HAM, egg and chips represented the daily special in the Hammond Bar yesterday, and there was something equally old-fashioned and unspectacular about the cricket to accompany this feast. Gloucestershire were happy simply to grind out runs, accept whatever luck came their way and make the Surrey bowlers toil for wickets.

Appropriately enough the fifth and final batting point came from an edge to the unprotected third man boundary, but substance was more important than style for the home side and, while the day will fade quickly from most memories, it will be seen as pivotal should Gloucestershire go on to record a first championship win of the season.

On a slow pitch showing no sign of deterioration they secured a lead of 108 on first innings through successive batsmen playing around the anchor sunk deep by Phil Weston, the century-maker. Matt Windows struck 11 boundaries in his 58 while Mark Alleyne, the coach, put on 88 with Weston after Martin Bicknell claimed two wickets with Surrey then 48 ahead.

Bicknell’s workload grew with Rikki Clarke restricted to a couple of overs by a nagging leg injury, while Azhar Mahmood was handicapped by a sore back. England’s one-day squad for the NatWest Series is announced on Wednesday and Rod Marsh, a selector present, cannot have been encouraged by Clarke’s limited role. Marsh was merely one ex-Test player of repute seen around the dressing rooms. Dilip Doshi watched nervously as his son, Nayan, bowled 18 overs of left-arm spin for 20 runs. Like his father, who made 33 Test appearances from 1979-83, young Doshi, a club player with Ealing, approached from an acute angle to bowl with enough subtlety on his debut to keep the batsmen honest.

Nobody saw fit to take him on and Weston in particular stood becalmed, spending 52 balls in the nineties. He batted for 404 minutes in all before Tim Murtagh beat a tired, attempted drive and knocked back the off stump. Murtagh deserved his brace of late wickets for perseverance.

In the field Surrey were mixed at best, uninspired at worst. Astounded, hands-on-hips responses to unheard appeals quickly began to grate. The low, left-handed slip-catch by Ally Brown to remove Chris Taylor was superb but Mahmood and Doshi both dropped easier chances, and they suffered another blow late on when Scott Newman drove uppishly to gully for Weston to hold the catch.