WARD LAYS THE FOUNDATIONS by Marcus Hook
Middlesex 370 v Surrey 274-3.

After dismissing Middlesex for 370 – thus far the North Londoners’ highest total of the season – Surrey finished the second day at Lord’s in a menacing position, less than a hundred adrift of their hosts with seven first innings wickets intact. The county champions had Ian Ward’s third championship century of the summer to thank for laying the foundations for what promises to be a sizeable total. Mark Ramprakash is still there, unbeaten on 68, with every intention you can be sure of completing the job today.

Ward, who survived half-chance when, on six, he edged Ashley Noffke just wide of Ben Hutton at third slip, batted for three and a half hours and with supreme judgement for his second successive championship hundred.

He and Mark Butcher enjoyed an 89-run opening stand despite lively opening spells from both Noffke and Chad Keegan. Butcher took two fours off the first three deliveries from Simon Cook. But, in the 21st over, the England number three’s mixed, yet entertaining innings of 44 came to an end when he hooked Abdul Razzaq to Sven Koenig; who ran in from deep backward square leg to take a well judged catch.

Ian Ward was then joined by Ramprakash, who had the slight imprecision of Andy Strauss’s throw from square leg to thank for not making a duck on his championship return to NW8. The left-hander brought up the fifty stand in the 35th over with an exquisite shot through the covers off the bowling of Ashley Noffke. Mark Ramprakash’s contribution to the partnership at that stage amounted to just ten. Batting with visible determination, the former Middlesex man was at the crease for over an hour before he hit his first boundary.

Ward, who pulled Razzaq to go past fifty in 74 deliveries, hooked Simon Cook into the Tavern Stand for six before reaching his century off 155 balls shortly before tea; again with a pull off the Pakistani all-rounder, who generally erred on the short side.

Straddling the interval, Paul Weekes checked Surrey’s progress with five consecutive maidens. Anyone recently converted to the game by the Twenty20 Cup would have wondered if they were watching the same sport when just thirty came off the 22 overs immediately following tea.

Weekes was responsible for ending the 104-run second wicket partnership by having Ian Ward caught at first slip off the first ball of the 61st over.

Mark Ramprakash, who was taunted by certain sections of the modestly-sized crowd, managed just one run off 38 balls after the break before finally reaching his first championship half-century against his former county in 143 deliveries.

Graham Thorpe, who struck seven boundaries, also got into his stride after a change of ball and was bearing down on his own fifty when he edged Abdul Razzaq low to David Nash in the day’s penultimate over.

Earlier, Jimmy Ormond claimed the three remaining Middlesex wickets, the initial two with the first and last balls of his 24th over. Having survived a chance that fell between keeper and slip in the previous over, Noffke played on after adding 21 to his overnight score. Cook was lbw without scoring. Keegan could then have been caught and bowled, but not long afterwards saw his middle stump rocked back to leave Nash unbeaten on 36 and give Ormond the more respectable-looking figures of three for 103.

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