ONE extraordinary partnership changed the course of this match. When Middlesex lost a fourth wicket in the space of 12 overs yesterday morning, Surrey must have sensed that their season was at last turning for the better. A few hours later, it was heading in a familiar direction, their bowlers found wanting by Jamie Dalrymple and Ed Joyce, who batted outstandingly to set a fifth-wicket record for Middlesex against Surrey, 298 in 70 overs.

While Joyce enhanced his rapidly growing reputation with an eleventh first-class hundred, Dalrymple scored his first in the championship for Middlesex in what is his first full season since graduating from Oxford, where two of his three centuries came in the Varsity match. Ironically, he would not have been playing here but for Michael Vaughan’s injury and Andrew Strauss’s subsequent summons to national colours.

To pass the partnership of 285 by Patsy Hendren and John Human at the Oval in 1935 is a notable achievement for this young pair. Middlesex members in the pavilion were clearly aware of the record, applauding noisily when Dalrymple forced Jimmy Ormond off the back foot for the first of four fours in one over. Ormond was the hapless bowler when Dalrymple, on 41 at the time, was dropped at second slip with the stand worth 82. As catches go, it was by no means a straightforward one, but Adam Hollioake, the culprit, got both hands to a flying edge at shoulder height.

This was the only chance that either batsman offered. While no one would suggest Dalrymple has half the elegance of Joyce, he is a no-nonsense batsman of merit who loves to hit the ball on the up on both sides of the wicket. On such a true pitch, he could do so with impunity. Bowlers, therefore, found him difficult to contain, his unbeaten 182 taking him only 234 balls. His 29 fours were hit in all directions. By a strange symmetrical quirk, his fifty arrived in 100 balls, his hundred in 150 and his 150 in 200.

Afterwards, Dalrymple reflected on how a winter of preparation free from exams had helped his game. “Last year was difficult for me with my finals,” he said, recalling the disappointment of averaging just 13 in six matches. “I just played at the bottom of the order as a spinner. Going to the Indian academy in February made a huge difference. I’ve worked hard on my balance — before I was moving too soon.”

Team-mates say that he has corrected a tendency to play round his front pad. Certainly, Dalrymple was impressively organised in defence. His footwork was decisive, his judgment unwavering and his placements superb.

Middlesex’s morning wobble was instigated by Ormond in an excellent spell of 8-3-18-3. Confounding Sven Koenig with extra bounce, he then had Ben Hutton caught at second slip with his first ball round the wicket. Paul Weekes nicked an ambitious drive and Owais Shah padded up to an off-cutter from Martin Bicknell.

Joyce, however, batted serenely from the outset, punishing the bad balls yet remaining watchful in defence. Happy to play more of an anchor role, he finally perished to a fine one-handed catch by Rikki Clarke at square leg soon after the second new ball had been taken. His 123 came off 225 balls and included 15 fours, nearly all of them dispatched with his wonderfully natural sense of timing.