Butcher thankful for rain breaks

Butcher is happy to be back in the routine of leading Surrey

Surrey captain Mark Butcher admits the bad weather conditions at Glamorgan gave him the chance to ease himself back into four-day county cricket.

The former England batsman hit 65 and an unbeaten 27 on his return to county cricket after a long-term knee injury.

Butcher, 37, told BBC London 94.9: "Whilst the weather didn't do the team any favours it did some for me.

"The knee feels OK. I have to put ice on it after every break and get the swelling down but I'm very happy."

The County Championship Division Two match at Cardiff ended in a draw after 144 overs were lost on the first two days because of persistent rain.

But Butcher is happy to be back at the crease and captaining his side in the field.

"I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's great to be back leading the team again. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed that aspect of it and I think it was a very positive two-and-a-half days for me and for the side as well.

"It was like being back in the old routine out there, Ramprakash at the crease, just like old times. It was very nice to go out and time the ball and not have to really scratch around too much. That will probably happen next game," he added.

The captain also impressed by young bowler Jade Dernbach who finished with figures of 6-82.

"Jade was fantastic. He's really just starting to understand the requirements in terms of taking wickets at a rate that helps your side and keeps your team in the game longer.

"And he's working very hard in terms of really grooving his action and it's really great to see him get the rewards for it and they were all genuine dismissals."

Dernbach himself was disappointed to have to settle for a draw but was keen to take the positives from the game.

"It was one of those wickets where if you just kept in an area it just offered a bit now and again," he said.

"It wasn't every ball but it just offered enough. So it kept you interested and I kept going with the same things.

"With the Twenty20 just passing, you don't get much time to bowl because it's very frenetic.

"To come back into this and get 23 overs under my belt will leave me in good stead for the rest of the season. So I'll hopefully take that form into the next game at Northants."