Yesterday the AMP Oval witnessed one of the most remarkable matches in the history of limited-overs cricket. Records fell left, right and centre and, as if that wasn’t sufficient, the game reached a climax few would have predicted after Surrey posted the highest ever one-day total. Their 438 for five was dominated by a world record innings of 268 by Alistair Brown. Made off only 160 balls and including 12 sixes and thirty fours, Brown’s knock only just proved enough to see his side scrape home by nine runs.

On the day his name was omitted from the England squad for the forthcoming NatWest series, Alistair Brown wrote a fitting postscript to the career statistics that appear at the back of his Benefit brochure. His record collection already included the highest individual score in the Sunday League – 203 against Hampshire at Guildford in 1997 – but now he can add the best in the entire history of the limited-overs game to his remarkable CV, which also boasts 9,893 first-class runs at an average of 43.77.

Occupying all but five balls of the Surrey innings, Brown’s achievement seems destined to remain at the top of the pile for some time to come. The previous record, Graham Pollock’s 222 for Eastern Province against Border at East London, stood for over 27 years. Incredibly, prior to yesterday’s Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy fourth round tie the 32-year-old’s best in the competition was the 72 he made against the Netherlands six years ago, when these matches used to be 60 overs per side rather than fifty.

The right-hander was quick to pounce on anything slightly off line or short of a length. Half of his maximums came of the bowling of Darren Thomas, including four from the pull stroke. In partnership with Ian Ward – who made 97 off 95 balls – Brown contributed to the record for Surrey for any wicket in the one-day arena, firstly by passing his side’s competition best (180 by Graham Thorpe and David Ward against Lancashire at the Oval in 1994) in the 26th over and then the county’s highest stand in all limited-overs contests (218 by Alan Butcher and Geoff Howarth, in the John Player League, against Gloucestershire at the Oval in 1976) two overs later.

With a shorter boundary than normal on the gasholder side, there were a total of 115 boundaries in the match. During Surrey’s innings – which bettered Somerset’s record 413 for four against Devon at Torquay in 1990 – the ball disappeared out of the ground so often that umpires Peter Willey and Ian Gould got through a whole box of spares.

But three-and-a-half hours of leather chasing did nothing to dent Glamorgan’s resolve. Their acting captain Robert Croft set the tone by opening the visitors’ response with five consecutive fours off Martin Bicknell and Ian Thomas clipped the first ball of the next over, bowled by Ed Giddins, off his legs to the furthest part of the ground for six.

The hundred was posted in only the ninth over, after which Saqlain Mushtaq and Jimmy Ormond began to the rein the Welshmen in. Thomas was run out attempting a mis-field to mid-on, but Croft pressed ahead, reaching his hundred off the last ball of the 14th over; off 24 deliveries less than it had taken Brown.

It required the guile of Hollioake to remove his counterpart for 119. Croft spooned the Surrey captain’s slower ball to cover point. Matthew Maynard perished six overs later, when he pulled Giddins to deep square leg, but then David Hemp and Adrian Dale took up the fight. After just 45 minutes, the pair had added almost a hundred runs.

When Adam Hollioake returned to capture the wickets of Dale and Powell in the space of three balls Glamorgan’s prospects looked bleak, but Hemp, who played superbly well for his 88-ball 102, and Darren Thomas (71 not out in 41 deliveries) never gave up. The tail continued to wag even after David Hemp’s departure, when 103 was still needed with ten overs to go. Had it not been for Hollioake’s policy of rotating the bowlers, not to mention his own five for 77, Glamorgan could just as easily have spoilt Surrey’s party. In the end the Welshmen will probably rue the concession of twenty wides to the home side’s six.

But the day will be only remembered for Alistair Brown, who brought up his century in 80 balls, the next hundred in 54 balls and took a further 19 deliveries going to his 250, which he marked with a six off Andrew Davies.

After the game a weary Brown told reporters: “Before I went out I had butterflies, it is a good sign when I’ve got butterflies. I’m probably in the best form of my life. My feet and my weight are right. I had two good scores up at Northampton and down here against Kent, so I was very confident – it’s 268 more than I got against Scotland.”

As for Glamorgan’s response, he added: “I thought they got off to a good start but I didn’t think they’d keep it up. I didn’t think they would get anywhere near our total. Every time the game looked dead they came back and when Darren Thomas hit a six over my head in the last over I began to get worried.”

In terms of the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy, Surrey now meet Sussex at Hove in the quarter-finals on Wednesday 17th July.

For Marcus Hook’s notes of Surrey’s record-breaking innings: CLICK HERE

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