YORKSHIRE'S six-wicket drubbing at the hands of leaders Surrey at Guildford was their sixth Championship defeat of the season and it brought from coach Wayne Clark an admission that, barring miracles, relegation was now a foregone conclusion for the title-holders.

"We need to win five of our last six matches to stand any chance of avoiding the drop but, realistically, that is unlikely to happen," said Clark.

Yorkshire's plight was made worse by two other relegation-threatened clubs, Lancashire and Warwickshire, both winning their matches, leaving the Tykes 20.5 points below second from the bottom Hampshire.

The ease with which Surrey came in at a canter on the final day was a big disappointment for Clark because earlier in the game Yorkshire had played some of their best cricket of the season and were beginning to look a much more disciplined side.

They still had an outside chance of winning when Surrey resumed on 110-3 with a further 127 required for victory but the bowling and fielding left a lot to be desired and Ian Ward and nightwatchman Ian Salisbury were soon reeling off the runs.

Ward went on to make an unbeaten 124 off 128 balls with 13 fours - his second match-winning century within a week - but Salisbury did not stand in his shadow and he punished anything loose on his way to a blistering half-century which contained ten fours and came off only 66 deliveries.

He straight drove Darren Lehmann into the sightscreen for six and had made 59 out of exactly 100 with Ward when he edged Lehmann and Richard Blakey took the catch.

By then, Surrey were almost over the winning line and their sixth success in ten matches left them odds-on favourites to steal back their crown from Yorkshire.

Although Yorkshire are down on their uppers in the Championship they still feel they can get their own back on Surrey by beating them in the semi-final showdown in the Cheltenham and Gloucester Trophy at Headingley on Wednesday.

Yorkshire's one-day form has generally been good recently and they have already created one shock by knocking out Essex in the quarter finals of the competition.

Updated: 12:48 Monday, July 29, 2002