A total of 54 overs were lost to the rain and the time it took to mop up afterwards yesterday, which left people wondering whether they might have already seen the height of summer. Apart from a brief session lasting 5.1 overs, Warwickshire won the first half and the home side fought back in the second thanks to a 88-run fifth wicket partnership between Adam Hollioake and Mark Ramprakash.

Ian Ward and Jonathan Batty put on 57 without loss in fourteen overs, before Shaun Pollock struck in the fifteenth, during which time it less a case of ‘Get Carter’ and more a case of get after Carter - the South African left-armer, who has the fortune of having a Scottish mother, going for the first seven boundaries. The sequence was broken when Ward played the shot of the day - a straight driven four off of Pollock, whose thirteen overs included six consecutive maidens.

Surrey then lost four wickets for two runs in the space of 23 deliveries. Batty was lbw shouldering arms to a ball that would probably have clipped the top of off stump. Ian Ward was caught at second slip off a backfoot forcing stroke. Nadeem Shahid edged a drive to Ostler in the same position off the bowling of Brown, who then accounted for his namesake, who inexplicably offered no stroke to a straight delivery.

Mark Ramprakash cut and cover drove boundaries off Melvyn Betts’s first over before allowing Adam Hollioake to put the rest of Warwickshire’s bowlers to the sword. In the 34th over the Surrey skipper pulled Dougie Brown for successive sixes, the first of which resulted in the ball being lost.

Hollioake reached his fifty in just 61 deliveries with his eleventh boundary, a dab to third man off the bowling of Neil Carter. Moments later, however, he had his off stump uprooted attempting to drive Betts down the ground. He added 47 to his score at tea, during which time Ramprakash went 32 balls without advancing his account.

Having been stuck on 25 for almost an hour, the former Middlesex man then proceeded to drive Carter for two boundaries in one over - the first through wide mid-on and the second in front of square. Ramprakash reached his half-century in 108 deliveries with the second of three swept fours in two overs off Neil Smith. He ended the day unbeaten on 57.

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