Lewis, while off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, the one bowler who might have been expected to match the re- straining efforts of Watkinson and Keedy, has been comman- deered by Pak- istan for a one-day tournament in Canada. Surrey had the chance to redeem themselves with the bat and Lan- cashire`s seam bowlers looked equally depressed by the pitch as Mark Butcher (49) and Darren Bicknell (74) added 103 in 23 overs for the first wicket. Butcher was caught at slip, sweeping at Watkinson, and Rat- cliffe launched a premature assault on Keedy. Bicknell and Al- istair Brown were dismissed in successive Watkinson overs before Alec Stew- art did his best to resume normal service with a pa- tient 73. Both Hollioake brothers were the victims of impatience and, crucially, Stewart was caught behind five minutes from the end to give Keedy his fourth wicket. Jack Simmons, the former Lancashire all-rounder, has been ap- pointed the county`s chairman in succession to Bob Bennett. Simmons, 56, played for Lancashire between 1968 and 1989 and was a key member of the side who dominated one-day cricket in the late 1960s and 70s. He has been on the Lancashire committee for six years. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Keedy wraps up decidedly dozy Surrey By Clive Ellis at the Oval Lancashire (592-4 dec) bt Surrey (270 & 267) by an innings and 55 runs THE only consoling feature for Surrey in this most ignominious of defeats was that there was just a sprinkling of sleepy sup- porters to watch the last painful rites administered. Charitably, it could be claimed that this was a depressive re- action to last week`s draw against Glamorgan, which put the cham- pionship out of Surrey`s grasp after a stirring surge up the table, but it was still a woeful effort. Lancashire completed their task with commendable efficiency. Peter Martin felled the final three peas in Surrey`s first in- nings pod and there was no more substance to their efforts af- ter following on. Jason Ratcliffe hit three leg-side sixes, but even he was dis- missed in embarassing style 10 short of his century, bowled round his legs sweeping at the slow left-armer Gary Keedy, who recorded the best innings (six for 79) and match (10 for 173) figures of his ca- reer. Source :: The Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/) Contributed by The Management (help@cricinfo.com)