Cricket: Twose turns the tables on Surrey

Warwickshire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .246

Surrey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129-6

ONE can understand the relief on another sweltering day at leaving behind Kennington's concrete jungle but, judging by the colour of the pitch, Surrey took their move into the green belt to extremes yesterday.

The upshot was a clatter of wickets at both ends of the day that left several corporate tent-dwellers looking gloomily at spending Monday in the office and Warwickshire with an unlikely supremacy.

Having been 56 for 5 in the morning, they ended a long day 117 ahead with six Surrey wickets in the bag. Five went to Roger Twose, whose extraordinary nine-over spell in the early evening underlined Warwickshire's resourcefulness and confidence.

Already without Gladstone Small and Dermot Reeve, they lost Paul Smith's services after he suffered a fractured right hand (struck by Tony Pigott) on top of a bruised left elbow (caused by a Cameron Cuffy ball trapping a nerve).

But Smith still batted for two hours, mostly in pain, and his innings bought Warwickshire valuable time after Cuffy, bowling with venomous pace, and Joey Benjamin had scythed through their early batting on a green wicket. As the pitch eased in the sunshine, both Dougie Brown, on his debut, and Graeme Welch made maiden fifties as they added 110 in 24 overs for the ninth wicket and carried Warwickshire to 246 all out.

When Darren Bicknell was bowled without having scored, the ball scuttling through to emphasize the variable bounce, that looked a useful total. Although Alec Stewart, batting impeccably, and Graham Thorpe built an untroubled century partnership it still does, for both fell amid a clutch of wickets for Twose as he wobbled the ball about in the clammy haze.

And Brian Lara? He attracted a near-capacity 4,000 crowd, made two in nine balls before edging to slip and looked lucky to get that. His mind remains elsewhere. But he did field and he was still the player beseiged by autograph hunters at the close.