Hampshire lost their final Frizzell County Championship match of the season, but not before giving the County Champions a long wait in the field. Surrey decided to declare overnight, after enough of the side had turned up before the start to field.

Setting the home side the unlikely task of scoring 514 to win, they soon had Laney, Adams and Crawley back in the pavilion all to the seam of Martin Bicknell for 27, Crawley finishing his first-class season with a first-ball nought.

When skipper Will Kendall fell to Bicknell's 4th dismissal an early finish looked on the cards, but John Francis joined Neil Johnson in a stubborn partnership that took them to lunch without further mis-shap.

John Francis fell soon after the interval to give Bicknell's his fifth wicket and when Johnson was adjudged lbw to Salisbury for 86 (his highest first-class innings siunce the opening match of the season) it looked all up.

Bicknell who had earlier left the field after one bowling spell in the morning, left again after his second, but this time was not to return for the remainder of the day.

Nic Pothas who had suffered a moderate season with the bat, was joined by Dimitri Mascarenhas and the pair struck up an entertaining 98 run partnership, with Mascarenhas being particularly cruel on Ian Salisbury and Saqlain Mushtaq.

Mascarenhas was finally out for 67, smiting 9 fours and three sixes, two of which were planter in Nursery Ground next door.

Shaun Udal, probably Hampshire most consistent player in 2002 continued in this vain before playing on to Salisbury, and then Pothas passing his highest score for Hampshire was cruelly given out caught at slip for 99, when to all intents and purpose the ball came off the top of his arm.

When the last wicket fell, Hampshire had lost, but they held their heads high as they posted their 6th highest fourth innings score in their 138 year history, and the match of 1,557 runs the second highest ever involving Hampshire, this on a wicket that a few weeks ago had been docked eight points by the ECB. Nigel Gray the head groundsman has to be congratulated on this superb turnaround.

© Hampshire Cricket