Each of the first five Surrey batsmen made fifties at Grace Road yesterday, but whereas the first three were out soon after reaching their half-centuries, Graham Thorpe and Rikki Clarke forged ahead on a slow Grace Road pitch, which gave little assistance to the bowlers on the opening day.

Thorpe and Clarke shared in a fourth-wicket stand of 169 in 36 overs. Rikki Clarke, who ended the day with an unbeaten ninety off 118 balls, caught the eye with some forceful strokeplay, whilst Thorpe, compact as ever, simply latched on to anything off line for an unruffled 87 in 133 deliveries.

Surrey won the toss and decided to bat with their side showing two changes from the eleven that beat Nottinghamshire by an innings at Whitgift. One was enforced with Martin Bicknell making his first Test match appearance in ten years, but on such a docile-looking pitch the right-arm seam of Tim Murtagh was preferred to the extra batsman.

Consequently, Alistair Brown was asked to stand down for the fourth time in this season’s County Championship; the fervour of his 89 in Wednesday’s day-nighter not standing up to a recent record in the longer form of the game of just 40 runs in his last three innings.

In the hour and three quarters prior to lunch the Surrey openers put on 88 by dealing mainly in boundaries. Ian Ward played as if he was still not out from the day before, which in a sense he was, cutting Phillip DeFreitas for two fours in the first over and hitting Charlie Dagnall imperiously straight down the ground in the tenth.

On this occasion, however, the dominant opening partner was Jonathan Batty who took his score to 48 at the break with a succession of shots on the off-side, a trend that was only bucked when he pulled Vasbert Drakes through square leg for his fifth boundary, which came in the 16th over.

Having just reached his fifty in 103 deliveries, Batty gave his wicket away in the fifth over after lunch when he cut DeFreitas straight to Darren Maddy at backward point. But Mark Ramprakash, who, before yesterday, averaged 92.75 in eleven matches against Leicestershire, wasted no time revealing his intentions. He straight drove Jeremy Snape for two sixes in as many overs before slog-sweeping Dagnall for a third.

He then lost Ian Ward, whose half-century took 116 balls, when the former England left-hander thrust out a pad in the first over of Maddy’s second spell. But while Thorpe was stuck on nought for six overs, Ramprakash continued to dominate the bowling, reaching his fifty off just 62 balls.

It took a good catch to prize the former Middlesex man from the crease. Luke Wright, who was only on the field for one over during the middle session while Philip DeFreitas underwent running repairs on an injured toe, claimed the leading edge at mid-on to give Darren Maddy a second victim with the ball. In his condition, would DeFreitas have caught it? Mark Ramprakash would almost certainly have felt a bit aggrieved.

After being 206 for three at tea, the hundred partnership for Surrey’s third wicket arrived as soon as the thirteenth over after the break. Rikki Clarke quickly caught up and passed Graham Thorpe, but the pair celebrated their fifties in consecutive overs.

Having twice struck Snape for two boundaries in one over, including a straight six which landed in the elevated Fernie Suite, Clarke took just 55 balls over his. Thorpe’s was more measured, but was brought up in 77 deliveries with a rasping extra cover driven four off the bowling of Charlie Dagnall.

Their alliance was only spoiled when Graham Thorpe was caught down the legside off an innocuous delivery from Jeremy Snape three overs before the close. However, Rikki Clarke, who made 95 in the corresponding fixture last year, appears to be on the brink of his second championship century of the summer.

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