Morning Session

The day began with a well-observed two minutes silence for the two all-rounders who died in seperate accidents as the new season approached, Ben Hollioake and Umer Rashid.

Surrey won the toss and elected to bat on a cloudy morning. Surrey's openers crept to 8/0 from the first five overs (including a four leg byes off Ward's pads) due to a mixture of fine balls and ones that neither batsman could reach before Kirtley bowling from the Vauxhall end presented Ward with a series of poor, but reachable leg side deliveries in the sixth over which he clipped neatly away - the next over, from Lewry was taken for two fours and Surrey looked set to break free.

Kirtley had other ideas though. He'd found his line and dismissed Ward lbw with a ball that cut bank in the eighth to leave Surrey on 26 for one, another brief assault on Lewry ensued before another Kirtley over and another ball that cut back - this time Butcher left the ball and it removed his off stump, 33 for 2.

This brought Ramprakash and Stewart together and they steadied the ship during a period of light drizzle and dark cloud. Surrey made good progress, though while Stewart glittered Hutchison gave Ramprakash a hard time, forcing two edges in the nineteenth, but both ran to the boundary between second slip and gully. Stewart's response was a delicate late cut to the boundary in the next over followed by a clubbed pull, again for four.

Ramprakash then reached the boundary in more conventional style with a lofted on drive that almost cleared the rope before squeezing another boundary between slips and gully. The runs flowed for the rest of the morning as Ramps survived and Stewart thrived - seemingly finding the rope at will to take the home side to 134 for 2 at lunch, with the sky now ominously clear from a Sussex perspective.

Afternoon Session

Surrey continued to make steady progress, but Ramprakash was still not fully at ease as the cloud returned. When the score had advanced to 176 Hutchinson returned from the Vauxhall end, and having failed to take Ramprakash's wicket in the morning session with numerous fine balls, he got the wicket he deserved with a poor delivery outside leg stump - Ramprakash flicked and edged to the keeper.

The fall of this third wicket brought this year's Surrey beneficiary Ali Brown to the crease, and he raced away with a fusillade of cleanly struck boundaries, easily outscoring the sublime Stewart in a lightning-fast 50 partnership, making the most of a reprieve when he was dropped early on by wicketkeeper Prior from the bowling of Hutchison. Stewart was not so lucky though. With the score on 229 and his total on 99, the first false shot of his innings - a push away from his body to Hutchison - saw Prior make no mistake and Surrey's fourth wicket fell.

However for Sussex things now went from bad to worse, as this brought Nadeem Shahid to the crease. He proceeded to accumulate his runs even faster than Brown. Both of these players had poor seasons in 2001, but neither looks in danger of a repeat performance, Brown brought up his fifty with a colossal off-driven six over the Vauxhall end boundary from the bowling of Hutchison.

At tea the total stood on an imposing 306 for four, with four century makers still to come out and bat.

Evening Session

After tea the pair continued in fine style, although with less abandon than they had earlier, pushing swiftly on towards their centuries against a roster of seven bowlers who, though they bent their backs and never let their heads fall, rarely threatened either. Brown was first to his hundred. From the last ball of an over from South African born off spinner Mark Davis from the Pavilion end and with his score on 94, he set himself well and launched a perfectly respectable delivery almost flat into the wall at the base of the Bedser stand to bring up his century to his delight and that of the home fans.

The even more aggressive Shahid followed not long afterwards, finally catching up with Brown in the 120s despite giving him a 40-run head start. At the close they had pressed on to 461, their partnership a formidable combination of excellence and brutality, including delicate cuts and sweeps with stroked drives and even a bizarre pull for four through mid-off!

Sussex toiled long and hard in the field, with only the dropping of Brown and a few more minor mistakes despite the battering they received, but once the clouds departed Surrey were able to make hay as the sun shone. Sussex bowled more accurately later in the day than they had when conditions favoured them as the home side made the most of Mark Butcher's decision to bat first.

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