Remarkable rearguard effort by Surrey tail frustrates Leicestershire

An unbroken last wicket stand of 109 in 39 overs between Martin Bicknell and Ian Salisbury, steered champions Surrey to one of the most remarkable results in their history at Grace Road.

Set an improbable target of 536 to win their CricInfo Championship clash with Leicestershire, the visitors finished on 478 for nine - their highest ever fourth innings score in a first-class match.

While a win was never really on the cards a draw seemed just as unlikely when Surrey were 190 for six in the 59th over on Friday evening and then 369 for nine in the 113th over.

But Salisbury, who bravely volunteered to bat despite a suspected broken toe, joined Bicknell in a last-wicket partnership which denied the home side what had looked a certain win and extended Surrey's unbeaten run in the Championship to 19 matches.

Bicknell made a season's best 85 off 133 balls with 12 fours and Salisbury 30 off 128 balls with two fours. With Alex Tudor and Gary Butcher having put on 128 for the seventh wicket, it meant that Leicestershire took only three wickets for 288 runs in the last 93 overs of the game.

It was a memorable effort from the Surrey tail, but Leicestershire won't have been happy with their bowling performance. Although the pitch became virtually lifeless and offered little assistance, too often the bowling was wayward in both length and direction.

Three stoppages for rain also helped Surrey's cause with 28 overs lost on the day. Even so Leicestershire should have done better than take only three wickets for 197 runs in the 68 overs that were bowled.

Daniel Marsh bowled Butcher early on, Tudor had his off stump knocked back by Phil DeFreitas in the last over before lunch having made 86, and Devon Malcolm dismissed Jonathan Batty early in the afternoon.

But Bicknell and Salisbury rarely looked in trouble after that. The only real drama came in the penultimate over when Darren Maddy held a catch at slip when Bicknell fenced at a ball from James Ormond. Leicestershire's celebrations were cut short when umpire Vanburn Holder decided the batsman had been hit on the forearm rather than the glove.