Date-stamped : 05 Aug96 - 18:27 Tour Match Surrey v South Africa 'A' The Oval 1,2,3,4 August 1996 ====> REPORT (Day 1, 1 Aug 1996) Tour Match: Lewis has still to prove his fitness By Geoffrey Dean at the Oval First day of four: Surrey (10-0) trail South Africa A (379) by SURREY, predictably, though understandably, fielded a second team which did well to restrict the South Africans to 379 on the same pitch used for the NatWest quarter-final. Eight bowlers were used by the captain Chris Lewis who, apart from Ally Brown, was the only regular first-teamer. Lewis bowled well in his three spells but will need to get through another 15 overs in the second innings to satisfy the England selectors that he has recovered from the groin strain that kept him out of the last Test. His one victim, Gerhardus Liebenberg, who played on, cannot have been too pleased to fail again, having come off a pair at Trent Bridge. The tourists batted adventurously at above four an over to notch six fifties, taking their first-class total for the tour to 29, only five of which have been converted into hundreds. Some pro- fligacy was evident yesterday, notably when Herschelle Gibbs was caught at extra cover by Greg Kennis, who somehow held on to a drive hit like a cannonball. This was the first of six wickets on debut for Mark Patterson, 22, a medium-fast Irish triallist. Despite regular punishment for over-pitching, he ran in hard all day and knocked over an attack-minded tail. He will be on a hat-trick in the second in- nings after last man Gary Gilder smashed his first ball to extra cover. ====> REPORT (Day 3, 3 Aug 1996) Tour Match: Behaviour mars S Africa triumph By Geoffrey Dean at the Oval South Africa A (379 & 339-6 dec) bt Surrey (286 & 275) by 157 runs SOUTH Africa A`s comfortable victory, wrapped up by 2pm yester- day, will be remembered more for their poor behaviour in the field - by the umpires at least. Ken Palmer and Paul Adams said they were unhappy with the tour- ists` demeanour, notably that of two of the pace bowlers. One even had the cheek to offer Palmer a bite of his Mars bar out in the middle. The South Africans have already been reported in previous first- class games on this tour for being out of order. Tour manager Duncan Fletcher went to see the two officials after the match but the damage had already been done. Some consolation for the tourists is that they were not, in the view of the umpires, as poorly behaved as the Young Australians last year. The umpires deserve credit, however, for their handling of the match. Equally impressive was Nadeem Shahid`s 157-ball 84 and James Knott`s unbeaten 49 in only his second first-class innings. Almost as impish with the bat in hand as his father, Alan, Knott confirmed his reputation for hating to get out. Surrey have al- ready considered playing him in the championship. Left-arm spinner Nicky Boje took the last five wickets on a turn- ing pitch after Surrey resumed on 193 for four. Ally Brown had gone in the second over of the day, lbw shuffling across his stumps. Source :: Electronic Telegraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk) Contributed by Ravi (sista@*.latech.edu)