LANGUISHING at the bottom of the first division totesport League table, Surrey Lions, last season’s champions, and Gloucestershire Gladiators, the 2003 runners-up, fought out a drab contest with the latter emerging victorious with 6.5 overs to spare.

The news that Brett Lee, the Australia fast bowler, may join the ranks at Surrey will be most heartening to a side that has been inflicted with injuries to five leading players. Lee, who is to undergo training shortly in Brisbane under the watchful eyes of Dennis Lillee, has expressed his desire to play for Surrey from mid- August. Middlesex have also made an offer but the bowler may opt for the South London club, whose coach, Steve Rixon, should have an influence, having coached Lee at New South Wales.

Chasing a modest 177, the Gladiators lost two early wickets but from 25 for two, Phillip Weston and Matthew Windows combined to put on 106 in 22 overs. Windows made his intentions clear from the start with an elegant drive to the extra-cover boundary off Phil Sampson and in the next over an upper-cut off Rikki Clarke went for six.

He followed that with two boundaries in one over off Greg Blewett but having hit 63 at a run a ball, including seven boundaries and two sixes, he popped a return catch to Clarke in the 28th over. Two overs later Weston, on 40, edged to first slip as Clarke recorded his best limited-overs figures of four for 50.

Earlier, on a slow, grassless wicket, Surrey faltered from a promising position of 117 for two after 26 overs, a total lack of application seeing eight wickets fall for 59 in 17 overs.

The debacle began with Graham Thorpe missing his attempted sweep to see his middle stump uprooted, while Blewett shuffled across his stumps to Mark Alleyne, who finished with four for 39.