Day 4: Glos 286 and 320 v Surrey 423 and 186 - 8. Surrey win by 2 wickets.
Oh boys. The chance was there, and having fought so hard it seems even worse that we only walk away with 5 points. With Middlesex beating Derby a gap has now opened between the top two promotion places and the the chasing pack.
Gloucestershire really just needed one batsman to bat all the way through to lunch on the final morning. Had this happened then we would would have posted a more challenging total to Surrey, somewhere around 250 would have done the trick for their shot-a-ball dashers.
Sadly, despite having done brilliantly well to claw their way back into the game having been 117 for 5 in the first innings, Glos couldn't quite find the runs at the crucial time in the fourth innings. This is about the only time this season, in the county championship at least, that we have failed to produce at the crucial time. Considering that we have now entered August, we can forgive the lads.
All in all it was a brilliant match of very high quality, exciting cricket played by a load of young English players. However, the game was won by the wonderful first innings contribution of Mark Ramprakash, whose 141 was pretty much the difference between the sides. We won't mention who dropped him.......
Gloucestershire now roll on to Derby next week and will need to bounce back with a win if they are to keep their promotion hopes alive. This has been a hugely promising season so far for the Glos youngsters. It would be shame if the performances tailed off in the final month of the season.
Day 3 video highlights
Day 4 video highlights
A pair of long-suffering Gloucestershire County Cricket club fans attempt to put the world (and the Glos administration) to rights. Themes include: Is one England ODI a year a good model for financial success and ground redevelopments, whether a batting average of 35 in Division 2 of the County Championship is acceptable and why Glos continue to be rubbish.
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