Having taken on the playground bully once and come off slightly the better, Sussex did not want to try it on again. Instead, they settled for a tame draw that, for all the competitiveness shown in the first seven sessions of this match, ultimately did little to improve the conservative image of the County Championship.

Chris Adams opened up by flicking Martin Bicknell to the backward square leg boundary. It suggested the Sussex captain had seen some of the criticism levelled at him in the morning papers and he would be out to prove a point. Alas, it was not to be as the Martlets mustered just 32 runs in the first fifteen overs.

When they lost Adams, on the heels of Goodwin, it looked for a moment as though they had played into Surrey’s hands. At that stage the home side were only 182 ahead of their illustrious opponents. Murray Goodwin, hampered by a dislocated finger, went to a brilliant overhead catch by Ian Ward at mid-wicket. Eight overs later, just after pulling and cover driving Bicknell for two fours, Chris Adams was adjudged leg before to give Saqlain Mushtaq a second success.

But with chances being few and far between and Sussex showing no real sense of urgency – other than when Ambrose occasionally used his feet – it became increasingly evident that a result, if there was going to be one, would have to be contrived.

The first over after lunch saw Robin Martin-Jenkins pulling and cutting Ian Salisbury for four. Six overs later the 200 was posted when his attempted sweep hit the helmet tucked in behind Batty to bring five byes. However, with his fifth-wicket pair taking 31 overs over their 120-run partnership it was clear Adams had concluded that the better part of valour is discretion.

When Martin-Jenkins was bowled around his legs by Salisbury with 47 overs to go, Sussex’s lead was 304. But given a good pitch and the length of Surrey’s tail, six and a half runs an over was still a bit on the generous side. How different things might have been had 37 overs not been lost to bad light on Friday.

The seasiders pressed ahead, therefore, and while Tim Ambrose inched his way to an unbeaten 76, Matthew Prior feasted on the Surrey spinners switching to seam and Adam Hollioake lobbing five attempted leg-breaks, whereupon the 21-year-old reached a 49-ball half-century and Sussex declared to leave the visitors needing 377 in a minimum of 36 overs to win.

Ambrose and Prior were greeted afterwards on the outfield by their team-mates as Sussex County Cricket Club seized the opportunity to present both of them with their county caps.

After tea Surrey reached 114 for the loss of Ian Ward, which was largely meaningless in the circumstances. That said, Paul Hutchison bowled venomously, James Kirtley ran in almost as hard and Mark Davis enjoyed his first wicket of the match – when Ward was adjudged leg before in the nineteenth over.

At the other end Jonathan Batty outlined the case for him to now be regarded as Surrey’s first-choice wicketkeeper-batsman by striking twelve boundaries – the majority of which glided through the offside – in an 83-ball unbeaten 65.

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