Cricket: Centuries as Surrey take lead

Surrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .333-3

Kent

KENT, fourth in the Championship at the start, 30 points adrift of the second- placed Surrey and a match further down the road, have some catching up to do in every sense. Yesterday, just to make things more difficult, Darren Bicknell settled in for his second century of the summer, as did Alistair Brown.

There is no point in looking on the black side, as Kent well know. When the pair met at Guildford last season, Surrey enforced the follow-on only to end up losers when they were skittled out for 76. This time, after losing the toss, Kent had to bite the bullet and contain as best they could with a limited attack.

Kent having a sizeable slice of seam on the sidelines - in the form of Alan Igglesden, Martin McCague and Dean Headley - and with a slow and low wicket, it was just a question of how much Surrey would prolong the agony. Quite sensibly, they were in no hurry, building their innings brick by brick.

While Paul Atkins, caught at short leg off Mark Ealham in the sixth over, missed out on the feast, Bicknell soon tucked in, with three boundaries in succession off Chris Penn, and he was into the thirties after three-quarters of an hour. From then on, however, the left- hander eased back on the throttle and began to pace himself, a wise policy as he was still there on 119 at the close.

David Ward, like Fleming, plays shots and while Bicknell held himself in check, there were 11 boundaries to enjoy from the right-hander before he was second out soon after reaching his half-century in a stand of 91 off 29 overs.

Monte Lynch came next, and departed kicking himself, like Atkins, for missing out. The acting captain had made 24 when he lobbed one up from Carl Hooper to Trevor Ward in the covers. Kent had to make the most of that as it was the last wicket to fall in the day.

Brown likes to get on with it, but, while he closed on Bicknell, his batting, was remarkably restrained. Bicknell's century arrived after 352 minutes, during which he faced 290 balls and hit 14 fours; Brown's came off 152 deliveries in 171 minutes and included nine boundaries. The pair have so far added 187 in 56 overs.

Centuries by Mike Gatting (121) and Mike Roseberry (175 not out) took Middlesex to a strong position on the first day of their Championship match against Leicestershire at Lord's. The pair shared a partnership of 230 in 63 overs as Middlesex reached 352 for 2.

(Photograph omitted)