As ITV seems to have been telling us repeatedly for the last week or so, it is the thirtieth anniversary of the film ‘Jaws’, which, along with other classics from the 1970s such as ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Alien’, saw audiences spend most of the film cowering behind their seats. For those of a Surrey persuasion last night’s late bill down at Hove did not make particularly pleasant viewing at times. Nevertheless, Mark Butcher’s young lion cubs managed, somehow, to push county cricket’s sharks - the totesport League Division Two leaders, Sussex - all the way. But for an untimely no-ball and Chris Adams hitting an unbeaten 110 they could well have snatched a victory that at one point had seemed completely beyond them.

Even the normally inattentive Sky Sports commentary team noticed that Surrey’s body language was not what crowds up and down the country have come to expect of them in recent years; and at various stages Butcher was pictured with a look of anger mixed with resignation painted across his face. The last occasion was when, with Sussex needing 11 to win off the last five balls with two wickets to spare, Azhar Mahmood overstepped the popping crease. Not only were the Lions penalised two runs; it gave Adams a free hit, which brought him a couple more. An equation of seven to win off four balls soon became two off two when Azhar served up a wide and was then flicked to the square leg boundary.

It must have come as a real body blow to Butcher who needed to call upon every possible ounce of tactical acumen in deploying his fresh-faced attack to best effect. But, crucially, the Lions started poorly with both bat and ball. Thanks to left-arm spinner Nayan Doshi and 19-year-old fast bowler Jade Dernbach the visitors’ failings were not shown up as much as perhaps they should. But it took them three attempts to get the wicket of Murray Goodwin, who had lives on 5 and 9, when he should have been run out and stumped. The former Zimbabwe Test player went on to make a valuable 26, after which the home side lost six wickets with such rapidity the momentum was actually with Surrey going into the closing stages.

On a slow pitch the visitors slumped to 40 for three after winning the toss and electing to bat. James Benning played inside James Kirtley, who then had Butcher hooking him straight down deep square leg’s throat. Jonathan Batty, who had a game to forget, never looked in touch and eventually nicked the ball to his opposite number in the twelfth over. Mark Ramprakash became bogged down, but was able to share in a fourth wicket partnership of 75 in thirteen overs with Alistair Brown, who fell one short of what would have been a well-deserved half-century when he was caught at extra cover trying to work Mushtaq Ahmed through mid-on. With Rikki Clarke, Stewart Walters and Azhar all coming to the party, Surrey managed to steal 96 off the last fourteen overs, taking them up to a respectable 230 for six.

In reply, Sussex could not have got off to a worse start, losing Richard Montgomerie to the fourth delivery of the innings, caught at first slip. However, Clarke’s introduction to the attack contributed to the home side looking very healthy indeed with 89-1 on the board at the end of the fifteenth over; that after having been 41-1 after ten.

In the 16th over Doshi accounted for Matt Prior, who made 42 off 41 balls, with his first legitimate delivery. But it took the Lions another 50 minutes to prize out Goodwin, who eventually lofted Dernbach to Walters at deep square leg. Michael Yardy went in the 33rd over when his leading edge was pouched at short extra cover. Six overs later Carl Hopkinson got the ball too high on his bat and was caught in the same position off Clarke. A mix-up in the next over saw Robin Martin-Jenkins run out when Butcher, fielding at short mid-wicket, parried the ball to the bowler, Azhar, who got it down the other end for Batty to whip off the bails.

Panic could so easily set in for the Sharks when Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Luke Wright also threw their wickets away, but, spurred on by a boisterous crowd of around 4,000, Adams went to his first hundred in the National League for nearly two years. It was enough to carry his side over the line and help Sussex open up a ten-point lead at the head of the Division Two table.

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