Surrey (with the fringe on top)

 
Sorry...been waiting for August to arrive before I used that title!

I personally am not terribly fond of the Edinburgh Fringe festival, but my reasons are selfish and not due to any raging dislike of the many acts on display – of which there are a great variety. They will of course range from the abysmal to the brilliant, but the fact is their presence (although bringing welcome revenue to a city beset by never-ending tram works) is a bleedin’ nuisance to the residents! Three weeks of fighting my way through swarms of people who don’t have any concept of ‘queuing’. Three weeks of waiting for buses that never seem to arrive on time, or seemingly zapped from existence entirely. Three weeks of jostling through persons whose only ambition is to stop you from reaching your bus stop. That more or less sums up what the festival means to me. Add to the fact that my work is just off Princes Street and I’m slap bang in the centre of festival hell!

So, to counteract the less appealing aspects of August, including paying £540 for an annual bus pass (which I did today), and notching up yet another year to my credit (later this week), I had the most wonderful surprise in terms of the score for day one of Surrey v Sussex at Guildford. Following the BBC cards doesn’t really have the same immediacy as listening to the internet commentary although in its own way it can be equally addictive (sneaking on and pressing refresh as often as one can reasonably get away with in working hours). So imagine my delight when I looked in and saw the score was 13-3!

I may have e-mailed Liz to express my astonishment and delight. Two of Sussex’s best batsmen (Joyce and Goodwin) sent back to the pavilion for a splendid nought! And Tremlett picking up all three wickets (Thornley falling for a princely 1)! I know Davies is regarded as a real star for Surrey, and rightly so, but for me it’s Tremlett that has been the main man so far (Ramps excluded).

Nor did it end there. Nash garnered 21 runs when caught by Lancefield off the bowling of Batty. Yardy followed very soon after for 18, and then Brown for the same score some time afterwards. At this point Sussex were looking very shaky. Arafat and Rayner showed some much needed resistance but then after lunch Arafat perished on 23! Surrey must have had dreams of finishing off the tail as quickly as possible, but invariably the puppy kept on wagging away. It took the devil and a stick of dynamite to remove the doughty Rayner who fell three short of a half century, whilst Adkin and Panesar formed the most irritating duet since Rene and Renata! Seriously though, well done to Adkin on his first championship game. I was genuinely sorry he didn’t reach his 50, as it was a stout performance in the face of obdurate Surrey bowling.

Statistics will give the appearance that Surrey let things slide in the afternoon session, and I can’t tell if this was the case or not, as I was trying to elbow my way past a bunch of Orks – sorry, tourists – to get to my bus stop at this time. I can’t think that any team would willingly give away a commanding position however, although admittedly it was disappointing they couldn’t have winkled out Sussex for under two hundred. At lunchtime you would have thought it a formality, but I suppose that’s cricket for you! Panesar gets much kudos for digging in. He’s not exactly renowned for his batting skills but he plagued and frustrated the Surrey bowlers for a good long time, eventually making a more than respectable 20 not out! Collymore was the last Sussex batsman to fall having had his bails rearranged by Dernbach for 2.

The Sussex first innings total amounted to 217. It could and possibly should have been worse for them, but the afternoon session suggested it was favouring the batsmen, with Surrey opening pair Harinath and Lancefield doggedly beginning their run chase. At the end of play both openers were still there with the score on 47; Lancefield on 20no and Harinath on 19no.

I think it’s fair to say Surrey were the happier of the two sides tonight, and will be hoping to press their advantage on a track that has a past history of very large scores. Bat long and bat once? I can only assume this will be what Surrey are hoping will happen, although if the predicted rain falls overnight then who knows how much time will be taken out of what is shaping up to be an exciting game.

Oh well, that’s it for another day. Back to dodging the tourists again...