When Surrey - who stand on the brink of recording their second win of the season - were defending the title last year they occasionally had to rely on bad weather. The Oval outfit were well on their way to losing at Ilford and the games at Leicester and Canterbury might also have finished in defeat had it not been for lost time.

The reigning champions Yorkshire find themselves requiring similar intervention from the heavens in this match. With two days to go they need 370 runs to make the visitors bat again, but will have to make them without their openers who both went last night for nought. Unless the home side can perform the sort of heroics seen on this ground in 1981, surely nothing less than a day’s rain will deny Surrey.

By way of contrast the visitors moved into the lead without conceding. Mark Butcher and Ian Ward added another 46 runs to the overnight total before Ward edged Chris Silverwood on to his middle and off stumps. He was closely followed by Butcher, who chased a wide one from Steve Kirby.

Alec Stewart should have joined them in the dressing room, but the former England wicketkeeper - former for how long, one wonders - survived a chance, on two, to third slip off the bowling of Ryan Sidebottom.

From that point onwards the Tykes were never in the game as Stewart, in partnership with Mark Ramprakash, put on 137 for Surrey’s third wicket at more than a run a minute. Both batsmen achieved their half-centuries in the same Silverwood over, which went for a total of nineteen runs.

Ramprakash, looking for this second championship hundred against Yorkshire in as many innings, was eventually caught down the leg-side in the 75th over. But Alec Stewart pushed on for another 21 overs and was within touching distance of his third century against the Tykes when he drove Gary Fellows hard to point. His second ninety in the space of a week took 159 balls, lasted 201 minutes and included 15 crisply struck boundaries.

Alistair Brown was uncharacteristically subdued. Not so Nadeem Shahid, who batted positively either side of tea before falling to a slip catch. Alex Tudor was leg before to Kirby’s slower ball and Martin Bicknell was deceived by one that kept low. But Azhar Mahmood and Ian Salisbury put on 53 for ninth wicket in just over half an hour as Yorkshire’s attack wearied.

The home side were left to face two uncomfortable overs before close. Matthew Wood - who caught the eye last season with 1,060 runs at 48.18 - nibbled at an outswinger to collect the first pair of his career and Scott Richardson was bowled by Tudor.

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