Lyndon James took no excuse from an unfortunate series of niggles as a depleted bowling lineup fought tooth and nail to keep Nottinghamshire well within their LV= Insurance County Championship contest in the capital.
The allrounder took a crucial four-fer, two before lunch, including that of centurion Jordan Clark as Surrey ended day one on 339/8 at the Kia Oval.
James paid credit to fellow bowlers Dane Paterson and Calvin Harrison, the three amassing a whopping 67 overs between them as Brett Hutton and Jake Ball were both forced off through injury.
He also had plenty of praise for Haseeb Hameed, who stepped up into the skipper's role for the first time in his First-Class career.