OJ PITCHER learnt first-hand last weekend that his and Chris Foggo's development as cricketers will not be placed above the ambition of Pyrford to gain promotion to the Surrey Championship.

With the rain clouds closing in and Pyrford chasing a modest target of 121 set by Sanderstead, Roland Butcher, the player-coach who, as a former England batsman, has done it all, was promoted to number five to accelerate the scoring-rate. Butcher obliged with a rapid 26 not out, as Pyrford maintained their 100 percent record and remained level at the top of the Surrey County League first division with Kingstonian, the favourites.

Kingstonian won by nine wickets against Churt while Godalming, in third place, kept the front two in sight with a five-wicket win over Old Grammarians, Pyrford's opponents tomorrow, in the most competitive match featuring the promotion candidates.

In what would mark the beginning of a relatively inactive weekend, neither Pitcher nor Foggo, demoted recently to number seven, got a bat while Pitcher's medium-pace was overlooked in deference to a young spinner from Scotland. "The team is shaping up really well," Pitcher, who remains encouragingly upbeat despite a reduced role, said. "Everyone is chipping in when needed." The 19-year-old would require such an appreciation of the team ethos for the Evening Standard match with BWIA last Sunday, when he did not feature with ball or bat - a first over the course of a weekend for the St. David's and Bermuda all-rounder.

Against a Spencer first XI that was minus only its overseas professional, BWIA restricted the Surrey Championship first division outfit to 165-8 from 50 overs, with Foggo claiming four stumpings, and passed the score with only three wickets down.

In a case of mistaken identity, Foggo got the nod at number five and finished on 11 not out from seven balls faced. "They still haven't figured out which one is which," Foggo joked. "They kept calling OJ 'Chris' so when the captain shouted out, 'Chris pad up' off I went, but he meant OJ." Foggo, 20, has impressed enough in a limited stint as wicketkeeper for BWIA that he may be on a pre-season tour to St. Lucia with them next February. "This is one of the strongest teams I've played in," Foggo, who has displaced Brian Lara's nephew behind the stumps, said. "He bats at number three and is a left-hander as well."

Farther north, in the Warwickshire Cricket League first division, bad turned to worse for Ryan Steede and Noel Gibbons as Atherstone Town crashed to their third successive defeat, and perhaps most conclusive of the season.

Dorridge gave as perfect an example as possible of the standard required to gain promotion to the Birmingham and District League with a nine-wicket victory that propelled them into second place, only five points behind Olton & West Warwicks.

After losing the toss, Atherstone struggled to set the tempo against a quality spin attack yet were 106 for three with 13 overs remaining and must have fancied posting a defensible total. But a middle-order collapse ensued, which saw the last seven wickets fall for only 25 runs in nine overs. Gibbons made 10 at number five, and Steede, at number six, made 11.

What followed was a brutal assault on the small Dorridge ground as the rain approached. Steede claimed the only wicket to fall, but at what cost! Nine overs, one maiden, one for 65 was the gory reading, as Dorridge crossed the score in 17.3 overs to send Atherstone into a fortnight's break looking toward the wrong end of the table.

They remain joint fifth on 71 points but have played two more matches than Berkswell and are a distant 41 points off the pace set at the top.

Back in the Surrey Championship third division, Southern Railway returned to winning ways with a six-wicket win away to Limpsfield. Chasing 126, the author matched his season's high of 26 - getting there - but the star of the piece was Ray Tudor who smashed 60 not out.

Ray, the elder brother of Alex Tudor who received the match award in England's third Test victory over Sri Lanka on Sunday, has been in magnificent form for us this season. His five half-centuries already have more than atoned for a paucity of runs at the top of the order - that is, until I get my derriere into gear!