Dom Sibley’s ten-hour 305, plus quickfire hundreds from both Dan Lawrence and Will Jacks, propelled Surrey to 820 for nine declared at the Kia Oval, the biggest first-class total in the Club’s history over 180 years.
Resuming on 407 for three, they broke their 126-year-old county record after batting on until just after tea on day two and prolonging Durham’s suffering in scorching sunshine and sweltering temperatures above 30 degrees.
And in 28 overs’ bowling before the close, Surrey then held Durham to 59 for one in reply with some testing bowling and will look to put the visitors under further pressure on days three and four of this Rothesay County Championship Division One fixture.
Matt Fisher struck at the start of his second over with the new ball to bowl Emilio Gay behind his legs for seven, and it could have been better for Surrey if they had clung on to catches offered by Alex Lees, on 11, and Will Rhodes on 12.
Lees, who reached stumps on 33, cut Tom Lawes’ first ball to cover where Jordan Clark could not hold a low diving chance and Rhodes, unbeaten on 16 at the close, was put down by Sibley at second slip off Clark.
Sibley, on 169 overnight, eventually added 334 in 53 overs with Lawrence, a fourth-wicket record for Surrey against Durham. Lawrence cruised from 58 at the start of the day to 178 – as with Sibley, his first-class career best – before slicing Daniel Hogg to point.
"To convert it and get a real big one was really nice!" 💯💯💯
Hear from the man of the moment, Dom Sibley, speaking to BBC London's Mark Church after the close of day two at the Kia Oval. 💬
🤎 | #SurreyCricket pic.twitter.com/EIQJwnOUld
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) June 30, 2025
Lawrence struck four sixes and 19 fours in an eye-catching 149-ball effort, while Jacks was just as effortlessly brutal in his own 119 from 94 balls – also hitting four sixes. Sibley and Jacks put on a further 133 in 21 overs for the fifth wicket.
The declaration came when Jacks skied Hogg to deep mid off looking to hit a third successive six, after Surrey had opted to bat on after tea for what proved to be another 12 balls and 17 runs.
But the first post-tea Jacks blow off Hogg, swung high and far over a short mid-wicket boundary, took Surrey past their previous highest total in first-class matches – the 811 scored against Somerset at the Oval in May 1899.
Sibley’s 475-ball epic, featuring two sixes and 29 fours but for the main part a relentless display of risk-free accumulation, was the eighth first-class individual score of 300 or more by a Surrey batsman, and the seventh highest.
The opener joins an illustrious list topped by Bobby Abel and also including Kevin Pietersen, Walter Read, Sir Jack Hobbs, Tom Hayward, Andy Ducat and Mark Ramprakash. Two more Surrey players, John Edrich and Andy Sandham, scored triple-hundreds for England.
Surrey’s total, meanwhile, was also the highest first-class total made against Durham, beating the 810 for four declared reached by Warwickshire at Edgbaston in 1994. That was when Brian Lara hit his famous 501 not out, with Sibley joining Lara, Graeme Hick and Darren Lehmann as the fourth man to top 300 against Durham.
When Sibley fell, to leave Surrey 745 for five in the 152nd over, he was only 24 runs short of becoming the first batsman to complete 1,000 first-class runs this season and thoroughly deserved a standing ovation from a sizeable crowd boosted by the enthusiastic presence of more than 5,000 schoolchildren on Surrey’s annual Schools Day.
Clark, who contributed 24 in 16 balls, Josh Blake and Lawes all departed cheaply while Jacks continued to pile on the agony for a Durham attack missing Ben Raine, nursing an injury after bowling ten overs on day one.
George Drissell, the off spinner, hit by Lawrence for 6, 6, 4 in successive balls at one stage, bore the brunt of Surrey’s hunger for runs. His 45 overs cost 247, the most runs conceded by a bowler in the County Championship, and he finished with just one wicket to show for his labours.
