Unique:

It's eight years since Mark Ramprakash controversially ended his fourteen year career with Middlessex. At thirty-nine it seemed that Test cricket had turned its back on Ramprakash and he would retire a supremely talented batsman that never quite delivered on the greatest stage.

Ramprakash is the only batsman still playing that has scored a hundred centuries – Graeme Hick retired last season with 136 centuries, but only six of them were made in Test Cricket. Hick is Ramprakash's most recent predecessor in the 100-hundreds club. Ramprakash doesn't give his wicket away cheaply and is accustomed to the Oval pitch – a flat batting track well suited to his talents. England can do far worse than recall Ramprakash for a deserved farewell before a crowd that has learned to appreciate and even love him.

“I hope he plays in the Test next week,” said Stewart Walters the fourth captain that Surrey has fielded this year.1 “It's great hearing the crowd chant his name.” Ramprakash is ready to answer England's call if required and unlike the other contenders his form has been exceptional all season. England enters the final Test on the back of a morale-destroying thrashing at Headingley. The manner of the defeat was worrying as batsmen struggled for form and confidence.

Ravi Bopara and Ian Bell both failed today, scoring one apiece. Alistair Cook made 4, the same as Eoin Morgan yesterday and Owais Shah only got 8, his fifth consecutive failure in the championship. Jonathan Trott made the squad for Headingley, but missed out on his debut in the crushing defeat there. He only made 15 today. Robert Key did far better yesterday, but failed twice against Middlesex last week. Bell and Trott soon made up for the disappointment with second innings centuries and Cook and Bopara scored half-centuries as well, but it was too little too late for Bopara.

Meanwhile, Ramprakash is a run machine especially at the Oval. His last innings there was his 107th First Class century. He scored 274 on the benign pitch that yielded 1224 runs in four days for just nine wickets. Good batsmen and Ramprakash certainly is that have to be prised out on that pitch, but that pitch is prepared to the requirements of Surrey's Director of Cricket, Chris Adams. It is flat and batting-friendly, but the Test one is prepared to the competitive requirements of the England and Wales Cricket Board and will give both team a fair chance to deliver a positive result.

The Sideshow:

With the flurry of interest in Ramprakash and whether he would play his final Test Match on his terms, it was easy to forget that there was a match to be played. Surrey had yet to win a Pro40 match and the elements tried hard to make a difficult task harder, ably assisted by the controversial Duckworth-Lewis method. “It definitely favours the team batting first,” said Walters; and he was right.

The Glamorgan Dragons failed to make the most of the Oval pitch. 192 from 37 overs is a poor effort on that pitch. Mark Wallace top-scored with assistance from William Bragg: skipper Jamie Dalrymple and Jim Allenby, but it never looked like being a total that could be defended there. South Africa scored more in a Twenty20 match against Scotland during the recent World Cup, but Glamorgan was gifted a chance by the weather, which put Surrey on the back foot immediately. They were given 28 overs to score 164 runs. It was a massive disadvantage and that was subsequently reduced too.

Michael Brown and Walters went after the bowling. Despite the unfairness of the task, they had little choice. They rushed to a fifty stand before yet more play was lost to rain and the target was revised to their disadvantage again. Brown threw his wicket away attempting a reverse-sweep. He missed and was plumb leg-before-wicket for 35 from 26 balls, the only victim of the veteran Robert Croft – one of the few Welshmen to have played for England.

The Star Attraction:

Ramprakash watchers were not disappointed. As usual he started slowly, rotating the strike to Walters, which was the right thing to do, as the captain had his eye in and was in-form. “I'm in a rich vein of form,” said Walters. “I hope I don't wake up from the dream.” He has worked very hard on his game and believes that the captaincy has helped his batting. He has also learned from top batsmen like Ramprakash and the recently retired Mark Butcher, whose persistent injuries finally forced him out of the game.

A towering lofted drive over Dean Cosker's head for six was followed by a sweep for four, but then it was over as Cosker held onto Ramprakash's drive from his own bowling. He was out for 24 from as many balls, but he had still made more runs in this innings than Bopara: Cook, Bell and Trott put together had achieved in their first innings knocks.

A further delay reduced the runs required to 153 in total from 24 overs, so Surrey needed thirty-nine fewer runs than Glamorgan scored from thirteen overs less. Walters thinks that Glamorgan had an advantage from it, but those are the rules and he doesn't know what would be a fairer way. He just worked hard on his game to get the opportunities he's had and that has paid off with the captaincy and a rich vein of form.

Walters' innings always kept Surrey ahead of the run rate, despite the vagaries of the Duckworth-Lewis method. It was well-paced and crucial for Surrey's chances of achieving their first win in the competition. “We can be champions of the division,” Walters said. “There are still five matches left [in the county championship]. We've had some good crowds here.” Walters refused to allow the weather to interfere with his plans. His unbeaten 67 was the match-wining effort. It included seven fours and a six. They won by eights wickets with twenty balls to spare.

Ramprakash pointed out that after losing his England place he matured as a batsman. He is a better player now than he was then. He believes that he has been ignored previously because of his age rather than form. He may have a point.. It would have been a fitting tribute to a man who may be the last member of the 100-hundreds club to have been allowed to end his Test career on his terms and done so on merit.