A match turning this way and that

Sixteen wickets in the day and a match that is still very much in the balance - one that could very well reach its climax tomorrow and Surrey are in with a great chance of pulling off their first win since June of last year.

I'll level with you reader, I forgot quite what an excellent seam attack Gloucestershire have, probably the best in the second division; Franklin, Lewis and Kirby might not be potent enough to be stars on the international scene, but they're more than good enough for the second division of the County Championship, as Surrey found out today.

On a pitch with plenty of life in it and in conditions conducive to swing, Surrey capitulated for 178, with only Harinath passing 50 and Steve Davies left stranded on an unbeaten 23 - I think there is merit in moving him up to open until Michael Brown returns.  Faced with a first innings deficit of 51, Surrey came out and initially leaked too many runs through Rao, though Tremlett was parsimonious as ever at the other end.

Meaker and Dernbach came on and at least stopped bleeding runs like Rao, but until Meaker's late three wicket burst, Gloucestershire looked the likely victors.  4-29 represents Meaker's best first class performance and hopefully he can use this as a platform to kick on from.  I don't really see the value in continuing to select Rao though if Meaker is taking wickets though.

Surrey need to finish off the Gloucestershire tail which proved belligerent yesterday, chasing anything over 230 will be very tough, even 200 is going to be a challenge.  Either way, we're going to get a result at the Oval - something we don't see too often, and it should be a thrilling end!