THEY had come to see Simon Jones bowling at Graham Thorpe but, as so often, the day was all about Mark Ramprakash. When Ramprakash uppercut Jones for four in the early evening sunshine he became only the second man still playing first-class cricket to pass 25,000 runs, scored at an average of nearly 50.

Watchful, neat and balanced as ever, Ramprakash scored an unbeaten 72 and was well on the way to his second consecutive championship hundred of the season after scoring 152 against Sussex. He could be the difference between the sides, because there was enough irregular bounce to suggest that lesser batsmen will struggle. Ninety overs have been lost to rain, but the forecast is good for the next two days.

Robert Croft, the Glamorgan captain, will still be cursing after dropping a hard caught and bowled chance off Ramprakash in the day’s penultimate over. But Alex Wharf had found Jon Batty’s gloves with a short ball that followed him the over before to bring Glamorgan back into the game. Batty and Ramprakash put on 63, the highest partnership of the game.

Thorpe did not even face Jones, who looked relaxed and menacing, as Ramprakash took three overs of the strike in his second spell from the Cathedral Road End and scorched two drives through the covers to win their battle convincingly. Unfortunately Thorpe, who had eked out five runs off 29 balls as he sought some time in the middle, dragged a wide long hop from Darren Thomas on to his off stump with an attempted pull.