Sussex Vs Surrey at The Oval - Championship

Report

David Gilbert, partly responsible for persuading Saqlain Mushtaq to come to the Oval, must have watched with mixed feelings as the off-spinning maestro from Lahore completed match figures of 11 for 104 against Sussex on Saturday. Saqlain was primarily responsible for defeating Gilbert's new county by an innings and 69 runs in two and a half days. The title which apparently beckoned for Surrey at a similar stage last season looks a much more realistic aspiration this time. Chris Adams, who succumbed to Saqlain's Ramadhin-like leg-break for a duck in the first innings, made a highly creditable 99 not out and Mark Robinson batted with typical determination for 45 minutes in a last-wicket stand of 29, only to edge a leg-break from Ian Salisbury to slip seven minutes after lunch. Surrey, with 24 more points in the bag, lead the table this morning by 42 points, with five more matches to play. They will almost certainly be without Graham Thorpe for the rest of the campaign but having three players in the England Test 12 will not worry them this week as they have no championship match. The games between Lancashire and Gloucestershire and Leicestershire and Somerset will determine which chasing county really have a chance of overtaking them. While Gilbert plans for the longer term as director of cricket at Sussex, his successor at the Oval, Keith Medlycott, who has now ceased coaching Northern Titans (Northern Transvaal) in South Africa to spend all his time with Surrey, is relishing the success of the team and the various successful individuals within it. He has the highest regard for Martin Bicknell and Alistair Brown, both chosen for a representative county XI yesterday, and believes the selectors should look less at Brown's less-than-perfect technique and more at his volume of runs and his ``huge appetite for batting''. ``His conversion rate of fifties into hundreds in first-class cricket is exceptional and he's played more controlled cricket for us this year. He plays match-turning innings. I know Andrew Flintoff is a useful bowler, too, but if there's a better attacking batsman in England than Ali Brown, I haven't seen him,'' he said. Medlycott is not worried by the continuing modest returns of Ben Hollioake - he will play at the Oval this evening despite minor bruising on his left shin - and is convinced that Salisbury will prove his value to England before the season is out. His highest praise, however, is for Saqlain. ``He's a master. I love watching him and just hearing him talk about bowling. In England all we seem to worry about is control and a grooved action. Saqlain talks about shorter and longer delivery strides, changes of pace, different angles of attack and different angles of his bowling arm. He's streets ahead.''

Scorecard

Britannic Assurance Championship, Surrey v. Sussex, at The Foster's Oval

Surrey
 Sussex
1st Innings 364 all out 125 all out
2nd Innings 170 all out

 

Surrey beat Sussex by an innings and 69 runs
Sussex second innings
MTE Peirce c Brown b Saqlain Mushtaq 29
WG Khan lbw b Bicknell 0
M Newell c Hollioake b Bicknell 0
CJ Adams not out 99
MG Bevan c Brown b Saqlain Mushtaq 1
RJ Kirtley b Bicknell 5
RK Rao c Hollioake b Bicknell 6
S Humphries c Ward b Saqlain Mushtaq 5
JJ Bates lbw b Salisbury 7
JD Lewry lbw b Saqlain Mushtaq 0
MA Robinson c Brown b Salisbury 4
Extras ( 0b 6lb 2w 6nb) 14
Total 170

Fall of wickets
1-1 (1 Khan, 8 mins), 2-17 (16 Newell, 19 mins), 3-53 (36 Peirce, 83 mins), 4-55 (2 Bevan, 13 mins), 5-72 (17 Kirtley, 20 mins), 6-108 (36 Rao, 28 mins), 7-117 (9 Humphries, 11 mins), 8-134 (17 Bates, 20 mins), 9-141 (7 Lewry, 15 mins), 10-170 (29 Robinson, 47 mins)

Bowling Analysis O M R W Wd N-b
M P Bicknell 15 4 45 4 0 0
B C Hollioake 3 1 11 0 1 0
Saqlain Mushtaq 35 10 74 4 0 3
A J Hollioake 6 3 12 0 0 0
I D K Salisbury 17.2 7 22 2 0 0

Surrey first innings
MA Butcher c Humphries b Lewry 34
IJ Ward c Newell b Lewry 4
AJ Stewart lbw b Robinson 96
AJ Hollioake c & b Bates 28
AD Brown c Lewry b Bates 94
BC Hollioake c Newell b Bates 1
JN Batty c Bevan b Bates 1
MP Bicknell b Kirtley 35
IDK Salisbury lbw b Bates 8
Saqlain Mushtaq lbw b Lewry 40
AJ Tudor not out 8
Extras ( 3b 4lb 4w 4nb) 15
Total 364

Fall of wickets
1-7 (7 Ward, 4 mins), 2-99 (92 Butcher, 74 mins), 3-168 (69 Hollioake, 184 mins), 4-186 (18 Stewart, 65 mins), 5-191 (5 Hollioake, 14 mins), 6-193 (2 Batty, 8 mins), 7-308 (115 Bicknell, 106 mins), 8-308 (0 Brown, - mins), 9-325 (17 Salisbury, 56 mins), 10-364 (39 Saqlain Mushtaq, - mins)

Bowling Analysis O M R W Wd N-b
J D Lewry 14.2 3 65 3 1 0
R J Kirtley 24 3 105 1 0 0
J J Bates 33 7 100 5 0 0
M A Robinson 22 3 57 1 1 2
M G Bevan 9 2 30 0 0 0

Sussex first innings
MTE Peirce c Batty b Hollioake 54
WG Khan c Batty b Bicknell 41
M Newell c Stewart b Bicknell 0
CJ Adams c Brown b Saqlain Mushtaq 0
MG Bevan c Batty b Saqlain Mushtaq 5
RK Rao c Hollioake b Saqlain Mushtaq 1
S Humphries c Butcher b Saqlain Mushtaq 7
JJ Bates lbw b Saqlain Mushtaq 0
RJ Kirtley c Stewart b Saqlain Mushtaq 1
JD Lewry b Saqlain Mushtaq 0
MA Robinson not out 2
Extras ( 5b 3lb 0w 6nb) 14
Total 125

Fall of wickets
1-93 (93 Khan, 139 mins), 2-93 (0 Newell, 6 mins), 3-96 (3 Adams, 4 mins), 4-114 (18 Bevan, 44 mins), 5-114 (0 Peirce, 12 mins), 6-121 (7 Humphries, 13 mins), 7-121 (0 Bates, - mins), 8-122 (1 Rao, - mins), 9-122 (0 Lewry, - mins), 10-125 (3 Kirtley, 35 mins)

Bowling Analysis O M R W Wd N-b
M P Bicknell 14 4 35 2 0 0
A J Tudor 3 0 9 0 0 0
B C Hollioake 15 3 43 1 0 1
Saqlain Mushtaq 19.2 10 30 7 0 2


Toss: Sussex (bat)
Umpires: J C Balderstone & R Julian
Captain: A J Hollioake (Surrey)
Wicket Keeper: J N Batty (Surrey)
Captain: C J Adams (Sussex)
Wicket Keeper: S Humphries (Sussex)