At Bristol yesterday, the Gladiators made Christians of the Lions as Gloucestershire overcame Surrey by a crushing 42 runs. Led to victory by half-centuries from Alex Gidman and Phil Weston, and in the field by Chris Taylor, the home side finally got their own back for being on the receiving end in six out of their last seven limited-overs meetings with the reigning National League champions.

More significantly the result means that Surrey’s eyebrow-raising winless start to the 2004 season continues. Not even taunts of “Ireland, Ireland, Ireland” from sections of a partisan west country crowd could cajole Jonathan Batty’s men into raising their game. They now find themselves in the relegation zone of the totesport League first division having played more matches than their fellow strugglers.

The visitors’ reply got off to an inauspicious start when Scott Newman was beaten by some distance by Taylor’s direct throw from cover point and the celebrated Alistair Brown, wafting irresponsibly, was caught behind off James Averis.

But thanks to a third wicket stand of 101 in nineteen overs between Mark Ramprakash and Rikki Clarke, the Lions fought their way back into the contest. Ramprakash announced himself with two fours in an over from Mike Smith and with a combination of straight driving and canny deflections the former Middlesex man made a creditable 73 off 91 balls. However, the loss of Clarke, lbw to Mark Alleyne in the 27th over, put the brakes on the Lions to the extent that they needed to score at exactly seven an over going into the last fifteen.

A combination of Gloucestershire’s out cricket – which kept the boundary count for the innings down to just eleven – and Surrey’s running between the wickets, contributed to the eventual outcome. Chris Taylor, who had a hand in all three run outs in the visitors’ innings, completed his afternoon by taking two catches in the deep – one of them a juggling effort to dismiss Benning and a rather more straightforward one to account for Bicknell. But by that stage the result was a nailed on certainty.

The home side kicked off proceedings with three fifty partnerships in 38 overs, and finished just four runs shy of their highest one-day league total against the Oval outfit thanks to a composed 70 off 89 balls from Alex Gidman. In partnership with Matt Windows, who made a solid 46, the highly regarded young all-rounder marshalled a 91-run stand in seventeen overs for the third wicket.

Apart from Martin Bicknell, who conceded 54 runs seven overs, the visitors were probably happy with their efforts in the field, as they managed to contain the Gladiators to 257 on a surface that looked near perfect for batting. But from a tactical perspective it has to be wondered why James Benning and Jimmy Ormond were only given one spell of five overs each.

After Murtagh disposed of the dangerous Craig Spearman, who was out to a lofted catch to deep mid-wicket, in the tenth over, Phil Weston made a splendid 53 in 71 deliveries. The former Worcestershire opener was eventually dismissed by Benning, but Gidman and Windows simply kept the momentum going, wearing down the visitors on what turned out to be one of the hottest days of the year so far.

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