GLAMORGAN will decide later today whether to follow up an allegation of ball tampering against Gloucestershire fast bowler Steve Kirby, but coach John Derrick, pictured below, is adamant they should.

Derrick and several spectators allegedly witnessed Kirby scuff the ball on the car park surface after a six by Glamorgan batsman David Hemp had landed there on Sunday, during the counties' championship clash.

Derrick immediately reported the incident to umpires John Hampshire and Nigel Cowley who will include it in their match report to Lord's, but they could take no action as they did not witness the incident.

Gloucestershire captain Chris Taylor said he had spoken to the fiery Kirby, warned by the umpires for disputing a decision on Saturday, who denied any wrongdoing.

But Derrick has sent a letter of complaint to the England and Wales Cricket Board operations manager Alan Fordham and confirmed today: "I saw the incident clearly. To me it was an obvious case of ball tampering.

"I don't want to go into specifics but I will be speaking to the Glamorgan chief executive (Mike Fatkin) today when we will decide as a county whether to follow the matter up officially, but I believe we should."

Ironically, tomorrow's county championship opponents at the Brit Oval, Surrey, are themselves involved in a ball-tampering row and face action from Lord's.

They were reported twice by the umpires for lifting the seam in their match against Nottinghamshire, though they lost by an innings and 71 runs.

Glamorgan's seven wickets defeat by Gloucestershire yesterday was their third championship loss in a row, their worst start since 1922, and leaves them rooted firmly to the bottom of Division One.

They hope to arrest the slide against Surrey, though Mark Ramprakash's under-strength side beat them by five wickets at Cardiff last month.

"There have been some pretty frank words in the dressing-room," said Croft, "and we really have to turn things around because continued losses hit team spirit.

"We haven't batted well in the first innings of any championship match (scoring just 198, 250 and 239) and we all have to do better.

"We also have to bowl better, but we have been hit by injuries to Simon Jones and Alex Wharf."

A lower back injury and a side injury respectively keep both out against Surrey with Andrew Davies and Panteg's Young England allrounder Adam Harrison added to the squad.

With bronchial pneumonia victim Matthew Maynard likely to be out for another month and with Wharf's batting ability also missing, Harrison could make his county championship debut alongside brother David.

l Warwickshire have suspended wicketkeeper Keith Piper after he tested positive for a recreational drug during the match against Glamorgan at Edgbaston last month. He will appear before the England and Wales Cricket Board disciplinary panel later this week.

Glamorgan squad: Elliott, Ian Thomas, Hemp, Powell, Hughes, Wallace, Croft, Daren Thomas, David Harrison, Cosker, Adam Harrison, Davies.