Butcher hogs the limelight

Mark Butcher guides the ball through the leg side for Surrey © Getty Images

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Mark Ramprakash missed out on a 100th first-class hundred as Mark Butcher stole his thunder with a 38th ton for Surrey against Yorkshire.

The Surrey captain finished on an undefeated 189 as the hosts completed the day on 396 for five in their LV County Championship Division One match at the Brit Oval.

An unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 203 between Butcher and Matt Nicholson steadied the ship after Yorkshire had snapped up three quick wickets during the afternoon.

Surrey picked up four batting points with Nicholson (103no) completing his century in the final over of the day from 119 balls with fifteen fours.

Promoting himself to opener, with Jonathan Batty dropping down the order, Butcher was quickly into his stride and showing exquisite timing, and along with fellow opener Scott Newman the pair shared an opening stand of 41 before Newman fell in the 16th over.

Looking to force off the back foot, Newman was squared up by Tim Bresnan and gave wicket-keeper Gerard Brophy a simple catch off the edge after scoring 21.

That brought Ramprakash to the wicket and he shakily steered through to the third-man boundary with his first scoring shot.

He then edged just short of Jaques Rudolph at first slip, but the former England batsman rallied and quickly moved to 26 at lunch with a couple of boundaries through the leg side.

Scott Newman was in aggressive mood

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However, with the 13th ball after the break, Ramprakash was back in the pavilion having added just a further three runs.

Surprised by the bounce from teenager Oliver Hannon-Dalby, making his first class debut, Ramprakash, played away from his body and edged to slip to give the 18-year-old his first wicket in county cricket.

The hosts soon lost Usman Afzaal and Alistair Brown in quick succession, both without scoring.

First to go was Afzaal, who looked to drive a ball that swung away but found the edge, giving Brophy another catch behind the stumps.

Brown soon followed, beaten by a full-length ball from Deon Kruis and trapped leg before on the back foot, when perhaps he should have been looking to play off the front foot, as Surrey collapsed to 121 for four, losing three wickets in 20 balls and scoring just nine runs.

But Butcher continued to dominate the Yorkshire attack and went to a deserved fifty from 98 balls with eight fours.

He shared a partnership of 72 with Batty (26) before the latter was tempted to drive a ball that moved off the seam, and Joe Sayers did well to take at slip.

Butcher went on to complete his century from 161 balls - his 38th in first-class cricket - in the 62nd over with a superb cover drive, and became the 100th Surrey player to score a century against Yorkshire.