Hollioake hails Ramprakash effort

Adam Hollioake praised Mark Ramprakash after his innings of 90 helped Surrey to their first County Championship win of the season.  

Set 209 to win by Somerset, Surrey cruised home with 25 overs to spare at The Oval.

Ramprakash's knock came from 99 balls and included 14 fours and a six.

In the first innings of the game Ramprakash made 143 but fell just short of his second century of the match when he was caught in the deep trying to finish the game quickly.

Skipper Hollioake said: "His innings made the tough target really easy. He played positively and took out all the close catches.

"If a guy can average 50 in all his cricket he can play - you don't do that without being a class player. He can score runs anywhere."

Surrey managed to win despite losing five players to international calls and missing Alex Tudor who was on the injured list.

Hollioake added: "If you look over the years we have performed as well or better without our international players.

"I don't know if it's because when they are here it is early season but it has been a long time since we have been beaten without our internationals."

And Hollioake refused to write off Surrey's chances of winning the title despite the fact that they drew their first five games of the season.

"We are still in contention because of the bonus points we have got. This was a very important win," he added.