Benning Gives Pedestrian Surrey the Hurry-up

Surrey made the highest score by a visiting championship side since cricket came to these parts in 2001, beating the 500 scored by Sussex that year. But size, clearly, is far from everything in cricket because this was not one of the better advertisements for the four-day game. Surrey, needing to win to put wind in the sails of their escape from relegation, showed little interest in moving the game on, their tail-enders blocking doggedly as the total inched up.

Their approach was all the more baffling because of the likelihood of time being lost to bad light - they came off with 12 overs to go, just as they had done on the first day, and did not return. Even Mark Ramprakash, whose innings on Thursday had been sublime, was not at his most fluent, though he did add 64 to his overnight 124.

The chairman of selectors, David Graveney, keen to keep tabs on emerging young players, turned up in the morning to watch Ramprakash and Mark Butcher continue their big stand. Butcher, 35, reached his second century of the season when he cut the hard-working James Bruce for two but was lbw to the next delivery as he attempted to work it to leg.

Ramprakash suffered the embarrassment of being bowled by Daren Powell despite the fact that the West Indian, at times, bowled worse than he had the day before. The 37-year-old lost his off stump to one that moved away in the third over after lunch. After that James Benning, with a flurry of boundaries, some of which he actually intended, and Jimmy Ormond, with an old-fashioned tail-ender's innings, were the only Surrey batsmen to show purpose.

When Hampshire batted, Michael Carberry was lbw third ball, playing across the line, and Michael Brown, playing back to Chris Schofield, got the same verdict.