Surrey encouraged by Thorpe's touch and Ward century

Surrey 348-7 v Hampshire

He has not lost his touch in the 46 days since he last held a bat in anger, that much was evident when he dabbed with perfect timing the second ball of his return to action over the rope at third man, but perhaps Graham Thorpe needs to revise his calling for a run.

The Surrey opener Ian Ward was looking as if he could bat for a fortnight. He had been at the crease for the best part of four hours when Thorpe played a ball hard into the covers and called for a run, leaving a startled Ward no chance.

The unerring throw of James Adams beat Ward by a yard and the left-hander departed, but by then he had at least scored a hundred for the second successive innings and the fifth time in the Championship this season.

The bulk of the 12th three-figure innings of his career was made in the company of Nadeem Shahid, who was, himself, within sight of a second consecutive century when he played a horrible pull shot to James Schofield and presented Shaun Udal with a simple catch at mid-on.

It was Shahid's departure that brought Thorpe to the wicket. He needed time out in the middle after so little match practice. The worst of his personal problems would appear to be behind him now, though, and he has rediscovered his appetite for the game.

If the runs did not exactly flow off Thorpe's bat in the 54 minutes he spent at the crease, considering he only faced 45 balls – not even a prolonged net session –- the experience was not altogether wasted. He was bowled by the off-spinner Udal, having hit four boundaries in his modest contribution of 19 runs, but the feeling was that he was not totally at sea.

Nor for that matter was Brown, who carried on Ward and Shahid's good work, passing fifty for the fourth time in five innings with the help of a couple of sixes, to help Surrey to the brink of a fourth batting bonus point on a well-behaved Rose Bowl pitch.