IAN SALISBURY took two of the four remaining Northamptonshire wickets to wrap up formalities ten minutes before lunch and leave Alan Butcher, the Surrey coach, with a selection headache over the coming weeks.

Watching Surrey go 30 points clear at the top of the second division, Butcher said that had anyone at the club foreseen Salisbury and Nayan Doshi taking 68 championship wickets between them by this stage of the season, they may have thought twice about acquiring the services of Anil Kumble, the India leg spinner, who touched down at Heathrow yesterday.

“Nine months ago it was a no-brainer,” Butcher said. “But the two lads have done really well. Anyway, there is nothing in the rule book that says you can’t play three spinners in the same side and that’s what we’re planning to do at Guildford this week.”

Half-centuries from Lance Klusener and Ben Phillips and 39 not out from Charl Pietersen, the No 10, confirmed the impression that Northamptonshire could have made Surrey work a lot harder for their sixth championship win of the season.

“We were surprised they didn’t come at us at the start of the second innings when we only led by 28,” Butcher said.

Klusener clubbed ten fours before he was well caught by Azhar Mahmood at slip off the back of his bat. Phillips tickled a catch behind after reaching his fifty and Pietersen was stranded when Jason Brown slogged at Salisbury.