County Champions Surrey head to Chelmsford for the final game of the 2024 season against Essex
Rory Burns will lift the County Championship trophy for the third year in a row at the end of the game.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH THE MATCH?
Play will get underway at 10:30am each day with a Live Stream available via Essex’s YouTube, with the stream on the Surrey Match Centre and Surrey’s social media channels.
Surrey Cricket’s social media will provide live coverage from The Kia Oval, with match updates and clips posted throughout. At the end of play on each day, a written report with highlights and reactions will be published.
A live text commentary section will also be available on the Match Centre.
SURREY SQUAD
Josh Blake, Yousef Majid, Ollie Sykes and James Taylor come into the squad for the final match of the season.
Ben Foakes, Dan Worrall and Jordan Clark all miss out after having been carefully managed through the final block of the Championship season.
LAST TIME OUT
Surrey beat Durham by ten wickets at The Kia Oval last weekend before Lancashire’s victory over Somerset sealed the County Championship crown.
Unsurprisingly it was Dan Worrall (4/39) that did the damage with the ball as Durham were bowled out for 262 on the first day. Ryan Patel scored his second crucial century of the season at number three as Surrey put on 415. Patel was supported up top by Rory Burns’ 55 and at the tail with Tom Lawes’ 58 – a career high for the young all-rounder.
Dan Worrall and Sam Curran took four wickets apiece as Durham were ruthlessly bowled out for 177 on the third day. Worrall took his season tally to 52 from 11 matches for the season.
The target of 24 was knocked off from five overs to put Surrey on the brink of a third consecutive title – something that was achieved at 11:04am the following day.
ESSEX
Essex sit fourth in the table on 179 points.
Captain: Tom Westley
Head Coach: Anthony McGrath
2023 finish: Second (Division One)
2024 top run-scorer: Dean Elgar (962)
2024 top wicket-taker: Jamie Porter (55)
LAST TIME OUT VS ESSEX
Surrey and Essex played out a brilliant four days of cricket in June as Surrey celebrated their Red Ball Festival of Cricket. Jamie Smith – on the day he was named in the England Test squad for the first time, scored a scintillating century as Surrey were bowled out for 262.
After a below-par score with the bat, Surrey’s bowlers were exceptional in bowling Essex out for 180. Nine wickets were required as Jordan Cox was unable to bat due to illness.
Despite Jamie Smith adding 70 in the second innings, the Three Feathers were in a lot of trouble at 127/6. Ryan Patel scored a huge century under pressure at number seven as Surrey racked up 278.
Essex required 355 runs to win. Goldenarm Tom Lawes had other ideas, taking 4/26 as Essex were bowled out for 215, giving Surrey a huge victory by 145 runs.
