Scott Newman hit his fifth Liverpool Victoria County Championship half-century of the season on a rain-affected first day of the match against Worcestershire.

Surrey finished on 126 for no wicket at The Oval - but only 38.4 overs were bowled in south London because of rain.

Newman was 65 not out, from 120 balls with five fours, while opening partner Jon Batty was unbeaten on 44 -from 115 balls with seven boundaries - when the weather closed in shortly after lunch.

Newman's only failure to reach 50 in Division Two this year, was in the first innings of Surrey's match against Leicestershire, but he has failed to convert any into centuries.

He will have the chance to convert this innings into a big one if Worcestershire's bowl-ers are as generous early on, on the second day, as they were on the first.

Kabir Ali and Zaheer Khan both suffered in their opening spells.

Although the ball was swinging from the hand, their control was wayward and they served up a succession of free hits as Surrey made 57 from the first 18 overs.

Matt Mason brought some control to the attack, bowling nine overs for 14 runs and Gareth Batty's off-spin yielded just 19 from six.

Newman reached his half-century from 92 balls just before lunch and only 3.4 overs were possible after the break.

The umpires gave up on any further hopes of action shortly before 5pm, calling off the day's play.

Worcestershire have Australian Phil Jaques making his debut for the side.

He was a heavy runscorer for Northamptonshire and Yorkshire in his previous spells in the County Championship and is due to open the batting.

Surrey are missing fast bowler Jimmy Ormond, who is still struggling with a back injury, but Rikki Clarke, fresh from England A duty and a stint as 12th man in the Lord's Test, bolsters the attack.