IT HAS not taken long for Surrey to discover that the climb back to the first division is not going to be quite as straightforward as they might have imagined. They could not prevent Derbyshire from piling up a first-innings total of 492, the highest score they have made against their illustrious opponents, then found themselves struggling to match it against bowling that was more consistent than their own had been.

There was some relief when Mark Ramprakash and Rikki Clarke lifted the gloom that had descended on a cold and cheerless Oval with a rousing fourth-wicket partnership of 87, but when Ramprakash was caught behind off Mo Sheikh for 71 it was left to Clarke to justify his elevation to the vice-captaincy.

He finished unbeaten on 55 but he still had plenty to prove after the way he had bowled, being plundered for 94 in 17 wayward overs that were in stark contrast to the efforts of Azhar Mahmood, the Pakistan all-rounder, who did his best to make up for the absence of Martin Bicknell and Mohammed Akram, both suffering from groin strains, with five for 69. It is a sobering thought that while Clarke is again interesting the England selectors, Azhar, who later scored an unbeaten 31, cannot get near the Pakistan side these days.

Azhar soon picked up his fifth wicket yesterday but Derbyshire still added 100 to their overnight 392 for six thanks to Ant Botha, the South Africa all-rounder, who completed only the third century of his career, and Sheikh, who finished unbeaten on 51.

Scott Newman gave Surrey a decent start with 66, but when he was caught at first slip off Steffan Jones (Newman was not very keen to accept Steve Stubbings’s word that the ball had carried) and Mark Butcher edged Jones to second slip, Surrey were running into trouble.