Since you asked "if anyone knows of a better work round"...

Using a helper column with the digits padded with zeros is
the only way I know to do what you want.
An alternative is my Special Sort Excel add-in that can sort
by the last set of numbers.

either...
18 3:46 AR 7
19 4:24 AR 8
20 5:05 AR 9
21 2:49 BG 1
23 3:08 BG 2
24 3:28 BG 3
22 5:41 BG 10

or...
21 2:49 BG 1
23 3:08 BG 2
24 3:28 BG 3
18 3:46 AR 7
19 4:24 AR 8
20 5:05 AR 9
22 5:41 BG 10

The drawback is that is a commercial application.
You can read a review of it here...
http://www.officeletter.com/blink/specialsort.html

Jim Cone
San Francisco, USA
http://www.realezsites.com/bus/primitivesoftware



"Shorty" wrote in message...
The easiest way ive found is just to add a '0' to the lower numbers,
ie:
86 4:57 NG08
87 5:17 NG09
88 5:33 NG10
89 1:01 NR01
90 1:37 NR02
91 2:12 NR03
though i dont really want the 0 in the data its the easiest way to do
this. if anyone knows of a better work round or the real method to sort
this keep the posts comming!