At Guilford yesterday, a dogged 103 by Phil Jaques thwarted Surrey's hopes of scoring a victory that would give them near parity with Kent, their closest rivals, who are now 14 points ahead in seventh place in Division One of championship. Below them, Worcestershire remain rooted to the bottom of the table, but will take some heart from Jaques's battling qualities. The Aussie left-hander remained steadfast for nearly 5¾ hours as the Brown Caps' attack, which relied solely on Harbhajan Singh's box of tricks, eventually wilted on an unresponsive surface.

The Indian off-spinner took all five of the wickets to fall, finishing with figures of 34-12-64-5, before taking his sweater and leaving the field half an hour before the teams shook hands on a draw.

With more than a day's play having been lost to the weather, the only prospect of a positive result hinged on the home side making early inroads on the final morning. But needing a further 106 to make Surrey bat again, Moore and Jaques safely negotiated the first hour. In the ninth over Stephen Moore brought up his half-century in 62 deliveries with a crisp drive past mid-off off Nicholson for four. The 27-year-old then flicked Neil Saker's first ball to the mid-wicket boundary.

At the other end, Jaques led a restrained existence, his only show of aggression being when he swept Harbhajan through square leg for four. But later in the same over, the Indian off-spinner, who operated unchanged from the Railway End for the entire opening session, had Moore chipping low to mid-on.

Three overs later Vikram Solanki cover drove Saker for four, though not before surviving a sharp chance to Mark Ramprakash at shortish mid-on. Surrey also felt they should have had the Worcestershire skipper caught behind for 11, but Harbhajan got his man three balls later thanks to the reflexes of Rikki Clarke at slip, who held on at the third attempt.

A third wicket partnership of 112 in 36 overs between Jaques and Smith put paid to any lingering hopes the Brown Caps had of securing victory.

Just before lunch Jaques passed fifty for only the third time this season. It had taken him 119 balls and contained just three fours. The innings defeat was averted in the second over after the break. As the Surrey attack began to tire, Ben Smith went to his half-century, which he celebrated by angling Saker to the third man boundary for two successive fours.

Smith, who batted for two hours to record his highest first-class score of the season of 66 off 116 balls was eventually caught by Mark Butcher, who had to dive full length to his right from silly mid-off to take the bat-pad chance.

After a brief delay, when Graeme Hick emerged from the Pavilion with two left-handed batting gloves, the visitors continued to make the game safe. Not even the departure of Hick, who fell victim to some additional bounce four overs later, could divert them from their objective.

At tea Worcestershire were 89 ahead with six wickets remaining. After the break the hosts bizarrely elected to employ Clarke's off-spin rather than continue with Singh. Five overs later, Jaques reached his second hundred of the season - both of which have come against Surrey - in 218 deliveries. However, before he could add to his score the Australian was given out caught behind.

Steve Davies and Gareth Batty held on for a further fourteen overs to share in an unbeaten sixth wicket partnership of 46, while the home side were left to reflect on the fact that even if the match had been uninterrupted they are giving the impression of being a two-man team.

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