Ramps' rescue act

When the cricket chairman Micky Stewart announced Alan Butcher's belated promotion from 2nd XI orchestrator and talent-spotter to first-team coach, he said one of his principal qualifications was his status as a "Surrey man". Whatever manner of beast that may be Steve Rixon was palpably not one.

The first summer of the post-Hollioake era was never going to be ruffle-free but few anticipated Surrey's most unfruitful campaign for a decade, much less relegation. The divergence of temperaments and philosophies between manager, staff and committee was doubtless a factor but no one could have foreseen a dressing room reportedly divided between laurel-resters, walking wounded, not-quite-good-enoughs and learners with large `L' plates.

Mark Butcher's hand injury gave the captaincy to the estimable Mark Ramprakash, who responded better to Rixon than his less mature self had to John Buchanan at Middlesex. So serenely does he occupy creases, he could amass 100 hundreds and play beyond 40. Another unexpected bonus was Saqlain Mushtaq's late-season comeback: it lacked conviction but at 28, a toddler in spin terms, wagering against a revival seems premature.

Rebuilding may take some time. The only young guns to fire more bullets than blanks were Scott Newman and Rikki Clarke. If unearthing another Gaffer or Thorpey is proving arduous, coping without Bickers, for all Jade Dernbach's promise, feels like mission improbable.

Player of the Year Mark Ramprakash
High Any shot middled by Ally Brown
Low Graham Thorpe's exit - silent, bar that chilling, soul-baring autobiography.