Surrey's cricket manager, Chris Adams, has given "a green light" to the club to sign Brian Lara on to the playing staff for the County Championship as well as the Twenty20 Cup. The negotiations between Lara and Surrey are delicately poised but Adams said that the club are open to the idea of Lara joining the team to play in all other domestic competitions as well as in the Twenty20. Surrey's managing director, Gus Mackay, confirmed that they are putting together a package to tempt Lara that may involve additional roles as either a coach or an ambassador.
Both men described the prospect of Lara joining the club as "very exciting". "He is one of a handful of players who have that kind of pull," said Mackay, "one of the real legends, along with Warne and Tendulkar." That feeling grew when Lara arrived at The Oval for nets on Monday and found himself surrounded by a group of young players and parents, all seeking his autograph.
Lara himself approached Surrey to sound them out about the possibility of playing for them. He has been looking for a team to join for some time and is keen to play in the 2011 Indian Premier League. In March the IPL commissioner, Lalit Modi, tweeted: "Spent the last 24 hours with Brian Lara in Kolkata. He is excited at the prospect of being available for IPL 4. Told him to get into training."
With Andrew Symonds and possibly Lara joining in high summer, Surrey have clear ambitions to make big money in the Twenty20. Their audiences for the cup were down last year and these two signings should help rectify that. There is also the prospect of a lucrative Champions League placeif the young captain, Rory Hamilton-Brown, can get his team to gel.
Such thoughts seemed a long way away in the morning session, in which all of 35 runs were scored. Six of those were made by Surrey, whose hopes of a tail-end stand were scotched when Rana Naved-ul-Hasan took two wickets with the first two balls of the day. Rao Iftikhar Anjum, on his Surrey debut, fell for a golden duck.
Sussex's openers hardly found the going any easier. They made all of five runs from their first nine overs and lost Chris Nash in the process. By lunch Joe Gatting had gone too and Sussex had made 29 runs from 23 overs, Andre Nel's opening nine overs having cost nine runs.
Mike Yardy started the afternoon by striking a six and edging a four off the furious Nel and, together with Murray Goodwin, he set about wresting control away from Surrey.
Goodwin played masterfully and looked entirely at ease until he was surprisingly bowled by Gareth Batty for 74. Yardy rather suffered in comparison, taking 168 balls over his 68 before he was lbw trying to sweep Chris Schofield. Still, Luke Wright rattled along to 63 in the late afternoon sun, putting Sussex into the lead. When he was caught, he left Michael Thornely to face the new ball, initially with Andy Hodd and afterwards in the company of that most unlikely nightwatchman, Monty Panesar. And it was Monty who survived, Thornely falling in the final over.