THERE was no sight of Harry Lime at Lord’s yesterday, he was probably hanging out in a darkened doorway somewhere. There is certainly little chance of finding him on an English cricket field these days.

The third man is a position that appears to no longer exist in club or county cricket. He is posted only very reluctantly, yet would prevent a fantastic amount of runs in the first 20 overs of most innings.

Middlesex had their boots on the throat of the Surrey batsman at 18 for one after 15 overs of high-quality seam bowling by Irfan Pathan and Alan Richardson. But gradually the hold was loosened as four after four skimmed past third slip and gully for four and Surrey scored 53 off the next nine overs. Half of those came off the bat of Richard Clinton.

Given that the Middlesex bowlers did not bowl a short ball and were not looking to on a pitch that was increasingly lively on a length, there was no reason to have a long leg instead of a third man. Long leg is a defensive position for bad bowling. Third man keeps the pressure on when batsmen are edging, opening the face, or late on the shot against the new ball. On a bouncier pitch, third man becomes a catching position. Adam Gilchrist has said he could not believe how often England bowled to him without a third man during the last Ashes series.

By the time Middlesex posted a man there it was too late and Clinton was beginning to drive the ball in front of square. But he probably should not have survived given that Scott Styris dropped a regulation chance at second slip off Richardson when he was 21. Surrey still had problems and Mark Ramprakash was struck on the right thumb by Chris Wright, the tall 19-year-old, seamer, who made an impressive first appearance of the season. Ramprakash was forced to retire in the next over.

After some brief respite against Bangladesh, Graham Thorpe continued his miserable county form, when he was given out caught behind two overs later. However, replays showed he did not actually touch the ball. Jonathan Batty came in and drove confidently off the back and front foot and took Surrey to tea unscathed. They had quite a deficit to work off as Middlesex’s lower order had shone all morning. Pathan drove his way to 68, his highest first-class score , and Ben Scott punished anything short, but ran out of partners as Martin Bicknell came back at the Nursery End to claim Surrey’s third bowling point with nine balls to spare.

But by the time Surrey took the offer of bad light with 18 overs left, Ramprakash was back on the balcony with his hand strapped and his pads on, and Surrey were in a healthier position.

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