Surrey v Glamorgan - a statistical review

Before today, only four sides in the world had ever scored over 400 runs in an innings in a limited overs match. Today at The Oval, both Surrey and Glamorgan achieved this feat in a quite remarkable one day game in the C&G Trophy that saw a host of world records tumble in the London sunshine.

The record breaking day began with Surrey racing to 438 for five in their 50 overs - the highest ever total in one day cricket anywhere in the world, beating the 413 for four made by Somerset against Devon at Torquay in 1990. The previous highest involving two first-class counties was Surrey's 375 for four against Yorkshire in their National League match at Scarborough in 1994.

Ali Brown also created a world record with an innings of 268 - the highest ever individual innings, which broke South African Graeme Pollock's previous world best of 222 not out for Eastern Province against Border at East London in 1974/75. Brown's score was also the highest ever in the U.K. in a one day match, beating Alvin Kallicharran's 206 against Oxfordshire at Edgbaston in 1984, and the highest against a first-class county in a one-day game, which he himself had set in 1997 with 203 against Hampshire at Guildford. Brown is also the only batsman in the world to have two double hundreds to his name in one-day cricket.

The previous highest totals and scores against Glamorgan had been recorded in their 1975 Gillette Cup match against Hampshire at Southampton, when the home team amassed 371 for four, with Gordon Greenidge scoring 177.

Brown's remarkable feat expunged these from the record books, but also added another, rather unwanted record, as Darren Thomas's nine-over spell went for 108 runs - the most ever conceded by a bowler anywhere in the world in a major one day game. The previous most expensive figures were 12-0-107-2 recorded by Cornwall's Chris Lovell against Warwickshire at St. Austell in 1996. The previous most expensive by a Glamorgan bowler were Malcolm Nash's figures of 12-1-84-2 against Hampshire in the 1975 Gillette Cup match at Southampton.

Another record to disappear from the 1975 Gillette Cup match at Southampton, was the highest opening partnership against Glamorgan in the competition. The previous best had been the 210 added by Hampshire's openers Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge, but Brown and Ian Ward sailed past this with an opening stand of 286. This was also the highest partnership for any wicket in one-day cricket against Glamorgan, beating the stand of 223 by Somerset's Jimmy Cook and Graham Rose in the 1990 Sunday League match at Neath.

However, one world record which remained intact was Ian Botham's feat of hitting 13 sixes against Northamptonshire at Wellingborough in 1986. Brown fell one short with 12, but it was still the highest ever against Glamorgan beating the eight hit by Botham for Somerset against Glamorgan at Taunton in a B&H fixture in 1986.

Glamorgan then replied with 429 - their highest ever total in one-day cricket, beating the 373 for seven they scored against Bedfordshire at Cardiff in 1998. It was also their best ever batting second, passing the 314 for two they made against the British Universities at Cambridge in a Benson and Hedges Cup match in 1996.

Acting captain Robert Croft led the way with a blistering 119, reaching his hundred off just 56 balls - the fastest ever in a one-day game for the Welsh county, beating the 58 ball century notched up by Matthew Maynard against the British Universities at Cambridge in 1996 and his 60 ball hundred against Surrey at The Oval in the 1997 National League contest.

Croft also struck 21 boundaries (18 fours and three sixes) in his career-best century - the most in an innings in a one-day contest for Glamorgan, beating the 19 struck by Jacques Kallis (17 fours and two sixes) against Surrey at Pontypridd in 1999.

Despite the sterling efforts of the Glamorgan batsmen, Surrey were the victors by 9 runs in a game that saw the sides register the highest two totals ever made in a limited-overs game in the world. In all, 867 runs were scored on the day - breaking the world record in a one-day game set in India in 2000/01 when the game between India and India B produced 754 runs.

The previous highest match aggregate in the U.K. was also recorded at The Oval, as the 1994 match between Surrey and Worcestershire produced no fewer than 707 runs. The previous highest for a one-day match involving Glamorgan was 650 against Durham at Darlington in their NatWest Trophy game in 1991.