Date-stamped : 18 May94 - 14:24 SURREY v NEW ZEALAND, The Oval, 02 May 1994 Hollioake signals all systems go for super Surrey By Michael Henderson The Oval (New Zealanders won toss): Surrey beat the New Zealanders by six wickets "Nearer my God to thee". The latest stage of the Oval redevelop- ment gallops on apace at a cost of Pounds 4 million as the Vic- torian pavilion, hemmed in between the ocean liner known as the Ken Barrington Centre and the Peter May enclosure, pushes an ex- tra floor towards the heavens. It's all go-go-go at super Surrey. The first man to scale the summit ought to plant a flag because getting there will be a breathless task. At the moment, the pavi- lion is a crowded shambles. The downstairs bar resembles the buf- fet at Crewe station. When the top deck reopens, complete with yet another restaurant, it may be possible to see as far as Wind- sor Castle. Nobody can accuse Surrey of lacking ambition. Taking their cue from MCC, which is linked with Melbourne Cricket Club, the Oval is now twinned with the Sydney Cricket Ground. ''Tinned'' is more like it, in view of the beery racket that came from the healthily filled bleachers yesterday. The pavilion has its Alec Stewart and Graham Thorpe, their England batsmen, gave them- selves the day off yesterday when the New Zealanders came to town. They can be excused as they have already made hundreds to help win those two early fixtures and they are understandably keen to keep their powder dry for more pressing engagements. Surrey hardly missed them. David Ward and Adam Hollioake, their man of the moment, carried them to victory with five balls to spare by making an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 146. Ward made 88 and Hollioake 86 from 73 balls. Stewart must think it is a funny old world. When Geoff Arnold was dismissed as coach last year, he thought long and hard about car- rying the captain's sword into another season. Then he realised he had a benefit to organise and the team's interests to consid- er. Given his family associations with the Oval, it is hard to see him playing his cricket anywhere else. Good boy that he is, the club's executive board (apparently, everyone is an executive at the Oval these days) has upgraded him to join them but he doesn't have a vote. So, rather like Colonel Cathcart in Heller's Catch 22, he is a man in the know who wants to know what is going on. Doesn't everybody? If they are to be as successful as their executives would like, Surrey must camouflage the loss of Waqar Younis. Even if he was fit, he would have been lost to them from mid-July, when Pakistan prepare for their tour of Sri Lanka. Unlike Derbyshire, who re- ceived duff information last year on Ian Bishop and went through the season without an overseas player, they acted swiftly to bring over Cameron Cuffy from St Vincent as Waqar's replacement. Cuffy played his first match yesterday, bowling a full quota of 11 overs and taking two wickets towards the end of the New Zea- landers innings. He is a tall, lean man of Ambrosian physique and, in his first spell, he showed genuine ability to cut the ball away from the right-hander. His last over, the last of the innings, was ideal for the circumstances and that is a gift Stewart will be grateful to call on in limited-overs matches. It is early days but Surrey appear to have found a decent locum. The tourists did well to make as many as they did after losing half their team for 122. After Crowe, their one batsman of un- disputed Test class, went for 40, they added 137 in the last 19 overs to set Surrey a decent target. The most remarkable aspect of Surrey's performance was the choice of the man to direct it. In his first appearance for his new club, Tony Pigott, signed from Sussex as a ''just-in-case'' player, led them down the steps. He had a dandy day, too, collecting two of the first four wickets and a third at the death. Shane Thomson supplied the late thrust, making an unbeaten 90 from 80 balls. Eleven times he reached the boundary and, once, he drove Pigott through the hands of the leaping Gregor Kennis at long off. Kennis went to the same school, Tiffin, as Stewart, the man he was playing for. Unlike Stewart, and every other first- class cricketer, he was born in Yokohama. It was a measure of Hollioake's batting that he put Thomson in the shade. He joined Ward at the critical time, 115 for four in the 33rd over, and played most handsomely. In three minutes over the hour, the pair had added 100, of which the second half came in 21 giddy minutes. Once Hollioake had lined up his sights, he made this big ground look very small. Hart, the left-arm spinner, disappeared twice over the ropes at the Vauxhall end and Pringle saw an off drive land underneath the dressing-room balcony. Better still was a straight drive, also off Pringle, that scorched the turf to the pavilion. Selfishly, Hollioake, like Thomson before him, brandished his bat towards his team-mates on reaching fifty. This disrespectful ha- bit insults the game. If the Surrey executive board brought this matter to their captain's attention, they would be doing some- thing really worthwhile. (Thanks : The Times) Contributed by Vicky (VIGNESWA@*umass.edu)