RAMPRAKASH
KEY TO SURREY'S CHANCES by Marcus Hook
Surrey 225 & 145-5 v Gloucestershire 261.
The day when Surrey will, once again,
be considered a force in county cricket, without needing to rely
heavily on the trusted blade of Mark Ramprakash, seems no closer
than it did when Chris Adams took charge of the Oval outfit more
than two years ago. When day two of this contest ended prematurely,
due to rain, Surrey led by 109 runs with five second innings wickets
intact thanks, predominantly, to Ramprakash's unbeaten 61 off 92
balls. One suspects the 41-year-old will have to convert it into a
114th first-class hundred if Gloucestershire are to be resisted.
Faced with a first innings deficit of
36, Surrey lost both of their openers before achieving parity. Rory
Hamilton-Brown collected boundaries off the second and third
deliveries of the hosts' second dig. The latter was sent sailing
into the Wedlake Bell Family Enclosure for a maximum. But, in his
third over, Ian Saxelby got one to nip back markedly to dispose of
Jason Roy. Six overs later, Saxelby was the beneficiary when
Hamilton-Brown, playing away from his body, chopped on to his off
stump.
The crucial wickets of de Bruyn and
Davies fell either side of tea, in slightly anomalous circumstances.
Zander de Bruyn padded up to a ball from Will Gidman that struck him
high on the front pad, not to mention outside the line of his off
stump. Fifty minutes after the break, Steven Davies played on to
David Payne. On another day the ball would have bounced over the
stumps, but on this occasion, after being hit into the ground, it
looped unkindly for the Surrey stumper.
The following over saw Ramprakash
bring up his fifty in 93 balls, with a gloved four to the fine leg
boundary off Saxelby. Ramprakash hit the next delivery on the up to
the rope at third man. But, two overs later, Saxelby bowled Tom
Maynard, who was on the walk just four balls before the umpires took
the players off for bad light.
Earlier, Gloucestershire's first
innings resumed on 171-4 and Alex Gidman wasted no time adding to
his undefeated 22, cover driving Jade Dernbach and straight driving
Tim Linley for two more boundaries.
It took Surrey fifteen overs to make
the first breakthrough of the day, when the Gloucestershire captain,
who survived a chance in the slips on 32, pushed forward hesitantly
to go caught behind for 43. But he was outlasted by nightwatchman
David Payne, who, having been dropped at second slip on eight,
eventually played a tired check-shot to extra cover to bring the
curtain down on his 89-ball vigil.
De Bruyn struck again when Will
Gidman drove loosely outside his off stump to present Davies with
another victim shortly before lunch. Four overs later, Ed Young was
run out by Yasir Arafat when Richard Coughtrie drove de Bruyn to
mid-on, started to run, but then abandoned both the notion and his
partner.
Saxelby was caught behind off a ball
he could easily have left alone to make it 242-9. Five overs later,
Gloucestershire were dismissed for 261 when Jon Lewis was defeated
by a slower ball from Dernbach, which trimmed his bails.
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