Measured Ballance celebrates his Ashes selection

It is not that the respective forces of Surrey and Yorkshire lack intensity; on the contrary, there was no lack of energy or effort yesterday.

Rather, it is that this is the proverbial dead game, with both teams having nothing to play for but pride.

Surrey’s relegation was confirmed prior to this match, despite them having had such luminaries as Ricky Ponting, Graeme Smith, Kevin Pietersen and Hashim Amla at various stages this summer, while Yorkshire’s hopes of winning the title in their 150th year ended last week when they sealed second place to champions Durham.

Yet for the 5,000 or so who ventured here yesterday, lured by the last cricket of summer and some unseasonably warm sunshine, following a morning in south London so foggy that one side of the ground was indistinguishable from the other, the action was nothing less than arresting from start to finish.

A worn pitch helped, as did the assistance it gave to the spinners, who are usually surplus to requirements in England until at least the third and fourth days.

For that reason, it was Yorkshire who had more reason to be satisfied by an opening day which they ended on 316-6 as Gary Ballance celebrated his Ashes call-up with an unbeaten 72, an innings of typical responsibility and measured strokeplay.

However, the score did not tell the full story as Surrey bowled very well at times and particularly in the first two sessions after losing the toss; indeed, they could have bowled a lot worse and taken all 10 wickets – a tribute to the Yorkshire batsmen, who may already have created a match-winning platform.

So dense had been the fog there seemed a real danger that the contest would begin late due to bad light.

However, the murk cleared almost on cue at the appointed start time of 10.30am and Adam Lyth immediately played a shot of clarity, clipping the first ball of the match from Tim Linley off his pads to the fine-leg boundary in front of the OCS stand.

Lyth’s opening partner was Alex Lees, the 20-year-old left-hander recalled to the side as Yorkshire opted to play seven batsmen, with Adil Rashid and Kane Williamson assuming spin bowling duties.

Lees had been named in the England Performance Programme 24 hours earlier but was unable to celebrate with a big score, falling in the sixth over when he edged pace bowler Matt Dunn to third slip, where Gary Wilson parried the ball into the gloves of wicketkeeper Steven Davies.

Dunn, an athletic 21-year-old playing only his seventh first-class game, looks a prospect and although Phil Jaques took full advantage of the odd wayward delivery, Dunn extracted pace and bounce from the brown-looking surface, along with some nice shape back into the left-handed batsmen.

Dunn it was who claimed the second wicket with the score on 58 half-an-hour before lunch, Lyth strangled down the leg-side as he practically played the ball off the full face of the bat into the wicketkeeper’s gloves.

It brought together Jaques and Williamson, who frustrated Surrey either side of the interval with a mixture of skill and good fortune.

Dunn, in particular, was all over Williamson after the break, the New Zealander beaten on several occasions.

However, Williamson showed a fine technique too, although he did not have the fluency of Jaques, who is thought to be playing his final match for Yorkshire. The Australian, who has served the club well in two spells, is not expected to return next summer and one sensed his determination to sign off with a big one.

However, after going to fifty from 96 deliveries with eight fours, some of them as sweet as any he has caressed in his distinguished career, Jaques fell 12 runs short of the century he craved when he clipped the left-arm spin of Zafar Ansari to Gareth Batty at mid-wicket.

It was a tame shot and Jaques looked to the heavens as if to say, “Oh no, what have I done.”

Six overs earlier, Williamson had preceded him to the pavilion, bowled by a fine ball from Ansari that turned and left him.

Williamson, whom Yorkshire have re-signed as an overseas player for next year, scored 23 in one hour and 47 minutes; his stand with Jaques was worth 88 in 32 overs of grit and graft.

How Dunn did not take a wicket in a fine spell after lunch was a mystery, and it was fellow pace bowler Tom Jewell who claimed Surrey’s fifth wicket shortly after tea when Jonny Bairstow was lbw following a stand of 58 in 14 overs with Ballance.

Ballance, who passed 1,000 Championship runs during the course of his innings, received good support from Andrew Gale, with whom he added 69 in 18 overs before Gale was superbly caught left-handed by Vikram Solanki at second slip off Jewell.

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