The tone of the opening day at Old Trafford was dictated by two sizeable partnerships - one worth 125 between Ian Ward and Mark Ramprakash, plus another from Surrey’s sixth wicket pair, Rikki Clarke and Jonathan Batty, which ensured the foundations laid by the two former Test batsmen did not go uncultivated.

Lancashire’s solitary spinner Gary Keedy also got the ball to turn, which could well be seen as germane as this match unfolds. Backed up by greater urgency than the home side displayed in the field, it seems hard to imagine Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury’s victims costing as much as thirty runs apiece over the next few days.

The only disappointing thing from a Surrey perspective was that three batsmen played themselves in without going on to make big totals. Batty, however, remains unbeaten on 55 and the confidence of the gloveman suggests he is set to record his highest score for nearly two years if not the best in the visitors’ first innings.

Surrey won the toss and having elected to bat took a while to get into their stride, waiting until the sixth over of the day to deliver the first runs - an involuntary edge from Michael Carberry which crept over the third man boundary.

The young left-hander gave Lancashire their first wicket on 45 minutes when he nicked a short-pitched delivery from Kyle Hogg to Lloyd at third slip, whose parry took the pace off the ball enough for Law to claim the catch at second.

Mark Ramprakash joined Ian Ward and soon took control by square and cover driving Jimmy Anderson in successive overs. At lunch the visitors were 100 for one, of which Ramprakash’s contribution was a 78-ball fifty.

Ward brought up his own half-century as well as the hundred partnership thirteen overs after the break with a four backward of square on the off side off Gary Keedy, who by this time had made the Warwick Road End his own.

Things took a turn when Mark Ramprakash, who looked set to make his first championship hundred at Old Trafford, was run out for 71 attempting to steal a second run off the arm of Kyle Hogg. Nadeem Shahid departed two deliveries later when he found the ball too full to sweep, altered his stroke and was adjudged leg before.

Had Alistair Brown then got a bottom edge on an attempted cut, it would have represented a hat-trick of wasted opportunities. But the ball soon started to find the middle of Brown’s bat, as Keedy found when he was planted over extra cover for six.

Anderson marked his first team debut with the wicket of Ian Ward, who was out for 61 fending at one that both lifted and came back at him to the keeper. The 20-year-old seamer was Lancashire’s leading-wicket taker in second eleven cricket last summer, but his promotion follows an eight-fer in Northamptonshire’s first innings at Crosby two weeks ago - six of which were clean bowled.

Before this season The Cricketer magazine declared that Lancashire’s cupboard was devoid of young talent, but in Jimmy Anderson and Kyle Hogg the Old Trafford outfit have already unveiled two impressive finds. Humble pie anyone?

Having conceded ten runs in two balls to Alistair Brown - a fortuitous top-edged cut to third man followed by a mighty straight six - Keedy was rewarded for his diligence when the Surrey number five played back and around a fuller length delivery in the 70th over.

Starting from bases of nought, Batty and Clarke then put on 102 in just over two hours. Rikki Clarke batted with a combination of tolerance and finesse while Jonathan Batty sought to be positive, as was demonstrated when he pulled a full toss from Gary Keedy over mid-wicket for a maximum.

Within sight of W.J.Abel and P.G.H.Fender’s record for the sixth wicket in this fixture, Jimmy Anderson had Clarke taken at second slip before Keedy wrapped up the day’s play by bowling Martin Bicknell through the gate.

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