The Adams Revolution hit another bump in the road yesterday as the pitiful batting line-up fired with all the venom of a 50 year old Trabant filled with sunflower oil. I wonder if Surrey’s website will be shouting from the rooftops that this was a reasonable performance as the once great champion team were dismissed for 131. It was once said that Arthur Scargill ascended to the head of the NUM with a small house and a big union, and finished with a big house and a small union. In 1999 Surrey had a great team and a dilapidated cricket ground….

The sheer paucity of hope is shown with that batting line-up. Newman is off to a poor start, one wonders why Hampshire could let Mike Brown go if he was that crash hot, Laurie Evans is making his way by batting at three, Usman Afzaal has a heavy weight at four, with Batty a hit and miss sort (and our keeper) at 5. James Benning at 6 is not the answer, and then Jordan at 7 is about two places too high. Schofield at 8 may bat well once or twice, and the rest couldn’t be counted on at all. It is no wonder we are short of runs. I’ve been saying for an age that Surrey need to recruit a class batsman to shore up what looks to be a pathetic batting line-up without Ramprakash, but we go for some bits and pieces twaddle in Grant Elliott.

At time of writing, Surrey’s bowlers have done their best to drag us back into the game, but Graham Wagg, who took six wickets in Surrey’s dismal effort, has added a decent partnership with Greg Smith and they are 59 runs to the good with two wickets left. It is a long way back for the Ego’s Brown Caps.