Surrey guilty of ball-tampering

County Championship D1, The Oval, day two (stumps): Surrey 217 v Nottinghamshire 580-4

Match scorecard

I spoke with the umpires at the close of play on Friday and they informed me of the penalty this morning Surrey captain Mark Ramprakash speaks on day two

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Surrey were penalised five runs for ball-tampering against Nottinghamshire on a day which ended with the visitors in charge on 580-4, a lead of 363 runs.

Stephen Fleming's run-a-ball unbeaten 223 and Jason Gallian's 141 were overshadowed by events on the first day which only came to light on Saturday.

Umpires Mervyn Kitchen and Nigel Llong stressed they could not point the finger at a single Surrey culprit.

Fleming put on 206 with Gallian and 176 with David Hussey, who hit a rapid 74.

The New Zealander's massive knock included 27 boundaries and five sixes, while Gallian struck 18 fours.

Just 66 overs were possible on a rainy second day, but Notts plundered 376 runs in that time - including the five added to their overnight total of 204-2.

The umpires said that after 35 overs of Nottinghamshire's reply on Friday they noticed the quarter seam had been lifted, and they warned Surrey captain Mark Ramprakash before repairing the damage.

Llong inspected the ball again with five overs of play remaining and gave it the all-clear but by close of play the umpires noticed the seam had been lifted again.

They reported the matter to the England and Wales Cricket Board, sent them the ball and let Nottinghamshire's batsmen choose a new one for the second day's play.

Alan Butcher, standing in as Surrey coach while Steve Rixon is in Australia on compassionate leave, said: "Further to the umpires' ruling and the alteration of the condition of the ball we will co-operate with any inquiry by the ECB.

"We are conscious of the need to uphold both the spirit and the letter of the laws of cricket."

Ramprakash added: "I spoke with the umpires at the close of play on Friday and they informed me of the penalty this morning. We now look forward to the rest of the match."

Notts coach Mick Newell said: "I thought the umpires got it about right."