County Championship D1, Chelmsford, day one: Surrey 337-8 v Essex
Martin Bicknell hit the highest first-class score of his long and successful career as a loyal servant of Surrey as the visitors staged a fine recovery having been 51-5.
Bicknell ended the day unbeaten on 117. It was only the second century he had made in more than 250 appearances for his county.
Graham Napier had a fine day for Essex with the ball, taking 4-73, but they were ultimately found wanting as Ronnie Irani broke down after just nine overs.
Azhar Mahmood (77) and Graham Thorpe (52) had begun the recovery with a dashing 111-run partnership for the sixth wicket.
Ian Salisbury helped Bicknell add 90 for the eighth wicket with a contribution of 30, while Saqlain Mushtaq (25 not out) was equally untroubled towards the end.
It was a blessed relief for Essex fans when the rain fell to curtail proceedings on a day when everything had looked so rosy for them an hour into play.
Essex: D D J Robinson, W I Jefferson, A P Grayson, A Flower, A Habib, R C Irani (Capt), J S Foster (Wkt), J M Dakin, G R Napier, J D Middlebrook, S A Brant.
Surrey: I J Ward, J N Batty (Wkt), M R Ramprakash, G P Thorpe, A D Brown, A J Hollioake (Capt), J Ormond, Azhar Mahmood, M P Bicknell, I D K Salisbury, Saqlain Mushtaq.
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