Surrey bowling attack "needs to return to being relentless as a unit"

Smith's 89 and Pope's 83 not out (in addition to 166 and 103, respectively, earlier in the match) meant that Surrey were always comfortable on a placid Oval surface despite starting day four 171 runs behind the Foxes after Leicestershire had replied with a massive 691 to Surrey's own imposing first innings of 520.

The draw earned Surrey 14 points, to go with the 11 they took from the opening round draw at Edgbaston against Warwickshire, and Rory Burns' team sit in fifth place in the embryonic Division One table - just nine points behind early leaders Somerset, who in this second round trounced Essex at Chelmsford.

Surrey are now among a majority of first division sides sitting out the next round of matches, starting this Friday (April 17), and then they host Essex and Sussex in back-to-back home fixtures at the Oval, starting on April 24 and May 1 respectively.

Head coach Gareth Batty reports that fast bowler Dan Worrall is "very close" to full fitness following treatment for a calf strain, and he hopes that England centrally-contracted paceman Gus Atkinson will be made available to join Surrey's early-season Championship campaign "sooner rather than later".

Whatever, as Mark Church stresses in his 'wrap' of the Leicestershire match that you can listen to by clicking the button below, the Surrey bowling attack - whoever plays next up against Essex - needs quickly to rediscover its relentlessness of recent seasons.