Ramprakash joins 100 club

Mark Ramprakash acknowledges the crowd after reaching his 100th ton

Mark Ramprakash scored his 100th first-class century in the final session of Surrey’s drawn LV County Championship Division One match with Yorkshire at Headingley Carnegie.

The former England and Middlesex batsman reached the landmark at 4.12pm when he leaned back and cut left-arm spinner David Wainwright to the boundary.

Yorkshire captain Darren Gough was among the first to shake Ramprakash’s hand - and he was applauded by all the Yorkshire side.

He was cheered by his ecstatic team-mates on the dressing room balcony and given a standing ovation by the 1,100 spectators who were present to watch the game fizzle out into an otherwise dull draw.

It was a chanceless exhibition of orthodox batting by Ramprakash, who calmly set his stall out when he arrived at the crease in the second over of the day after Yorkshire had declared overnight with a first innings lead of 210.

Surrey lost Stewart Walters to Tim Bresnan before a run had been scored but then Ramprakash joined Scott Newman (129) in a massive second wicket stand of 259 which killed off Yorkshire’s chances of victory.

Ramprakash’s century took him 231 minutes and came off 196 balls with nine fours and a six - and at the close he had marched on to an unbeaten 112 from 227 deliveries, adding another couple of fours.

He became the 25th batsman to register 100 first-class centuries and the first since Graeme Hick in 1998.

And he achieved the feat on the same ground that Geoff Boycott completed his 100th century in the Test match against Australia on August 11, 1977.

Ramprakash has enjoyed many memorable moments against Yorkshire, making his first-class debut against them for Middlesex at Lord’s in 1987 and scoring his maiden first-class century at Headingley in 1989 when he reached 128.

He contributed 140 to a third-wicket stand of 321 with Mike Gatting at Scarborough in 1993 and at Headingley two years later he amassed 235.

Joining Surrey in 2001, he hit 131 against Yorkshire at The Oval and this latest effort was his seventh century off the White Rose attack.

Ramprakash has had an agonising three-month wait for his hundredth century after making his 99th against Sussex at Hove on May 3 and then experiencing a rare dip in his form.

None of Yorkshire’s seven bowlers could make any impression against either Newman or Ramprakash until Newman was finally bowled by Wainwright after facing 215 balls and striking 16 fours and a six, his partner being on 110 at the time.

Jon Batty bagged a pair when he was caught by Andrew Gale off Adil Rashid and soon afterwards a shower ended the match at 4.50pm with Surrey 264 for three.

Ramprakash led the players towards the boundary edge where former Yorkshire and England off-spinner Geoff Cope presented Ramprakash with a bottle of champagne.

Surrey coach Alan Butcher then handed over a silver plate and more champagne to Ramprakash, who was soon showered in it by his team-mates.