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Nepal is to host the Asian Cricket Council Under-19 Tournament fornon-Test playing countries which will be played in Kathmandu fromOctober 11 to 18.Eight nations will compete in the tournament which serves as aqualifying competition for the ICC Under-19 Tournament for associatemembers.The countries participating in the tournament, being hosted by theNepal Cricket Association, are the UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Maldives,Oman, Qatar, Kuwait and Nepal. Pakistan’s Sultan Rana has beenappointed as the tournament director while four umpires from AsianTest playing countries and as many referees will supervise thematches.The same number of umpires and match referees will also be picked fromthe participating countries.

Indian captain Sourav Ganguly said on Tuesday that his lean phase with the bat was over, and expressed confidence of striking form again in the coming Zimbabwe series. “I failed in only one series (in the recent one against Australia)…there is a lot of talk going on….I have been around for five years. It’s the first time I have struggled. This is bound to happen…it’s past now,” Ganguly said.Stating that he was now looking forward to the series against Zimbabwe, Ganguly told reporters after the morning session in the ongoing conditioning camp at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore that he was working hard on his cricket the same way as he used to do before. “I am pretty positive about the nextseries,” he said.”It is important to take forward the good work done against the Australians. We played well against Australia. We hope to continue that in Zimbabwe. If we play well, I don’t think there is any reason why we should not win.”Stating that the Zimbabwe series was going to be challenging, he said “Zimbabwe is a good side. They are a much improved side than what they were. They are a formidable side at home.”Asked if the Test series win over the mighty Australians had given the Indians a new confidence, he said “Every win gives you confidence. It’s important winning abroad.”Ganguly indicated that Samir Dighe was going to be the first choice as far as wicket-keeping is concerned. “Samir Dighe has done well in the series against Australia. He has probably won the series for us. He has also scored important runs. He should be a handy prospect for Zimbabwe.”Ganguly said the team would be picked on May 17, but its final composition would be decided only after reaching Zimbabwe.On the preparatory camp here, he said “it has been organised well and the players are working hard. The facilities are fantastic and the climate is superb.” The players were also practising yoga in the camp. “I think yoga is good for the body and the mind. You stretch a lot better.”Declining to compare coach John Wright with any other coach, he said “He (Wright) is a good man. He is gelling well with the team. All the boys have a good rapport with him.” Ganguly also refused to discuss India’s prospects in the tri-series involving the West Indies, saying “it is too far (away).”He said he did not see any problem if the wicket favoured seamers in Zimbabwe. “That’s going to help us. We have some fast bowlers in the team. It is important to put enough runs on the board for seamers to take wickets.”On the Indian team’s hectic international schedule in the next few months, Ganguly said: “You got to accept it. You are playing professionally for India. The itinerary is fixed. You play ten years of international cricket and should make the most out of it.”

Cautious and conservative in their outlook, English cricketauthorities have taken to innovations like night cricket, whiteballs and coloured clothing rather late. In keeping with thisorthodox approach, a tri-series competition was introduced inEngland some 20 years after it first made its debut in Australiain the immediate post-Packer period and well after othercountries adopted it.

The first such tournament was held in 1998 involving Sri Lanka,South Africa and the hosts. Sri Lanka, then in the midst of theirgreat period following their World Cup triumph in 1996, duly wonthe event defeating England in the final.The competition was not held in 1999 with the World Cup inEngland holding centre-stage. In 2000, England won thetournament, defeating Zimbabwe in the final; the West Indies werethe third team in the fray. Last year, England did not even makethe final, contested between Australia and Pakistan. And yetEngland have been listed as favourites by the bookies for thisyear’s competition, involving Sri Lanka and India.Sri Lanka, despite the fact that are obviously weary at the endof their tour, are listed second favourites while the Indians,freshly arrived in England, have been adjudged as outsiders.A close look at the squads suggests that the bookies might havegot it all wrong. For, on paper, the Indians would seem to have alot of things going in their favour. A formidable batting lineup, an attack based on seam bowling – always favourable inEnglish conditions – and two fine spin bowlers to exploitwhatever turn they can from the pitch.Certainly, both England and Sri Lanka would be hard pressed tooffer a batting line-up as attractive as the one made up byGanguly, Tendulkar, Mongia, Sehwag, Dravid, Laxman, Kaif andYuvraj Singh. This array of stroke-playing batsmen looks capableof running up totals that could be well beyond the reach of boththeir opponents. Even granting the fact that they may beweaknesses in bowling and fielding, it would appear that thebatting is so strong that it can cover up for any deficiency inother departments.But the bookies obviously have done their cricketing homework.They are convinced that the Indian team does not do well abroad,something admitted even by coach John Wright. This isparticularly so in England.The heady days of the World Cup triumph are now almost twodecades ago. The 2-0 victory in the Texaco Trophy series in 1990is a 12-year-old story. Since then, the Indians lost rather badlyin the one-day series to England in 1996 and three years laterjust about made it to the Super Six stage where their challengefizzled out.Of course, it could also be pointed out with some justificationthat neither England nor Sri Lanka even made the Super Six stagein the competition. But there is no denying that the overall formof both these teams is far more consistent in recent times.Evidence of this is seen in the various one-day ratings that haveSri Lanka ahead of both India and England, who are bunchedtogether in the middle. Few would argue against this, even aftertaking into account India’s triumph in the rain-affected limitedovers series in the West Indies.

Only some six months ago, England came back from a 1-3 deficit todraw a six-match series in India and that should stand them invery good stead for the competition that commences on Thursday.The hosts have retained most of their players, who did so well inIndia, and have added the experience of Alec Stewart, the flairof the in-form Ronnie Irani, the promise of James Kirtley aswell as the bubbling enthusiasm of Alex Tudor.Besides, their established stars have all been among the runs andthe wickets during the season and the emphatic Test seriesvictory over Sri Lanka should have boosted their confidence noend. Even though they will miss the injured Mark Butcher, abatting line-up that has Nasser Hussain, Nick Knight, Stewart,Graham Thorpe, Marcus Trescothick, Michael Vaughan and AndrewFlintoff has to be respected.The bowling, however, may pose problems for Hussain. The injuredAndy Caddick is already out of the reckoning and there are doubtsabout Darren Gough’s availability. If the pace spearhead is notable to pass the fitness test, almost everything would depend onMatthew Hoggard, Ashley Giles, Tudor and Flintoff. In Englishconditions, the quartet could still prove to be a force to reckonwith. Hussain, it has to be remembered, has proved to be aplayer’s captain besides being a shrewd tactician.The withdrawal of Muthiah Muralitharan due to injury willundoubtedly affect Sri Lanka’s chances. But the prospects ofSanath Jayasuriya’s team cannot be written off. In Murali’sabsence, the bowling does look a bit handicapped but then theexperience of Chandana and Samaraweera is bound to come in handy.It is true that the seam bowlers did not exactly come off in theTest series but then the limited overs game is very differentfrom Test cricket and the NatWest series gives Chaminda Vaas andcompany the opportunity to show that they still have a trick ortwo up their sleeve.The batting, even if it fell from their lofty standards in theTest series, was seen in better light than the bowling and aline-up that has the always dangerous captain, Marvan Atapattu,Russel Arnold, Mahela Jayawardene, Kumar Sangakkara, AvishaGunawardene and Romesh Kaluwitharana cannot be dismissedlightly.

However, it must be admitted that the recent form displayed byall the contestants has been rather patchy, symbolised by Englandlosing to Wales on Monday. On the same day, the Indians went downto Kent while the Sri Lankans haven’t exactly been on a winningspree on the current tour.In my book, the strengths and weaknesses of the competing teamsare clearly marked. I normally love sticking my neck out butunlike the bookies, who don’t have an option anyway, I will notdo so this time. The competition is too close to call. About theonly prediction I will make is that it is going to be a scorcherof a NatWest series.

Graeme Hick stated his credentials for a Test place with an authoritativeinnings against the Sri Lankan board President’s spinners at P.SaravanmuttuStadium today. He scored 75 crucial runs having come to the crease withEngland in trouble in their second innings and ensured that they go into thefinal day of this practice game with an excellent chance of securingvictory.

When Hick plays with the positive intent that he displayed todaythere are few better players of spin bowling. With an economy of movement hehit the ball with disconcerting power and regained the initiative from theSri Lanka spinners, who had taken three wickets in the space of three oversto leave England teetering on 119 for five.He signalled his intent from the beginning with a checked drive through extracover off Dinuk Hettiarachchi and then a clean straight six off the off spinof Thilan Samaraweera. Unlike some of his colleagues, who rely heavily uponthe sweep shot, Hick prefers to hit straight down the ground and isconfident when using his feet. He hit ten fours and one six in his 112 ballinnings.”I am feeling really good at the moment and that was valuable time for me at the crease today,” he said afterwards. “I thought I played well and was pleased with some of my shots as I had wanted to use my feet and hit down the ground.”We now have one more match before the First Test Match and I will keep trying my best to score runs, as will Michael, and then it’s up to the selectors. If he scores runs and England win then that’s fine. Everyone is making a lot of it, but we just want to get out there, play our best, and help England win.”Hick was well supported by Craig White, who made runs for the second time inthe match. The pair added 63 runs for the sixth wicket with Whitecontributing 39 of them. Even more so than Hick, he was bold in his methodand not afraid of lofting the ball over the infield.Then, when White was caught on the mid-wicket boundary after top-edging apull-sweep, Hick added a further 54 runs with Ashley Giles. He waseventually caught at cover trying to loft Test prospect, DinukHettiarachchi, who finished with five wickets, over mid on.Hick’s runs allowed Nasser Hussain the luxury of declaring on 261 for nine,which left the President’s XI with a stiff 326-run target. The Englandbowlers were given a 52-minute burst before the close of play in whichDarren Gough grabbed three wickets in a hostile opening spell to leave theSri Lankans on 20 for three.On the grimly slow pitches here Gough has charged up to the wicket and bowled with great pace and fire. He has hurried the batsmen and shown that the fast men need not be resigned to a supportive role in Sri Lanka.He trapped Jehan Mubrak lbw as the tall left-hander offered no stroke to astraight delivery and then clean bowled Michael Vandort with a briskinswinging yorker in his first over. Then, he had Chaminda Mendis snapped upin the gully moments after unsettling the President’s XI captain with apainful blow to the body.Earlier in the day Michael Atherton had eased any concerns over his formwith a fluent 47 from 80 balls. With Hussain being dismissed cheaply,Atherton added 60 runs with Graham Thorpe before he was adjudged to havebeen caught behind off the left arm spin of Hettiarachchi. The Surreyleft-hander went on to score an industrious 40 before being trapped lbw bythe same bowler.Alec Stewart scored just 11 runs as he was stumped for the second time inthe match and Michael Vaughan top-edged a sweep to short fine leg toregister his second duck of the tour.

Pakistan sports channel Geo Super’s business-unit head, Mohammad Ali, has said the channel struck up a “fair deal” with the PCB for the rights to broadcast the upcoming series against Sri Lanka in the UAE.While Ten Sports bagged the rights for the series against South Africa, Geo Super won the television rights for a series of three Tests, five ODIs and two Twenty20s along with a one-off T20 against Afghanistan. The values of the deals were kept confidential by the PCB when the deal was announced, but the board had said the amount was “higher than the previous contract”. Media reports had the deal valued at close to $3.5 million.”It’s a fair deal compared to the previous contract [the Sri Lanka series in 2012, covered by Ten Sports], which was much lower than the current one,” Ali told ESPNcricinfo. “This time the values are higher by up to 35%, so I think we offered a very decent price. We are looking to build our reputation here and establish a long-term relationship. For us it’s a positive thing.”It’s not easy to do your business going away from your base but we wanted it and we got it and we will manage it. With the venture, we want to get our presence noticed and want people to know that we are promoting international cricket as well.”Geo also holds the rights for domestic cricket in Pakistan until October 2013 and is said to have run into financial difficulties during previous broadcast deals while showing world events. While the PCB has asked for a full bank guarantee before the series, Ali claimed that the channel had never defaulted in business in the past. “We never defaulted on any front,” he said. “I am not saying we don’t owe others money but when you are in business, you owe others money and others owe you money as well, so it’s all about business.”There is also said to be excessive advertisements aired by Geo Super while broadcasting domestic games; when asked about the same for the upcoming international matches, Ali said they would “try to maintain a balance” and the “focus would be on cricket”.”It will be different but we will try to balance things. It’s an extensive series with three Test matches so we have plenty of time to balance the advertisements with no intrusion. Yes, sometimes there are exceptional stages in rain-affected matches but obviously we won’t book more than our capacity. The focus will be mainly on the cricket and we will ensure the best international cricket coverage for our viewers.”Ali also said the channel would not be sharing the broadcast rights with PTV, Pakistan’s national channel, as there was no such specification in the contract. Geo Super was involved in a conflict with PTV in 2003 but Ali said their rivalry aside, they are “improving” their relationship with the national channel.”There is no clause of sharing the rights with PTV at all in the contract but it has been written that we are to share the feed with the terrestrial networks at a price,” Ali said. “We will share after a commercial arrangement, we believe people should not be deprived of anything. We are negotiating with them [PTV] and have maintained good relations with them. The rivalry aspect is put to one side, but we are improving our relationship with them and will move on together in a mutually beneficial relationship.”This is not the first time Geo TV network has taken international cricket rights from the PCB. The previous instance, in 2003, ended in a bizarre episode when the first one-day match of New Zealand’s tour of Pakistan was blacked out worldwide. The controversy was defused when the then-president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, intervened. A meeting led to an agreement for a joint broadcast of the remaining matches, with Pakistan Television screening the games for viewers in Pakistan and Geo TV beaming the signal abroad.

ScorecardUnited Arab Emirates kept their unbeaten record on their tour to Canada intact, defeating the hosts by 72 runs in the first Twenty20 in Toronto.Choosing to bat, UAE piled up 157 for 7, a total built around opener Mohammad Azam’s 51-ball 70. Azam and Abdul Shakoor gave UAE a strong start, sharing a stand of 42. However, regular wickets in the latter half of the innings weakened UAE’s chances of posting a bigger score. Swapnil Patil and Shaiman Anwar, who had been in good form coming into the match, fell for 11 and 13. UAE had another setback when Azam and Amjad Javed were out in consecutive deliveries to pacer Harvir Baidwan in the 17th over. Azam’s 70 included nine fours and one six. Nasir Aziz and Ahmed Raza hit some quick runs towards the end to take the score past 150.In reply, openers Rizwan Cheema and Ruvindu Gunasekera gave Canada a start of 34 in 6.3 overs but the innings simply wilted after Cheema fell for 20. Gunasekera tried to keep the innings together, but watched helplessly as Hiral Patel, Usman Limbada, Raza-ur-Rehman and debutant Damodar Daesrath went for single-figure scores. Gunasekera soon fell for 33 to make it 69 for 6 and Canada managed just 16 more before folding for 85. Shadeep Silva missed a hat-trick in the 16th over to end with 2 for 15. Left-arm spinner Ahmed Raza was the most successful bowler for UAE, finishing for 3 for 11 off 3.2 overs.

Ryan Harris has almost made it. Almost got through three consecutive Tests for the first time in his career. And he has done it – or, almost done it – with style. Harris has been Australia’s most effective bowler during this Investec Ashes series, having claimed 16 wickets at 21.37, one fewer than Peter Siddle, who has played one more Test. On the third day at Chester-le-Street, Harris was again the most dangerous man in the attack, his speed, accuracy and movement all troubling England.That the hosts got away slightly through Ian Bell and Kevin Pietersen and extended their lead to 202 by stumps was not the fault of Harris, who delivered a searing new-ball spell that accounted for all of England’s top three batsmen. The wickets were the main prize for Harris, but the feeling of making through a third consecutive Test – and after a short three-day break, no less – was a major bonus for a man whose body has kept him to 15 Tests in three and a half years.”I’m a little bit tired after today but I feel good,” Harris said. “I’ve come out of it nice and strong. I feel really confident in my body. I’ve had a really good build-up. Unlike in the past I’ve gone from not bowling many overs to bowling lots of overs, whereas this time I’ve spent plenty of time on the Australian A tour and bowled lots and lots of overs and finished off the first-class season back in Queensland and bowled lots and lots of overs”Because I’ve copped a few injuries, I guess you get sore spots here and there and you doubt whether or not it’s going to be bad. Even today I had a couple of sore spots when I bowled a few balls but you … go back and go again and if it doesn’t hurt you’re all right. If it does you’ve got a problem. You’ve always got doubts, but I’m starting to have less and less doubts.”Harris earned his three early wickets in different ways, his superb outswinger clipping the top of Joe Root’s off stump, his accurate bouncer tempting Jonathan Trott, who gloved behind, and his wider ball surprisingly drawing Alastair Cook into a flash outside off. His aggression also nearly had the centurion Bell, who fended a sizzling bouncer off his gloves and fell back onto the ground, almost onto his stumps.”I went around the wicket to try and muck up his feet and the one he hit me, I got it a little bit wide and a little bit full,” he said. “So it was always going to be a short one – one of the next two. I got it on the money but it would have been nice if it had of flown to Usman Khawaja at short leg, that would have been better. It was one of those things where you just have to try. Once he gets in, he is hard to get out.”Bell was mostly responsible for putting England back in the driving position, for batting last on this Chester-le-Street surface will not be easy and Australia cannot afford to let the lead stretch much further. But Harris said a pursuit of 250 to 300 would be achievable and the focus had to be on claiming England’s remaining five wickets as quickly as possible.”The wicket’s holding together pretty well. It might spin a little bit but the ball’s going through nicely. I think it’s pretty evenly poised to be honest,” he said. “It’s hard to say a target. But it is not breaking up as much as we probably thought. It hasn’t had as much sun as it could have had. If it had of been sunny of the past three days it might have been different and dried out a little bit more. There a couple that keep low and misbehave but that’s going to happen.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsIt went down to the wire at Amstelveen with Netherlands needing 13 off the last over with a wicket in hand. The equation narrowed down to six needed off the final ball to tie and Michael Rippon did just that, and though Netherlands denied Ireland a win, the result was good enough for Ireland to become the first Associate nation to qualify for the 2015 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.The tension began to build when Tom Cooper was dismissed in the 48th over, leaving the hosts with 16 to get off the last two overs with three wickets in hand. Alex Cusack bowled a tight penultimate over, conceding just three runs and dismissing Mudassar Bukhari, caught in the deep. The pressure piled on the ninth-wicket pair of Edgar Schiferli and Rippon heading into the final over and it escalated when Schiferli was run out off the second ball.John Mooney didn’t concede a run off his first three balls, but his next three went for plenty. Rippon took two off the fourth and hit a four off the fifth. With seven needed to win off the final ball, Mooney only needed to ensure he bowled a legal delivery, in order to deny Netherlands a victory. The final ball disappeared over long-on but Ireland had done just enough to make it to their third consecutive World Cup.For the second time in as many matches, Ireland’s O’Brien brothers, Niall and Kevin, made solid contributions with bat and ball respectively. Niall made an exact 50, while Kevin took 3 for 52. Ed Joyce held the innings together with an unbeaten 96 after Ireland opted to bat. The Ireland openers got off to a good start, adding 73 within 14 overs before William Porterfield was bowled by the offspinner Michael Swart for 30. His opening partner Paul Stirling made a run-a-ball 49 before he drove Rippon straight to Cooper at cover.Niall and Joyce then added 113 for the third wicket, the most productive stand of the innings. Niall pushed a single to cover to reach his fifty but fell in the same over, bowled by Cooper trying to sweep. Bukhari took two wickets to reduce Ireland to 235 for 5 off 46 overs. Joyce needed 11 for a century before the final over and when he faced the penultimate ball, he needed five. He could only manage a single, annoyed with himself for not being able to retain strike.Netherlands began positively, getting to 50 within nine overs before Stephan Myburgh was bowled by a Stirling top spinner for 35 off 26 balls. Eric Szwarczynski and Wesley Barresi took the score to 135 before Ireland hit back with three quick wickets for seven runs. Barresi fell four short of a fifty when he was caught behind off Kevin.Daan van Bunge helped Netherlands make a quick recovery with a brisk 45 off 40 balls, taking the score to 210 off 41 overs before Kevin trapped him lbw. The asking rate crept above seven after van Bunge’s dismissal and Peter Borren and Cooper helped keep the hosts in the game with a stand of 34. Porterfield took a sharp catch at midwicket to send back Cooper and give Kevin his third wicket. The final-wicket pair had all but taken Netherlands past the finish line but Ireland were the bigger victors at the end of the day.With Ireland through, the second qualification slot for the World Cup is still open, with Netherlands, Scotland and Afghanistan in the mix.

ScorecardCraig Meschede took his wicket tally in this season’s Yorkshire Bank 40 to 20 as Somerset retained the Group C leadership with a five-wicket victory over Leicestershire at Taunton.The 21-year-old all-rounder confirmed his position as the leading wicket-taker in the competition by claiming 4 for 5 from his five overs as the visitors were restricted to 124 all out after losing the toss in a match reduced to 25 overs per side by rain.Alfonso Thomas returned 3 for 30 on his return after a hamstring injury, while Michael Thornely played a lone hand with 49 not out.Somerset made hard work of their target, stuttering to 127 for 5 off 21.3 overs, Craig Kieswetter leading the way with 50 and Marcus Trescothick making 28. Nathan Buck was the pick of the visiting attack with 3 for 25. Leicestershire were never able to gain sufficient momentum after crashing to 49 for 7 by the 13th over.Steve Kirby and Thomas created pressure with tight opening overs, Thomas removing openers Niall O’Brien and Josh Cobb, the latter having gone into the game with an average of 104 in the competition this season.Meschede had Greg Smith caught at midwicket with his sharp medium-pace and then switched to the Old Pavilion End to rip the heart out of the middle order by sending back Joe Burns, followed by Shiv Thakor and Rob Taylor with successive balls.The only resistance came from Thornely, with a little support from Anthony Ireland, who contributed 27 to a ninth-wicket stand of 44.Somerset lost Peter Trego, the competition’s leading run-maker, to Ireland early in their reply, but had moved to 60 in the ninth over when Marcus Trescothick was bowled by a length ball from left-arm seamer Taylor for 28.Kieswetter, in his first innings since recovering from a thumb injury, looked in good form at No. 3. But he had started walking off when dropped on 32 by Matthew Boyce at deep midwicket off Thakor. He went on to his half-century off 41 balls, with six fours and a six and had put Somerset within 29 of victory when caught behind, edging a cross-batted shot off Buck.Dean Elgar and James Hildreth also perished to Buck to give Leicestershire a glimmer of hope. But Nick Compton and Alex Barrow batted cautiously to complete the job with plenty in hand, Compton securing victory with a six off Taylor.

ScorecardGary Wilson played fluently after being promoted up the order•Getty Images

Gary Wilson went out to bat at No. 3 for the first time in his first-class career on the opening day against Sussex. It could also be the last time he fills the slot. But he gave Ricky Ponting some act to follow with a century that propped up Surrey’s batting.Wilson was hurried up the order at the request of Surrey’s captain, Graeme Smith, after Arun Harinath was ruled out of the match having taken a blow to the hand in the nets before the start of play. After Smith failed again in a 12 ball stay, Wilson deputised to great effect with his second century for Surrey.It is easy to become blinded in an assessment of Surrey by their big-name signings but their real strength lies in those players they have nurtured themselves. The contrasting innings of Smith and Wilson provided a perfect demonstration.Wilson was brought to Surrey by the previous head coach, Alan Butcher, as a 20-year-old and has grown from his initial role as back-up wicketkeeper to feature regularly in Surrey’s one-day side. Last year’s tragic circumstances gave him a chance in the Championship. He played three matches and scored 182 runs at 60.66.Here he was handed another opportunity to show his worth in red-ball cricket and responded by working hard in the morning session to set up an afternoon where he pushed on to a hundred in 207 balls with 12 fours.Last season it was lesser-known players, Harinath, Rory Burns and Zafar Ansari among them, that began the club’s revival. Surrey fell to pieces after Tom Maynard’s death and relegation was a distinct possibility but their young batsman found form and a recovery was conjured. Names that few noticed in among the swaggering stars.Wilson was one of those and he was dealing with a double bereavement, having lost his mother to lung cancer shortly before the start of last season. His celebration here reflected someone who had gone through so much: a big punch of the air, raise of the arms and generous embrace from his batting partner, Zander de Bruyn.But Wilson denied the celebration contained any overt emotion, saying his reaction on pushing Chris Nash through the covers to reach three figures reflected only the joy of doing the job he was asked to do.”I battled really hard this morning to get into a good position and it was a case of pure relief, I knew I had done the hard work,” Wilson said. “I knew I had a job to do for the team and it was a case of going in and enjoying batting up the order. I can’t imagine it will continue but it was nice to get a few while it lasted.”Hard work was necessary in a morning that yielded only 58 runs in 32 overs. James Anyon and Steve Magoffin did all they could with the new ball, with Chris Jordan – returning to the county he spent six years with – proving an excellent first change. Anyon found a little dent on the wicket to get one to lift on Smith who edged behind but there was precious other help. In the face of such conditions, having been asked to bowl first, the Sussex attack were admirably disciplined.Runs flowed more freely as the ball got older – with Anyon and Jordan suffering – but the attack as a whole, with Monty Panesar bowling 25 cheap overs, deserved their four wickets with the second new ball that left Surrey grateful for their makeshift No. 3.