It’s a quarter of a century since Adam Hollioake’s Surrey side stormed to the 1999 County Championship title. Richard Spiller looks back to a memorable day.
It had been a long time coming – 28 years – but when Surrey finally reclaimed the County Championship title, on September 2 1999, it prompted a very long party.
Micky Stewart had been the club’s last captain to ascend the summit, his long campaign to rebuild the team from the glorious seven-in-seven titles of the 1950s finally coming to fruition in 1971.
But that had proved an isolated success and there was much frustration around The Oval that, for all the high quality players on view in the intervening period, they were unable to pull it altogether sufficiently to win the trophy which mattered most to the club.
Things started to change in the mid-1990s, Alec Stewart’s final season as captain seeing the Axa Equity & Law (Sunday) League won in 1996 – the first trophy of any sort since 1982 – and Adam Hollioake’s first in charge bringing the Benson & Hedges Cup, led gloriously by his brother Ben battering Kent all over Lord’s.
It seemed the Championship would finally return a year later only to lose two of the final three matches, a crushing defeat by Leicestershire on home ground in the final match seeing the Foxes head back to the midlands with the pennant.
Hollioake and manager Keith Medlycott admitted important lessons had been learned and in 1999 – even though Surrey gave generously to the England side for the World Cup and Test series against New Zealand – Surrey led from the front all the way.
Graham Thorpe’s magnificent 164 at Guildford ensured Hampshire’s challenge was turned back and Surrey had won seven matches in succession when they returned to The Oval on Wednesday, September 1 to face Nottinghamshire, with two matches to come after that.
Victory would equal their best run since 1957 and secure the title at last. Even the absence of injured spearheads Alex Tudor and Martin Bicknell appeared to make little difference on the first morning. Irishman Mark Patterson, on his Championship debut, took 3-25 while there was a trio of victims for Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury, the spin pair who had been cutting a swathe through batting orders up and down the country.
Despite Usman Afzaal’s 47, the visitors could only make 115, but – with the prize so close – nerves were telling on Surrey. Stewart’s 49 was their best and they ended day one on 199-8, needing another single to claim a batting point.
Yet that too was missed the next morning, Surrey losing their last two wickets without addition – West Indies fast bowler Vasbert Drakes took 4-53 – and now Surrey knew only a win would settle the matter before their trip to Lord’s a week later.
Afzaal again proved the main obstacle in the second innings, pulling Notts round from 30-2, adding 110 for the third wicket with Paul Johnson (41) and finally being caught behind by Stewart off leg-spinner Salisbury for a fighting 104.
Pakistani magician Saqlain’s 4-100 from 33 overs gave Hollioake the freedom to keep close fielders around the bat throughout, Salisbury trapping Mark Bowen and Richard Stemp in close order at the end to finish with 4-66 from 26.1, Nottinghamshire’s 233 all out leaving Surrey needing 150 to win.
There were just 19 overs remaining on the second day – would they play out the remaining overs and leave it to the third morning?
No chance. Openers Mark Butcher and Ian Ward set off at a ferocious pace, keen to get the business done and the title won. Spectators were now arriving at the ground in large numbers, wanting to witness a historic moment, whether having planned to make the trip or suddenly telling colleagues they had to attend an urgent meeting.
When the 19 overs were up it was 110-0 and there was no question that umpires Mervyn Kitchen and John Steele would deny Surrey the extra half-hour. It took only another 22 balls to finish the job, Butcher’s 81no and Ward’s 55no sewing up a 10-wicket victory and firing the starting gun on an evening of celebration.
That was just the start in so many ways. While Surrey members enjoyed drinks at 1971 prices for the final match of the season, against Yorkshire – it rained a lot but no one seemed to mind – their team finished the season unbeaten and began a run of three titles in four seasons.
