Surrey will be generally pleased with their day’s work yesterday - particularly their spinners, Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury, who produced their best figures of the season as Kent amassed 374 in rapid time after winning the toss.

When Andrew Symonds and James Hockley were running amok a total in excess of 450 did not seem implausible. The fourth wicket pair added 130 in just 24 overs. But then the hop county collapsed, losing seven wickets for 89 runs starting with the demise of Hockley, who was stumped moments after lifting Rikki Clarke over mid-wicket for successive sixes.

The centrepiece of Kent’s score was a commanding 118 off 110 balls by Andrew Symonds, who struck seventeen boundaries during his 170-minute stay including a hundred in the session between lunch and tea. The Aussie’s century was reached in just 94 balls. In addition to a welter of cuts and cover drives it featured two sixes, one over cover point off the first ball of James Ormond’s third spell and another off Clarke to bring up the hundred partnership.

It was a compliment to Symonds that it looked a different game after Saqlain Mushtaq had induced him to sweep at a full-length ball which also turned. The last sixteen overs of Kent’s innings saw only 45 runs as the Surrey spinners applied something of a stranglehold.

Ian Salisbury, whose last ten overs produced four wickets for 27, beat the outside edge on a number of occasions and was easily the pick of Surrey’s attack. After tempting James Hockley down the wicket, the leg-spinner had Paul Nixon pulling to mid-on and Mark Ealham edging behind before Min Patel’s leg stump was flattened by one that went the other way.

The day had begun with David Fulton leading an assault on James Ormond, who conceded 34 runs in his first spell of four overs. The openers cut the former Grace Road favourite through backward point a number of times before Fulton unfurled an immaculate square drive.

Robert Key, who played second fiddle in the pair’s fifth three-figure opening stand of the season, was gifted a couple of lives - on 18, when he was dropped at gully by Salisbury and four overs later when Brown parried a top-edged cut at first slip. On both occasions the unlucky bowler was Rikki Clarke.

In the thirtieth over, with 121 on the board, Saqlain eventually had David Fulton caught at mid-on for an attractive 62 in 84 balls. Key went in the Pakistani’s next over, lbw playing back to even things up going into the interval. But after Ed Smith was run out by a direct throw from Clarke at cover point, Andrew Symonds and James Hockley - who was making his first championship appearance of the season - gave the visitors plenty to ponder.

In the end the only dampeners as far as Surrey were concerned were the loss of Ian Ward, caught behind during an impressive five-over spell just before the close from Amjad Khan, plus a finger injury to Adam Hollioake. The Surrey skipper was off the field for much of the day after sustaining a blow on his left hand whilst fielding at short leg. On the advice of physio Neil Walker, Hollioake went for a precautionary x-ray, which revealed a chipped bone. Fortunately, however, it should not prevent him from batting today.

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