Surrey’s 21st Championship title came at 25 past midday when, at a sparsely attended Northampton, Jamie Porter was bowled for a duck. Essex had fallen 189 runs short of the 400 they needed to keep the race alive. It took a few seconds for the news to land here at the Ageas Bowl, where Surrey were in the field.
As it did, and the travelling supporters broke into applause, Hampshire’s Nick Gubbins and James Vince sportingly joined in and Will Jacks broke off mid-delivery stride. Ten minutes later, the players were off for bad light.
For all the bathos of the moment, Surrey’s second win in a row, and their third in six years, is a huge achievement, orchestrated by their director of cricket, Alec Stewart, captain Rory Burns and, for the past two years, coach Gareth Batty. They become the first county to win back-to-back titles since Yorkshire in 2014 and 2015, and the third side to achieve it in the two division era.
It is tricky for even the most one-eyed supporter of other clubs to begrudge Surrey their prize. In an era of superstars, and player power, theirs is a squad triumph and one largely homegrown, with the addition of classy overseas players. For all the advantages that come with a London location and well-filled pockets, Surrey care desperately about the four-day toil of the unhip Championship.
No player passed 1,000 runs, but Jamie Smith, Ben Foakes and Dom Sibley all made more than 700. Ollie Pope was averaging 54 in his five matches, until he dislocated his right shoulder during the Lord’s Test and was ruled out for the rest of the season.
Surrey were expecting Foakes to be selected by England, but the call did not come. He went on to make three important centuries and has been exceptional with the gloves. Sibley made a comfortable return to Surrey from Warwickshire, doing what he does best – inelegant but important accumulation and none more important than the unbeaten 142 he and Burns put on when asked to follow on by Northamptonshire at the Oval last week.
The team also happily incorporates a mixture of styles – their record run-chase of 501 against Kent included the slowest century in the competition’s history, by Sibley, and a 70-ball firework fusion from Smith.
With the ball, Jordan Clark and Dan Worrall, both took 48 wickets, while Kemar Roach, who book-ended the season, and Sean Abbot provided guile, enthusiasm and force. When they were unavailable, their overseas replacements, Tom Latham and Sai Sudharsan, were solid support with the bat.
A proud Stewart batted away talk of a dynasty, as Dolly Parton’s 9 to 5 and Lionel Ritchie’s Dancing on the Ceiling drifted out of the dressing room. “We’ll see. Dad [Mickey Stewart] still goes on about [how] he won it seven on the trot, he only played in three didn’t he? We’ve now won it back-to-back, next year we’ll try to win it again – but it is hard work.
“That’ll be the challenge but the good thing is the appetite of the players is there – certain players at certain stage of their careers will have, ‘I want to play for England’, others will have ‘well, I’ve played for England therefore I want to be part of the best Championship side.’”
He had particular praise for the Oval’s head groundsman, Lee Fortis, and his staff, and their production line of pace and bounce. Backslaps, too, for the 20-year-old Tom Lawes, who took five wickets in the first innings at the Rose Bowl on Tuesday before being replaced by Jacks (who took five wickets in the second to complete a 10-wicket portmanteau), for whom Stewart predicted England recognition in the next couple of years, and then for Burns.
The opener, who, during the span of the three recent Championship wins has been picked and spurned by England, has had a spartan year with the bat by his standards. But for Stewart, his leadership made the difference. “He’s outstanding. I know he’s quiet, he’s a man of few words. Tactically, he’s very good but he’s also very tough as well.”
Surrey need 73 with four wickets left to beat Hampshire on the final dayand avoid what would be their third defeat in two seasons, but as the beers flowed, that seemed a long way away.
