Surrey Doomed to Drop Despite the Undefeated Ramprakash

Surrey were heading for their second relegation in four seasons and with little more than a whimper as they slipped to 171 for seven on the third day at The Oval, replying to Hampshire's 480 for eight declared.

The victory Surrey need to have even a chance of survival is out of the question and, not for the first time, only Mark Ramprakash hinted at any permanence. He was still there on 55 at the close, but they need another 160 today to avoid the follow-on and are also in danger of losing two points for a slow over-rate that was not helped by Shoaib Akhtar's ball-a-minute amblings.

At 78 for one, Surrey were at least making a fight of it. But Scott Newman flashed James Tomlinson to cover for 58 and two balls later Jon Batty was run out by Michael Carberry's direct hit. After that the Hampshire leg-spinner Imran Tahir got to work, finishing the day with three for 23 from 15 overs as an increasingly exasperated Ramprakash looked on from the other end.

The 29-year-old Tahir, playing for the 10th team - and the third county - of an itinerant career, has now taken 35 Championship wickets for Hampshire at 16 each. They are the kind of figures Surrey would have killed for.

Northamptonshire's match against Essex has drifted into a cul-de-sac, and with it their season. After the loss of yet another session to rain Essex - with a game in hand on their opponents and a match against second-placed Warwickshire to come - went studiously about the task of accumulating bonus points from a game that both sides started with an outside chance of promotion.

On a track flat enough for two of Northants quicker bowlers to develop injuries, there was little the home side could do to stop them. John Maunders and Jason Gallian put on 113 for the first wicket, a stand ended when Maunders' attempt to turn Monty Panesar to leg resulted in a bat-pad catch. Gallian followed, an attempted slog against Nicky Boje giving mid-on an easy catch, but Ravi Bopara and Mark Pettini batted through to make it 256 for two, only 48 runs behind with a day to go.

In terms of motivation, it may not have helped the home team to hear that the county are releasing Lance Klusener and Jason Brown.

Klusener has topped the county's averages with the bat coming into this match, with 1,095 Championship runs at 73, but the South African is 37 and Northants' chief executive Mark Tagg said that, as with the popular Brown, who made his debut in 1996, the county want to provide more opportunities for talent being developed by the club's academy.