County cricket: three-horse title race as Championship takes a break

The big book of sports cliches demands that you go into any break with momentum. With a near six-week hiatus in the Championship underway, that’s what title contenders Surrey, Hampshire and Lancashire did.

Surrey had to delve deep into their squad and deep into their batting order to overcome defending champions Warwickshire, whose season-long fragility was in evidence again.

Conor McKerr and an injured Jamie Overton put on 72 for Surrey’s ninth wicket securing a first-innings lead of 63. After Dom Sibley was unable to take a longer look at what will be his home surface next season, out for six in the second innings, Sam Hain, who is quietly enjoying a fine season, found a partner in his captain, Will Rhodes, and Surrey – after Kemar Roach and Jordan Clark had shot out the visitors on a frenetic day four morning – had a tricky 248 to chase.

The home team may have burned through 21 players in 11 Championship matches, but it was their three Test batters, Rory Burns, Hashim Amla and Ollie Pope, who did the bulk of the scoring, one eye on the next ball and one eye on the required rate. Will Jacks, for whom everything is bowling along nicely this season, teed off at the end to hit the sixes that secured the 22 points .

The match was not without its controversy, with key umpiring decisions provoking chatter on social media. That is, perhaps, a somewhat unforeseen consequence of the ever-improving county streams, which offer no hiding place for umpires making marginal calls. All counties’ disgruntled players can now telegraph their opinions well beyond the confines of the ground itself and a feeling grows that “something should be done” before dissent becomes more of an issue and teams develop four-day long strategies to work