There was only ever one outcome at the Brit Oval yesterday once the respective captains had failed to come to agreement about how best to set up a finish.

The inevitable draw was called just before 5pm, Surrey having declared their first innings on 608-4, allowing themselves just enough time to get their over rate, which had been slow in the County first innings, back to par.

By and large, the County bowlers must have been happy to see the back of the most unforgiving of pitches and one which hardly produced a fair contest between bat and ball.

Young seam bowler Nathan Buck, though, will have cause to remember a match in which the batters were totally dominant. Amid the torrent of runs his figures of 1-73 in 27 overs were admirable.

The Loughborough 18-year-old's first county championship wicket wasn't a bad scalp to start with, either, as he flattened the leg stump of Mark Ramprakash.

The trouble was that Ramprakash had been in since the sixth ball of the Surrey innings and by the time Buck struck he had strolled to 274.

On top of that he and his captain, Stewart Walters, compiled a massive third-wicket stand of 404, the highest ever recorded against the County.

Walters progressed to make a career-best 188 as Surrey went about their business pretty much as they pleased on a pitch that was unresponsive to bowling of any nature.

There was an outside chance – and it really was a slender one – that the County might have been able to enforce the follow on had they parted Ramprakash and Walters early on the final day.

But the home batters settled quickly and by lunch they had taken their score from the overnight 311-2 to 476-2 and the follow on target of 444 was rendered irrelevant.

From that point, County skipper Boeta Dippenaar sensibly rested his main seam bowlers with the trip to Glamorgan following tomorrow, though Buck did have a post-lunch burst in which he undid Ramprakash.

Claude Henderson undertook the bulk of the work sending down a total of 60 overs and his slow left arm eventually claimed Walters as HD Ackerman held his second slip catch of the innings.

Usman Afzaal then helped himself to a half century before Surrey declared shortly after tea to ensure they did not lose a point because of their over-rate.

The game ended in near farce as the home side sent down nine overs in 20 minutes to improve their rate, seamer Jade Dernbach bowling off four paces and leg spinner Chris Schofield sharing the new ball.

As befits the rest of the match they finished wicketless, Matthew Boyce on eight not out with Greg Smith 14 not out, Leicestershire 23-0 in a second innings which was little short of meaningless.