A career best 117 not out from Martin Bicknell completed Surrey’s recovery from the depths of 51 for five to end the first day at Chelmsford in a healthy position against an attack that soon appeared to lose heart after the revelry of the first hour and twenty minutes’ play.

With Essex winning the toss and electing to field, Scott Brant had Ian Ward lbw to the second ball of the match, which kept horrendously low, for 0. It was the left-hander’s first duck in the championship for nearly a year.

Three overs later Jonathan Batty, fending, was caught behind off Jon Dakin. It was not until the eighth over that the first boundary was struck, off the bat of Thorpe. Graham Napier’s opening over – the fourteenth – produced the wickets of Mark Ramprakash and Alistair Brown.

Ramprakash playing away from his body was caught behind and Brown was trapped lbw for his fifth single-figure score out of six in first-class cricket this summer.

It was not long – twenty minutes to be precise – before they were joined in the dressing room by Adam Hollioake, who became the third batsman to perish leg before, after taking two fours off the bowling of Dakin.

Graham Thorpe, meanwhile, was gradually coming to terms with the conditions and when he eventually found a reliable partner in Azhar Mahmood, who survived a confident appeal for caught behind first ball, the visitors approached lunch in slightly better fettle.

With Azhar scoring at nearly a run a ball, the fifty stand for Surrey’s sixth wicket took almost no time at all.

Following the break Thorpe and Mahmood reached their fifties. But after 157 minutes of dogged resistance Graham Thorpe was out to one that Napier got to leave the left-hander off the pitch.

In just over an hour and a half the sixth wicket alliance had harvested a valuable 111 for Surrey.

Four overs later Azhar Mahmood played on to Brant. But when Ronnie Irani broke down after bowling just nine overs, the home side allowed a lack of discipline to affect the remainder of their performance in the field.

Martin Bicknell, attacking, and Ian Salisbury, carrying on where he left off against Leicestershire, added 90 in twenty-two overs for the eighth wicket.

Bicknell’s half-century, which was posted in the 62nd over, took 71 balls. He reached his ton 77 deliveries later, moments after clubbing James Middlebrook over long-on for a six.

Salisbury, who dealt with Paul Grayson similarly to record his only maximum, made thirty before failing to make his ground after being sent back by his non-striking partner.

Martin Bicknell was then joined by Saqlain Mushtaq, who hit Jon Dakin straight and out of the ground prior to rain clipping fourteen overs off the day’s play.

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