Surrey have won the County Championship for the 21st time after comfortably defeating Yorkshire by ten wickets at the Oval.
The victory, combined with Hampshire's 77-run defeat to Kent, means they have won the Championship for the first time since 2018, having begun the latest round of fixtures with an eight-point lead over Hampshire.
Ollie Pope, Tom Lawes and Daniel Worrall all starred against Yorkshire, with Pope scoring a brilliant hundred, Lawes taking 4-31 in Yorkshire's first innings and Worrall picking up 4-61 after they were asked to follow on.
Surrey were asked to bat first by Yorkshire and scored 333 in their first innings, with Pope continuing his good form as he struck 136 off 131 balls. Jordan Clark also scored a crucial 55, while Steven Patterson picked up 4-69 for Yorkshire.
In response, Surrey bowled Yorkshire out for just 179 and then asked them to follow on. Yorkshire only fared slightly better in their second innings, scoring 208 and leaving Surrey needing just 55 runs to win the match and the title after Kent upset second-placed Hampshire.
Fittingly, it was Surrey captain Rory Burns who scored the winning runs as he and Ryan Patel knocked them off in just six overs to seal a memorable Championship victory the same week their ground had been renamed the Micky Stewart Oval in honour of their 90-year-old former player, coach and president.
The victory was Surrey's eighth win from 13 games and they are the only county in both divisions who are unbeaten this season. "I actually thought we needed five," Burns said.
"It wasn't until Pat leapt on me that I realised we’d won. My maths is not a strong point. To win it again has been really pleasing, as too the fact we've used 22 players in the squad and played in the manner we have.
"Every time we've needed someone to step up someone has put their hand up and put in a performance. It's a pretty special thing."
