Wicketus Collapsicus

Short Match Report Surrey v Gloucestershire at The Oval, Day Three

Well, the game panned out in the way that the doubters anticipated, and Gloucestershire – to their great credit – put on another partnership towards the end that stuck tighter than a whelk’s bottom, effectively killing any chance of victory for Surrey. 106 runs added for the last few wickets unfortunately proved far too much in the context of the game. When looking at the final score and seeing the 77 or so runs by which they fell short, it makes the Gloucestershire tail all the more impressive. The Surrey top order is looking a tad frail, as if it’s got a bit of a hangover, and the middle order (with the exception of Steven Davies) looks like it’s flailing about for the Alka-Seltzer...

I didn’t hear the Ramps dismissal, but I gather there may have been some doubt as to whether it should have been given. Poor Mr R: when your luck’s out, it’s really out! There’s an interesting article in the Times suggesting that he’s more or less been acting as an opener due to the lack of a reliable partnership at top to see off the new ball. If so, I’m sending Michael Brown’s tennis elbow a get well soon card, signed with lots of kisses...

Good points: the lower order of both sides played with much pride. Dernbach really seems to fancy himself as a batsman. Maybe we ought to promote him up the order as a pinch hitter! Tremlett did not too badly with the bat either. The only people who did have trouble with the bat were, ironically, the batsmen!

A real pity from a Surrey point of view because I felt the game was still very much up for grabs in this morning, and I think they’d have quietly fancied their chances of pulling the rug out from underneath Gloucestershire’s feet. But, just like my boss on a Monday after a weekend spent drinking cider in his local flea-pit, it appears that Surrey just don’t “do mornings.”

Momentum seems to be the key thing with Surrey. It’s a moot point, but had the light been better towards the end of yesterday and they’d stayed out, it is possible that they might have nipped that troublesome eighth wicket partnership before they’d even got to the morning session.

Congrats to Gloucestershire all the same – and especially to Jon Batty (who must be delighted). But I wouldn’t really want to be the one to wish Chris Adams a happy birthday right now...