Mark Ramprakash is boring, isn’t he? Each year, he seems guaranteed to make a thousand first-class runs between April and September. Yesterday, on the day his former county subsided in less than two days at Lord’s, Ramprakash duly went past that mark for the fifteenth time in an English summer. Of those still playing, only Graeme Hick – with eighteen 1,000-run seasons – outstrips him. However, with four more matches to go this term, Hick only has 681; so the Surrey number three would appear to have closed the gap slightly.

His unbeaten 185 against Gloucestershire – the 77th hundred of the 35-year-old’s career – has so far occupied 310 balls and included 20 fours, not to mention two straight sixes off Ian Fisher’s slow left-arm spin. More significantly, had it not been for the former Middlesex man, Surrey would not now be eyeing a handy first innings lead in this crucial bottom of the table encounter.

After opening his 2005 account with a century in each of the Ovalites’ first three fixtures, Ramprakash might have expected to notch up his one-thousandth run earlier than 17 August, however he missed two championship matches with a broken thumb don’t forget. Also, since returning from injury, he has perished on 97 on three occasions – against Glamorgan at the Oval and, more recently, against Kent at Guildford and Sussex at Hove.

Ramprakash came to the crease at 40 for two, after nightwatchman Nayan Doshi had been caught at fourth slip. He then immediately lost his captain, Mark Butcher, who made just six in his first championship innings of the year. Ramprakash was the beneficiary of a couple of chances yesterday. With 18 to his name, he was put down at gully off Mark Hardinges, and on 113, despite umpire Peter Willey raising his finger, he had another let off when the Gloucestershire wicketkeeper Steve Adshed admitted that he could not be sure whether he had taken the catch cleanly.

Thankfully, from Surrey’s point of view, Graham Thorpe, Jonathan Batty and Alistair Brown kept Ramprakash company for the next five hours. Thorpe perished when he clipped William Rudge to square leg. Batty, who survived chances on 13 and 16, was caught at second slip just before tea; shortly after posting his sixth championship half-century of the season. Brown gave Sri Lanka’s Malinga Bandara a return catch and two balls later Azhar Mahmood padded up to a googly. But, Tim Murtagh, playing with no inhibitions whatsoever, ensured that, for once, it was a good day for the Ovalites.

Last night’s Chairman's Evening at the Brit Oval passed off without incident. Surrey CCC Chairman David Stewart, the Chairman of Cricket Micky Stewart and Club captain Mark Butcher fielded the Members' questions, giving a frank assessment of the state of Surrey cricket.

Micky Stewart, the former Surrey and England manager, said that one of the priorities was getting a Surrey feeling back into the dressing room. He revealed that in recent weeks the county had sought to sign England A seamer Sajid Mahmood on loan from Lancashire, but the move had fallen through.

In addition, the club had considered approaching Pakistan's Mohammad Sami and West Indies' Corey Collymore with a view to filling the overseas player slot made vacant by Harbhajan Singh's international commitments. Instead they have opted for the off-spin of Saqlain Mushtaq, who, despite being described as only 80 per cent fit, is regarded a known quantity and somebody who, according to Butcher, sees Surrey as an extension of his own family. Butcher also described the remaining four County Championship matches as "not desperate, but vital."

The panel could not provide any pointers as to who might succeed Steve Rixon as coach. But David Stewart said that resources would be made available to bring in new players this winter. The Surrey Chairman also stressed that the building of the new OCS Stand, which he described as "a totally self-financed operation", would in no way divert money away from the cricket budget.

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