RAMPRAKASH'S 80TH HUNDRED PUTS SURREY IN CHARGE by Marcus Hook
Leicestershire v Surrey 320-4.

Yesterday, by the time bad light brought the opening day's proceedings to a slightly premature close, the eightieth hundred of Mark Ramprakash's distinguished first-class career, plus patient half-centuries from Mark Butcher and Jonathan Batty, had put Surrey, at 320 for four, very much in contention against Leicestershire.

Ramprakash, who made 113 off 215 balls - his fifth three-figure score against the Foxes - may be a forgotten man as far as the England selectors are concerned, but he proved once again that there is still plenty left in the tank should anyone doubt he has the stamina to become the 24th, and quite possibly last batsman in cricket history to make a hundred first-class hundreds.

After winning the toss and electing to bat on a customarily slow and low Grace Road pitch, the visitors lost Scott Newman, caught at gully off the bowling of David Masters as early as the sixth over. Masters, who was arguably the pick of the hosts' attack yesterday, opened his account with a spell of 7-5-8-1 and went on to concede just 33 runs in twenty-two overs.

But following Newman's departure Leicestershire were kept at bay by a combination of Ramprakash's imperiousness and Batty's careful shot selection. The pair added 75 in thirty overs before the latter had his defences breached by one that the fast-emerging Stuart Broad got to nip back off fractionally short of a length.

The arrival at the crease of his skipper, saw Ramprakash take full command as Butcher continued to ease himself into the routine of seven-days-a-week county cricket. Compared with the jaunty figure that took the Australians for an unbeaten 173 at Headingley five years ago, Butcher looked out of sorts, if fiercely determined. Long before he crawled to his first half-century of the new season, Ramprakash had brought his up in 121 deliveries with a straight six off Claude Henderson.

Since moving to Surrey in 2001, Ramprakash's conversion rate in terms of turning half-centuries into hundreds has been better than 50 per cent. So, after being put down at second slip on 31 off the bowling of Broad, the hosts had to steel themselves for a lengthy occupation. The former Middlesex man needed a further 82 balls to move into three figures. By the time he was trapped leg before he had batted for nearly five hours for his 113 and shared a third-wicket stand worth 162 in 47 overs.

Butcher, who batted with unwavering discipline, needed 129 balls to reach fifty, and another single took his first-class run tally to 15,000. The first over with the new ball saw Alistair Brown take Broad for three boundaries, all of them somewhat fortuitously, although he gave a reminder of his mammoth innings against Leicestershire at Oakham School in 2000, when he drove Masters through square leg in the very next over.

After Brown was caught behind, aiming a loose drive at Broad, Rikki Clarke compiled an encouraging 19 not out, which included two sweetly-timed fours in three balls from the same bowler - the first through mid-wicket, to bring up the 300 and the second straight up the ground and into the picket fence in front of the development at the Bennett End.

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