JONATHAN BATTY was left stranded eight runs short of a richly deserved century yesterday, but the strength of character that he had shown in 5½ hours at the crease may have been of much greater significance in his attempt to gain respect as captain of Surrey.

The chuntering about his lack of credentials for leading a side containing so many international cricketers when he is not one himself was growing ever louder as they headed towards a resounding defeat by Warwickshire after failing to win any of their first seven matches.

Batty’s response was to demonstrate the kind of commitment that he expects from the players around him by getting his head down for 108 overs, curtailing Warwickshire’s first-innings lead to 244 and inspiring the kind of recovery that Surrey need to kick-start their season.

It was led by Mark Butcher, who scored a rousing century in his first championship match since he made 118 at Edgbaston last July. Butcher may have had his own agenda since David Graveney and Rodney Marsh, two of the England selectors, were watching and he had begun his season with two ducks, but it was exactly what Batty wanted.

Surrey had begun the day 356 runs behind with only three wickets left but Ian Salisbury helped Batty to put on 84 for the eighth wicket and Saqlain Mushtaq, hobbling from the knee injury that could keep him out for six weeks, hung on gamely for seven overs before the captain ran out of partners.

He had shown what could be achieved and Butcher and Scott Newman were quick to follow his lead when Surrey followed on. They put on 124 before Newman dollied a catch to Nick Knight, but Mark Ramprakash kept up the momentum until he drove Ashley Giles to mid-off. Butcher played beautifully once he had located the middle of the bat, reaching his century off 160 balls with 15 fours.