Mushtaq casts a spell over Leicestershire

Leicestershire at last saw the back of Surrey in the 129th over, which might not have seemed too bad had the Championship leaders not scored more than four runs in each of them. In reply they must reach 391 simply to avoid the follow-on. In the heat of yesterday afternoon, they made hard work of it.

Unless Mushtaq Ahmed forgets the way to the ground this morning, they will not make it. The former Pakistan wrist-spinner, filling in as Surrey's overseas player while Saqlain Mushtaq takes part in the Morocco Cup, appears to have lost none of his guile in the four years he has been away from county cricket, as Leicestershire discovered to their cost.

One batsman after another could only prod and hope as the 32-year-old maestro, last seen at Somerset in 1998, bowled throughout the final session, tormenting them as if he had the ball on a string, the spell bringing him 3 for 43 as Leicestershire slipped to six down at the close, their target not yet in sight.

At the start, Trevor Ward, Iain Sutcliffe and Darren Maddy had provided the steady accumulation that was needed. Maddy and Sutcliffe put on 102 for the second wicket, Maddy adding a season's best 81 to go with his five-wicket haul, but once he had become the first victim of Mushtaq's 16 overs at the Bennett End, the balance tipped in Surrey's direction.

Earlier, Rikki Clarke almost became a third Surrey batsman to make a hundred, despite a self-inflicted handicap. Playing football on the outfield after Wednesday's close, the 20-year-old fell and hurt his back, stiffening up overnight and re- quiring him to bat with a runner when resuming on 52 not out.

Why cricketers play football at the end of a day's play has never been fully explained, although some fitness coach is probably behind it. It is, of course, a hazardous diversion, even if the boyish enthusiasm of it all is rather quaint. Mark Wagh of Warwickshire damaged knee ligaments in April and has only just recovered.

Clarke managed very well, as it happens. With Ian Ward doing his legwork as was necessary when his strokes were not reaching the boundary, the Essex-born right-hand batsman reached 95 before he drove at Maddy and was caught behind, to his obvious annoyance. He had hit 14 fours and a six.

Maddy's figures stood out among the home side's bowling, Leicestershire's pocket battleship returning 5 for 104 from 25.4 overs. The former England batsman (briefly) has become a genuine all-rounder thanks the effectiveness of his skiddy medium pace, which he spices with the odd ball that is properly brisk. This was his second five-wicket haul of the season, raising his total in Championship matches to 35, a personal high.