Is this the season that Surrey’s dominance is broken?

As the dark drew in over Hove on Monday, a draw that had been in the offing since yet another light delay at tea on day 3, was finally confirmed.

Ollie Pope on his way to his first Championship hundred in 2 years (📸 Sussex Cricket / Saud Ahmed)

Sussex would no doubt have been the happier of the two sides once the result was confirmed. Whilst never being out of the contest, the 55 run first innings deficit would have certainly been slightly daunting to the newly promoted county.

A slightly lifeless wicket in Hove allowed a third innings 132 stand between Tom Haines (following on from his first innings ton) and Dan Hughes comfortably put to bed any concerns.

The result though does confirm one thing - Surrey have gone through the first three games of the season winless.

It’s not insurmountable, but for the first time since their winning run began in 2022, Surrey find themselves around the sinkhole of Division 1 and winless after 3 weeks of cricket.

Drawing all of your opening fixtures in April is not unusual. Weather can play a massive part in the outcomes of early season games and at a glance you’d probably make the assumption that there’d been some rain and bad light about - but this hasn’t been the case.

In their opener, Essex batted Surrey out of the game at Chelmsford thanks to Jordan Cox, Matt Critchley and Michael Pepper centuries. In their only home match of the season Hampshire came within 77 runs with 5 wickets in hand in a light-affected game.

Runs haven’t been the issue this season with Dom Sibley seemingly batting himself back into England’s thoughts, Ollie Pope hitting his first Championship ton in 2 years and Dan Lawrence blitzing his way to a century at Hove - it’s been the wickets that have been the issue. The perfect summary of this is that the aforementioned Lawrence has, quite rightly, managed to bag himself a greater bowling spot in the side. He is, after these 3 games, joint-leading wicket taker for Surrey with his unorthodox off-spin.

The reliable Surrey wicket-takers of recent years: Jordan Clark and Kemar Roach have looked fairly ineffectual at times and their returns have not been anywhere near good enough to be title contenders. Matthew Fisher’s wickets have also not come as regularly as Surrey would have hoped for one of their classic off-season heists. The only seam bowler with an average under 40 this season has been Dan Worrell who is still taking his wickets at 38 a piece.

Sussex would have been the opportunity for the Brown caps to get their season up and running. The size of the two clubs could not be more disparate. However, fresh off their first Division One victory in 10 years, Sussex rarely looked in too much peril and another day of cricket could have made for a very tight game either way.

It’s not all been doom and gloom though despite the clouds over Hove over the bank holiday weekend.

As mentioned, the batting looks solid and with the bowling attack they have they will come good eventually. A cynic might even say that the wickets on offer have been set up to bat out 4 days. Sure, they’ve also been unlucky with the weather too but in years gone by Surrey have found ways to snatch victory from the jaws of a draw but almost look like losing out in these situations this year.

With a side that’s now won 3 Championships in a row, it’s tough to say they’re creaking but there are 5 key regulars in the side in Burns, Worrall, Roach, Foakes and Clark who are getting deeper into their 30s now. None of them have looked like their usual mercurial selves. More recently, Surrey have been far more ruthless in cutting deadwood from their team when they’ve deemed it appropriate and recruited more readily in the winter - this year Matt Fisher was the only major import.

The skies over the Vauxhall Road end begin to darken during the rain-affected game against Hampshire

Not only that but as we get deeper into the summer, Surrey will begin to lose their England cohort of Jamie Smith, Ollie Pope and Gus Atkinson with talk of Dan Worrall and possibly also Dom Sibley on international radar too.

All of this has coincided with Mr Surrey himself - Alec Stewart stepping down from his more regular role as Director of Cricket to care for his wife, Lynn, who sadly passed away earlier this month. Stewart’s popularity and enthusiasm for his county is clearly a loss to the group both administratively and in a sporting context too.

Generating the energy again to win a competition you’ve won so often, by now, must be less of an incentive and perhaps it’s showing. Look at Manchester City in the Premier League after 4 titles on the bounce - the novelty wears off for the players.

Contrastingly, every side that visits The Oval hypes themselves up - it’s a huge game and in recent years Surrey have been the equivalent of a decent Test side. Last year’s win no doubt motivates visiting sides even more to beat their opposition.

Walking through the concourse at the Oval during the rain-affected day 3 of the Hampshire game a couple of weeks ago I wandered past the plaques commemorating the seven consecutive titles Surrey won between 1952 to 1958. For the time, it was a monumental effort and Surrey were the benefactors of a remarkably stable and talented side - the likes of Peter May, the Bedser twins, Ken Barrington, Micky Stewart, Stuart Surridge etc all played regularly during this period of unparalleled success. 

It seemed a monumental effort from the Surrey sides of yesteryear that won those consecutive Championships, with far more inconsistency of selection now with player movement and availability - the days of such dominance seem confined to the past. If any side could do it though, it would be this Surrey side with all of the resources available to them.

A visit from Somerset comes next - another team who have struggled this year despite being one of Surrey’s main competitors in recent years. A winless April could really worry some of the Surrey faithful…