Cricket: Cottey defies double threat: Graham Thorpe and Martin Bicknell further their Test claims before the England manager as captain Mark Nicholas steadies his ship
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Your support makes all the difference.Surrey 282 and 39-0
Glamorgan 166
ON THEIR day, as Glamorgan discovered to their cost yesterday, Waqar Younis and Martin Bicknell are the best pair of new ball bowlers on the county circuit. After bowling out Surrey for 282, Glamorgan were almost sunk at 24 for 5 in the 13th over, with Matthew Maynard out of action with a broken thumb.
Waqar had taken three wickets and Bicknell two, including Viv Richards, and for sheer sustained hostility theirs was a most impressive performance. Bicknell's part in it will not have been lost on England's cricket manager, Keith Fletcher, who was among those present.
At this point, Glamorgan's chances of avoiding the follow-on seemed remote, but Roland Lefebvre, who had the sort of day which should have made Somerset, his previous county, blush, joined Tony Cottey in a splendidly defiant stand of 80. Colin Metson then made Cottey another admirable partner and Glamorgan got past their initial target of 133.
Fletcher will also have been pleased with Graham Thorpe's century, unless Graham Gooch's publicly stated commitment to keeping faith with failure may already have precluded the selection of a left-hander for Lord's. Thorpe fought hard and is in good form, although it would be expecting a lot to ask any batsman in his first Test match to go in expressly in order to destroy a specific bowler, Shane Warne.
Nonetheless, this century means that Thorpe is a genuine alternative. He was the first Surrey batsman out in the morning when, soon after reaching his 100, he was caught behind. The Surrey innings ended between two interruptions for bad light and rain which claimed 17 overs. Lefebvre's excellent control brought him the fine figures of 30.5-7-70-4.
When play began again after an early lunch, Steve James and Hugh Morris took 10 off Waqar's first over, but in the second Morris pushed forward to Bicknell and was caught at second slip. Bicknell was running in fast and smoothly and his rhythm was as good as it had been in 1990, when he was chosen to go to Australia.
In Waqar's second over James had a short one he could not get away from and gloved it to the wicketkeeper. Richards, who played his last Test innings here, reached forward to Bicknell and was caught at third slip, while Robert Croft was fifth out to a reflex catch to his left at forward short leg by Alistair Brown off Waqar.
The fight back was orchestrated by Cottey, who pulled Waqar, off-drove Tony Murphy and off-drove and hooked Joey Benjamin for fours. In spite of his stature - he is only 5ft 4in - Cottey is prepared to take on anyone. He has a good range of strokes backed by excellent footwork and judgement.
(Photograph omitted)
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