Warwickshire's sensational 31-run victory over Surrey at The Oval in 2002 has been voted the Greatest Ever Bears Championship Match by the Bears fans.
Michael Powell’s side pulled off an incredible fightback against star-studded Surrey to record the first ever championship win by the Bears after following on.
Trailing by 182 on first innings, Warwickshire dug in, chiefly through Powell and Jim Troughton, to reach 350 second time round before bowling the home side out for 137 (Shaun Pollock four for 44, Dougie Brown two for 26, Neil Carter two for 37).
“Polly was just world-class and his two wickets in two balls right at the start of their second innings set it all up,” recalled Powell. “Mark Ramprakash had batted forever in the first innings but Polly got him first ball and suddenly it was game on. They went into a bit of freefall, then put on a partnership but then wickets started falling again.
“When Neil Smith’s first ball trapped Jimmy Ormond lbw, that was it! We all went crazy. It was an amazing turnaround and certainly the best first-class match I ever played in.”
Michael Powell
The Bears fans have voted it the Greatest Ever Bears Championship Match, narrowly ahead of last year’s amazing Dominic Sibley-inspired victory over Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
