In a tense finish at The Oval yesterday Gloucestershire’s last wicket pair, Jon Lewis and Shabbir Ahmed, held on to deny Surrey the chance of avenging their defeat at Bristol two weeks ago as well as the opportunity to move up to third place in Division One of the Frizzell County Championship as the season reaches its halfway stage.

Whilst the home side’s luck held in the sense the rain that had been forecast made only a fleeting appearance, they were not fortunate when it came to catches sticking. All three of the clear-cut chances to go to ground should have been Alistair Brown’s. The third, which would have left his side needing five to win in seven overs, was by no means easy. Acting as the lone slip, Surrey’s hero from Saturday and Sunday got a right hand to the sort of chance he has taken in the past, but that was all. The first two, by way of contrast, were routine, but hardly showstoppers because on both occasions the home side made amends soon afterwards.

At the start of proceedings Craig Spearman suggested he would make the hosts pay for setting attacking fields on a pitch that still looked ideal for batting. He drove a four on each side of the wicket in Ormond’s second over of the day and struck Bicknell for two off-side boundaries five overs later. However, the former New Zealand international was trapped leg before for the third time in two matches against Surrey when the veteran seamer switched to the Pavilion End.

Philip Weston, who cover drove Rikki Clarke for successive fours in the 21st over, and Matt Windows, carefully selecting which ball to work through backward point, resisted for over an hour before the latter was brilliantly caught low down to Hollioake’s right at third slip off Clarke to end the morning session.

Five wickets fell between lunch and tea, starting with the 22-year-old all-rounder’s determined effort to claim a caught and bowled off Weston. Jimmy Ormond then captured two in two balls, accounting for Shoaib Malik with a superb inswinging delivery after getting one to move a fraction away from the Gloucestershire skipper Chris Taylor.

But Alex Gidman and Steve Adshed dug in for seventeen overs, during which there was a brief stoppage for rain, before Gidman, inexplicably offering no stroke, lost his off stump to Murtagh at what seemed to be a crucial phase. That opened the door and Adshed fell to Hollioake’s slower ball shortly afterwards.

James Averis was troubled immediately after tea by Ormond, who comprehensively cleaned him up for a 19-ball duck, but then things dried up for Surrey. With Jon Lewis seeing out the final twenty-five overs – firstly in partnership with Ian Fisher, who eventually let his guard down by poking Hollioake low to Nadeem Shahid at short extra cover, then Shabbir Ahmed.

The last wicket pair did their fair share of playing and missing and on a couple of occasions came close to playing on, but not even a late burst from Jimmy Ormond, who gave everything, could apply the coup de grace. Significantly, there was no Martin Bicknell at the other end by that stage. He trudged off just after lunch with a right groin strain, which will be subject to a fitness test today before the Oval outfit decide their line-up for Worcester.

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