Extra Cover: A week in cricket by Jon Culley

Brown courted

by Scotland

Facing a dilemma more familiar to footballers, Warwickshire's Dougie Brown is being pressed to decide which country he would prefer to play for in the international arena.

Although the 27-year-old all-rounder, as wholehearted a county player as you will encounter, hopes one day to represent England, he was born in Stirling and, as such, qualifies to play for Scotland, a fact known only too well to Jim Love, the former Yorkshire batsman who is Scotland's director of cricket. Since Scotland's recent surprise qualification for the 1999 World Cup, Love has been encouraging both Brown and fellow Scot Gavin Hamilton, of Yorkshire, to commit themselves to the country of their birth.

Brown, in fact, played for Scotland eight years ago against Ireland, before he joined Warwickshire, but would have to give up his England ambitions were he to represent Scotland in the World Cup. Those ambitions were only sharpened when he was invited - along with Warwickshire team-mate David Hemp - to join the England squad for the second Test at Lord's, bowling in the nets and helping with dressing-room tasks but also being required to field when wicketkeeper Alec Stewart had to go off because of back spasms.

"It was a great atmosphere and we were made to feel part of the team," Brown says. It is an atmosphere he would like to experience again - as a player. And much though he is tempted by the idea of playing in the World Cup, he will almost certainly leave a decision on the matter until the last moment. "Scotland have been in touch regularly since they qualified, which is very flattering, but I'm not going to make a decision yet. England remains my ultimate goal."

MAN IN THE MIDDLE

DOUGIE BROWN

(Warwickshire)

TERMS OF THE GAME

The popping crease

In the early days of cricket, to complete a run a batsman was obliged to ground the end of his bat in a hole scooped out in front of the stumps. If, before he could do this, the wicketkeeper was able to "pop" the ball into this hole the batsman was run out. Unfortunately, this resulted in many hand injuries, and in time the hole was replaced by a line or "crease" cut in the turf, which became known as the popping crease.

Back to the Seventies - and beware low-flying skiers

AROUND THE GROUNDS

Park Road, Uxbridge

Given its proximity to the M25 and M40 motorways, the Middlesex ground at Uxbridge - approached along Gatting Way - at least has the virtue of being accessible. Otherwise, it has little to recommend it to the discerning ground-hopper. What passes for a pavilion, a long, low structure of minimal architectural merit, has rather more in common with the leisure centre culture of the 1970s than anything with roots in cricketing tradition.

Indeed, the ground forms part of just such a multi-sports complex, which includes a swimming pool and a dry ski slope. The main buildings went up in the winter of 1970-71 and have been added to since, with squash courts and a members' bar, which doubles as the players' dining area during county matches. Other facilities during games are housed in tents around the boundary.

Watching cricket there can be agreeable enough when the sun shines; when it is raining, however, it can be a bleak spot. Middlesex have been playing first XI fixtures there only since 1980, when they defeated Derbyshire by 10 wickets. Wickets have tended to be good, often too good for bowlers to make much of an impact, although last week's match against Lancashire saw Middlesex succumb for unusually low scores as Peter Martin recorded career-best figures. Mark Ramprakash's short-lived innings represented rare failure at the ground for the new Middlesex captain, who had posted centuries there in each of the last three years.

Historically, cricket and Uxbridge go back a long way. Although the present ground is new, the club claims to be the oldest in Middlesex, having been established in 1789. Its old ground, in Cricket Field Lane, is now the site of the offices of Hillingdon Borough Council.

THE TOP TEN

Steve Waugh's top ten Test innings

200 v West Indies

(Kingston 1995)

177* v England

(Leeds 1989)

170 v Sri Lanka

(Adelaide 1996)

164 v S Africa

(Adelaide 1994)

160 v S Africa

(Johannesburg 1997)

157* v England

(Leeds 1993)

152* v England

(Lord's 1989)

147* v New Zealand

(Brisbane 1993)

134* v Sri Lanka

(Hobart 1989

131* v Sri Lanka

(Melbourne 1995)

The Waugh machine

Steve Waugh, who yesterday completed his second century in the third Test against England at Old Trafford, was 20 when he made his Australian Test debut in December 1985, and had played 26 Tests before he made his first century.

He made his breakthrough on the 1989 Ashes tour with an unbeaten 177 at Headingley, followed by 152 not out at Lord's. Once considered suspect against genuine fast bowling, he demolished that theory with a double hundred at Sabina Park, Kingston in 1995. It is a tribute of sorts to England that he rated his first-innings century at Old Trafford, in testing conditions, to be the equal of that.

Waugh is only the third Australian - and the sixth from either side - to score centuries in both innings of an Ashes Test.

THE WEEK

AHEAD

All eyes turn to Lord's on Saturday as Kent and Surrey renew a long-standing Benson and Hedges Cup rivalry in this year's final. Because the competition originally involved group matches organised on a geographical basis, the two have seen plenty of one another: the final will be their 17th meeting.

Kent have lifted the trophy three times and Surrey once, but neither since the 1970s. Kent's prize in 1973, their first success, was pounds 2,500, compared with pounds 42,000 for this season's winner. Saturday's runner-up will receive pounds 21,000, three and a half times the sum Kent received when they last won, in 1978. They have met twice in the semi-finals, Kent winning on each occasion, going on to defeat Worcestershire in 1976 and lose to Hampshire in 1992.

With five England players involved, Saturday's final could be memorable. Surrey have potential match-winning batsmen in Alec Stewart, Mark Butcher, Graham Thorpe, Ali Brown and the Hollioakes. However, Kent have a clutch of useful one-day bowlers. Dean Headley and Mark Ealham have both enhanced their reputations in the Ashes series, while Matthew Fleming has emerged as a key wicket-taker and Paul Strang's leg-spin has proved effective.