County Championship: Stewart needs to forget about Test (1 Sep 1998)

1 September 1998

Stewart needs to forget about Test

By Charles Randall

ALEC STEWART and his three Surrey colleagues involved in the humiliation by Sri Lanka will have to hit the ground running when they return to county cricket today.

Surrey, with a 15-point lead at the top of the championship, face what could be an unsettling contest against Yorkshire at Headingley. There will be no time for Stewart, Mark Butcher, Ben Hollioake and Ian Salisbury to mull over their mistakes of the past five days at the Oval, their home ground.

The top three teams - Surrey, Leicestershire and Lancashire - have each won three games in a row. They are on a roll, as are Yorkshire who, unconvincingly, have hauled themselves up to fifth, still within range of the title.

Yorkshire, having lost Darren Lehmann to Australia duty, have brought in all-rounder Craig White as a batsman after two months recovering from his back injury, and Darren Gough's presence is always a significant plus.

Surrey's potency under Adam Hollioake has been based on bowling this summer. The off-spin of Saqlain Mushtaq or swing of Martin Bicknell has undermined several sides - though none better than Yorkshire.

Leicestershire could be halted by an improving Warwickshire, and Lancashire will be hoping John Crawley can maintain his Hick-like weight of runs when they meet Derbyshire, who have the seam bowling to put the best batsmen under scrutiny.

Lancashire's match is a prelude to the NatWest Trophy final at Lord's on Saturday, which involves the two counties the day after the championship game at Old Trafford is due to finish.

The two clubs have agreed early starts and longer playing time for three days to shorten the fourth day, allowing an early exodus from Manchester to London.

Final games

Surrey: Yorks (a), Durham (a), Leics (h).

Leics: Warwicks (a), Essex (h), Surrey (a).

Lancs: Derbys (h), Notts (a), Hants (h).

Gloucs: Northants (h), Middx (a), Notts (a).

Yorks: Surrey (h), Warwicks (h), Sussex (a).

Source :: Electronic Telegraph (https://www.telegraph.co.uk)