The loss of one and a half days to rain may have condemned Surrey's LV County Championship clash against Glamorgan to a draw, but the Brown Caps were able to take a number of positives from their trip to Cardiff.

Top of the list was Mark Butcher's first outing for more than a year. The Surrey skipper made 65 plus an unbeaten 27, striking the ball so sweetly it was as if he had never been away.

He said: "I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was great to be back and it was great to be back leading the team again.

"I'd forgotten how much I had missed that aspect of it as well.

"The weather, whilst it didn't do the team any favours, it maybe did me some favours in that the game was only really two and a half days long.

"The knee feels okay.

"I have to put ice on it during every break to get the swelling down, and I'm not exactly going to be breaking any sprint records, but for what I was required to do it was okay so I'm very happy.

"Fortunately, in the first innings I managed to hit quite a few balls to the boundary, so I didn't have worry about the knee too much.

"But it just makes you a better judge of a run.

"Going out to bat I was actually more nervous when I played for the Old Mid Whitgiftians a couple of weeks ago.

"It was funny. I was just like being back in the old routine out there with Ramprakash at the crease. It was very nice to go out and time the ball, and not have to scratch around too much. That'll probably happen in the next game."

In addition to Butcher, Michael Brown and Jonathan Batty forged useful alliances with Mark Ramprakash, who eased to the 105th first-class hundred of his career on day three.

The Brown Caps' only chance of victory rested on them dismissing the Welshmen cheaply, but Jamie Dalrymple had other ideas. Nevertheless, Jade Dernbach underlined his growing potential with by taking 6 for 82 off 23 overs as Glamorgan responded to the visitors' 368 with 271.