Record stand as Surrey draw with Warwickshire

Record stand as Surrey draw with WarwickshireImage source, PA MediaImage caption, Jamie Smith is hoping to hang onto his England place with early-season runsPublished2 hours ago44 CommentsRothesay County Championship, Division One, Edgbaston (day four)Surrey 328 & 447-4: Lawrence 161*, Smith 132, Burns 55Warwickshire 544: Mousley 144; Albert 3-80Warwickshire (16 pts) drew with Surrey (11 pts)Match scorecardA record partnership between Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrence saw Surrey safely to a draw after Warwickshire had dominated much of their County Championship fixture at Edgbaston.Smith struck a polished 132 from 261 balls and Lawrence an equally assured unbeaten 161 off 258 in a stand of 217 in 64 overs as Surrey batted through the final day to reach 447-4. The implacable fourth-wicket pair took full advantage of a pitch that just got better and better for batting.There was little that Ed Barnard, in his first match as Warwickshire captain, could do but rotate his array of seamers in the hope of inducing errors. It proved a forlorn hope as Surrey erased their first-innings deficit of 216 and then batted on to secure a draw with which they will be very happy, having been in disarray at 65-6 on the first afternoon.Surrey resumed on the final morning on 169-3, still 47 behind, way behind in the game but in conditions which offered them a way out of trouble if they batted with the required diligence. They did so, as Smith and Lawrence knuckled down to add 105 from 31 overs in the morning session.Warwickshire's seamers persevered nobly, with Ethan Bamber and Beau Webster most threatening, but the fourth-wicket pair batted with solid technique and total concentration. The session yielded just two half-chances, both offered by Smith. On 60 he edged Chris Woakes high past the shoulder of Sam Hain at slip and on 76, he drove Jordan Thompson to extra cover where Webster got a hand to a difficult chance but couldn't hold on.The batters advanced relentlessly to their...