MUCH more of this and Alec Stewart will have to be brought out of retirement to restore authority to a Surrey side that cannot win a match. Needing 258 to beat Gloucestershire Gladiators, they required 80 off the last ten overs with six wickets in hand. In years gone by, that would often as not have been accomplished.

Mark Ramprakash had played the innings of the afternoon. After he had gone, though, five wickets went for 19 runs, including two more through run-outs that had much to do with the athletic fielding of Chris Taylor. There was no burst of hitting at the end of the innings; instead, a rather apologetic coming and going.

Until he was bowled behind his legs by Shoaib Malik, misjudging the line as opposed to beaten by any spin, Ramprakash batted quite beautifully. A late cut here, a sweep there, allied to continuous good judgment of a run took him to 73 off 91 balls. There followed the running out of Jon Batty, a decision that needed to be referred to television replays.

So it was a question of whether Adam Hollioake could play the kind of innings that would not merely raise Surrey’s game but lift the entire club. Nine runs later he, too, was run out by Taylor’s direct throw, and in the same over Ian Salisbury was held at long off. There appeared to be little idea as to how to collect the remaining runs.

It was symptomatic of Surrey’s present lack of self-belief that they should deploy eight bowlers, including Alistair Brown, who hardly ever turns his arm over. They were not helped, of course, by injuries to Saqlain Mushtaq and Azhar Mahmood. Alex Gidman struck 70 off 89 balls for Gloucestershire, Philip Weston and Matt Windows made significant scores and, on a pitch less sluggish than usual a total of 257 for six proved quite enough.

Surrey have now played ten matches in all competitions, including one against Oxford UCCE, and have yet to win once.