Trent Bridge seems to have undergone a makeover, of late. Once regarded as a seam-bowler’s paradise, the signing of Indian spin bowler Ravichandran Ashwin has changed all that.

On the same strip that hosted two matches in the ICC World Cup recently, Nottinghamshire’s trio of slow bowlers - led by the mercurial Ashwin - dismantled the Surrey batting line-up on the first day of their Specsavers County Championship meeting.

The 32-year old international, with 11 wickets from his first two outings for his new county, claimed figures of six for 69 as the defending county champions were bowled out for 240.

Liam Patterson-White, who claimed five wickets of his own during an eventful debut at Taunton earlier in the week, bagged three more and Samit Patel made his own mark by dismissing Scott Borthwick before tea.

Notts, bottom of the table and without a win in any of their last 16 championship matches, reached the close on 20 for the loss of Ben Slater.

On a dry, used surface, the home side were clearly hoping to bat first but after losing the toss they had the fillip of taking an early wicket before Surrey recovered to reach lunch on 104 for two.

Ashwin was into the attack as early as the eighth over and needed only four balls to add to his haul, trapping Ryan Patel lbw for just a single.

After 40 minutes of play Rory Burns swept Ashwin behind square for the first boundary of the match. A repeat attempt proved to be the left-hander’s undoing, as umpire David Millns raised his finger for the second time.

Dean Elgar cut Stuart Broad for four to bring up his 50 from 82 balls with six fours. The South African looked in imperious form but was left helpless by an outstanding delivery from Ashwin that turned sharply and clipped off a bail.

Elgar’s dismissal for 59 ended a stand of 81 with Jamie Smith, who followed for 42.

The right-hander, 19 yesterday, was hugely unfortunate as his timely clip was sensationally caught at short leg by the sharp reflexes of Slater.

Ashwin’s fourth wicket of the day was followed by Patterson-White’s first. The 20-year old, in his 12th over, snaffled up a regulation caught and bowled to send back Will Jacks for 14.

Borthwick fell for 29 in the final over of the afternoon, opening a door for the home attack to march through after the break.

The second new ball was only nine deliveries old when Surrey were reduced to 224 for seven, as Jordan Clark drove Ashwin to mid-off. Patterson-White pinned Rikki Clarke for the fifth leg before of the innings, then bowled Morne Morkel, with a delivery that turned sharply.

Gareth Batty looked to hit out optimistically but presented Jake Libby with a simple catch at cover to give Ashwin his sixth wicket.

Notts bowled their overs so quickly - with 67.2 of them delivered by the spinners - that they had an over rate of +12 by the end of the innings.

In the tricky 30 minutes that remained, they lost the out-of-form Slater, who popped up a catch to short leg off Morkel.

Liam Patterson-White (who took 3-62): "As a team we’ve had a very positive day. It’s almost the same as at Taunton, with all 10 wickets falling to spin. We knew it was going to turn but we didn’t quite expect it to be as much as that, so we’re delighted to bowl them all out."

Asked if there was a weight of expectation on him after taking five wickets in the last match: "More personal expectation today. When I started my spell I felt a little bit more under pressure, like I had to perform. I spoke to Ravi (Ashwin) and he said that I’d earnt the right to bowl, so be relaxed, tie up an end and the wickets will come. Eventually he broke through, getting a first wicket in his 12th over, followed by two more. Everyone said I’d deserved it, I felt personally that I hadn’t but sometimes it goes your way and today it did again."

Dean Edgar (Surrey, 59): "It was a good day. I think we would have liked to get to 250 for the extra batting point but we’ve got the runs on the board. As we could see, the nature of cricket here was quite slow today and we’ve now got about five spinners who are going to put their hands up for a bowl tomorrow and try and bowl Notts out. I’m glad we’ve got the runs and hopefully we can have a lead going into when we bat for a second time."

TEA REPORT

At the tea interval, Surrey have reached 193 for six.

The visitors, who were 104 for two at lunch, lost their two set batsmen soon after the resumption.

Dean Elgar cut Stuart Broad for four to bring up his 50 from 82 balls with six fours. The South African looked in imperious form but was then left helpless by an outstanding delivery from Ravi Ashwin that turned sharply and clipped off a bail.

Elgar’s dismissal for 59 ended a stand of 81 with Jamie Smith, who followed for 42.

The right-hander, 19 yesterday, was hugely unfortunate as his timely clip was sensationally caught at short leg by the sharp reflexes of Ben Slater.

Ashwin’s fourth wicket of the day was followed by Liam Patterson-White’s first. The 20-year old, in his 12th over, snaffled up a regulation caught and bowled to send back Will Jacks for 14.

Samit Patel, the third spinner to be used, quickly got into the act, removing Scott Borthwick for 29, to another leg before decision, in the final over of the session.

LUNCH REPORT

Bottom-of-the-table and without a win in any of their last 16 championship matches, Notts made four changes for their Specsavers County Championship fixture against Surrey at Trent Bridge.

On a used surface, the home side were clearly hoping to bat first but after losing the toss they had the fillip of taking an early wicket before Surrey recovered to reach lunch on 104 for two.

Ravi Ashwin, with 11 wickets from his two previous appearances for the county, took both of the wickets that fell.

The Indian spinner was into the attack as early as the eighth over and needed only four balls to add to his haul, trapping Ryan Patel lbw for just a single.

After 40 minutes of play Rory Burns (22) swept Ashwin behind square for the first boundary of the match. A repeat attempt proved to be the left-handers undoing, as umpire Millns raised his finger for the second time.

Dean Elgar and Jamie Smith have so far added an unbroken 59 together for the third wicket.

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