There is a thin smear of houses and office blocks around one side of the Rock which

There is a thin smear of houses and office blocks around one side of the Rock, which is home to 27,000 people - barely enough to fill an average Premiership football stadium. The runner-up, ridden by 3lb-claimer Henry Oliver, appeared to be travelling much the better for most of the home straight. He showed all his skill and strength to persuade Magic Dancer, his only ride of the afternoon, to hold off the persistent challenge of Boundtohonour. "I'm still a bit sore, but I'll be riding on Friday and Saturday, no problem," McCoy declared later.RICHARD EDMONDSONNap: Lord Khalice(Uttoxeter 12.50)NB: Garolsa(Uttoxeter 1.50). We might be all right and I am still cautiously optimistic."Warwick are also due to race on Saturday and the course manager, Christian Leech, commented: "There is a frost coming soon, but they don't know whether it will be on Friday or Saturday night and I hope it's the latter."n Tony McCoy, on the sidelines with a badly bruised right arm since a fall on Monday, was back to form in brilliant fashion at Exeter yesterday.

We'll be protecting the crossings and the landing and take-off sides of the fences.''At Uttoxeter, where racing is due today and tomorrow, David McAllister, the clerk of the course, said: "There is a danger of frost on Friday night, but the weatherman told me this morning that it's not written in stone. "The course is perfectly raceable today but there is a forecast of rain and then it is going to get colder,'' he said yesterday afternoon. "They say there is going to be a hard frost on Friday night, but hopefully we'll be able to cope with that; one night's frost is often not enough to cause a problem. Ascot's clerk of the course, Nick Cheyne, is hopeful that the meeting will go ahead. TRACKS ARE braced for a hard frost which could threaten tomorrow's racing programme Frost is forecast around the country for tonight. It was a combination that had not been in operation since the Under-15 side.Atherton hit the ball as sweetly as he has ever done.

A brace of cover drives were suggestive of Wally Hammond in his pomp and, in truth, he tried to get out long before he finally chipped Peterson to Ntini at cover for 51.This may be the place where the "Slaughter of the Sheep" takes place, but in this form Atherton is not yet ready to be seen as mutton dressed as lamb.One day; England won tossENGLAND*N Hussain b Greed 25M A Atherton c Ntini b Peterson 51D L Maddy c Ntini b Maketa 133C J Adams b Peterson 0A Flintoff st Mitchell b Peterson 5G M Hamilton c de Wett b Peterson 19G P Swann c Grace b Maketa 28C M W Read run out 1A J Tudor not out 16C E W Silverwood not out 2Extras (b2 lb7 w16 nb4) 29Total (for 8, 50 overs) 309Fall: 1-54 2-119 3-119 4-131 5-194 6-239 7-260 8-302.Did not bat: P C R Tufnell.Bowling: Ntini 10-1-71-0; Greed 9-0-71-1; Abrahams 10-0-36-0; Maketa 9-0-66-2; Peterson 10-0-43-4; De Wett 2-0-13-0.COMBINED E PROVINCE/BORDER XIM R Benfield c and b Tufnell 58G V Grace b Silverwood 14B de Wett lbw b Silverwood 0*S C Pope c Hussain b Swann 23L L Gamiet c Tudor b Swann 20I Mitchell c Maddy b Swann 4M Greed lbw b Tufnell 2S Abrahams c Atherton b Hussain 11R J Peterson c Adams b Tufnell 7M Maketa run out 0M Ntini not out 0Extras (b7 lb5 w4 nb1) 17Total (36.4 overs) 156Fall: 1-28 2-28 3-88 4-115 5-123 6-126 7-147 8-150 9-150.Bowling: Silverwood 6-0-24-2; Hamilton 5-1-17-0; Adams 2-0-12-0; Tudor 3-0-17-0; Swann 10-0-38-3; Tufnell 9.4-0-34-3; Hussain 1-0-2-1.Umpires: L King and N Majiza.. Benfield went on to make a polished 58 before chipping a leading edge back to Tufnell.Even Hussain took a wicket after Shafiek Abrahams slogged him high to Atherton on the deep midwicket boundary. If any further evidence were needed that all wicketkeepers are potty, the sight of Read standing back to the pace bowlers in a helmet and grille was it.The headgear did not help his keeping, and he dropped Mark Benfield off Adams when he was on 19. Robin Peterson, a 20-year old engineering student at the University of Port Elizabeth, took 4 for 43 with his left- arm spin, while Phil Tufnell and Graeme Swann snapped up three wickets apiece.The rough outfield, while uneven enough for the outfielders to contemplate wearing boxes, did not warrant the wearing of a helmet, as Chris Read did while keeping wicket. They cheered and roared everything the local lad Makhaya Ntini did, which, given his figures of 0 for 71 with the ball, was not very much.England teams of yore may have played in stranger surrounds, but the sight of two molehills at square leg and three ash-covered youths - a traditional get-up for those about to undergo their initiation rites - peering over the fence lent a surreal air to the proceedings.With the pitch appearing flat for seam but treacherous for spin, it was the tweakers who ruled the roost.

Set in the ANC heartland of Ciskei, the match was watched by an excitable and highly parochial crowd of around 3,000, most of them shading themselves under hand-held umbrellas. Against moderate opponents, Adams was clean bowled first ball. Butcher will get a chance to have his say in the four- day game at the weekend, but Maddy's century, scored in front of his father Bill and uncle Jack, will have substantially improved his chances of a Test recall.Modern Test tours tend to stick to the beaten path and this sideshow in Alice came as a welcome change. I feel I'm coming into good form and I want to give the management something to think about over the coming days."Opening is my natural position and I'd love to bat there, but I'd be happy to play in the middle-order if the chance came along. I've just got to keep scoring runs and put pressure on the guys in the Test team."England are concerned with the sketchy form of Mark Butcher and Chris Adams, and with good cause. Coming in at No 3 after Nasser Hussain and Michael Atherton had got England off to a storming start, the 25-year old Maddy showed a liking for the hosts' attack. Although reprieved on 19 when the wicket-keeper, Ian Mitchell, dropped a skied pull, and again on 54, he hit the ball with a power and precision that belied his recent inactivity. "They made me work hard early on," Maddy said "I had a bit of luck and the bumpy outfield helped You've got to take your chances when they come along.