ESSEX V SURREY at Chelmsford (VCC)
26-29 SEPTEMBER 2024

For the final game of the season, the confirmed 2024 county champions travel to fourth-placed Essex, whose challenge for the title fell away in recent weeks not because of results on the pitch - they have won their last two - but due to the 12-point deduction for Feroze Khushi's oversized bat, which failed an arbitrary bat gauge test at Trent Bridge in the opening round.

Rory Burns, who will be presented with the County Championship trophy for the third year running at the end of the game, has been hailed as one of the great county captains by Surrey's head coach Gareth Batty, who was also keen to emphasise that the Oval outfit's continued dominance of domestic red-ball cricket was another squad effort.

Batty added: "Every time you get over the line it's the hardest one, because other teams are trying to close the gap, trying to improve their squads, improve their players. I feel like we are still keeping some distance, in a healthy, confident way, not in an arrogant way, because we're working incredibly hard trying to improve our performances year in and year out."

Dean Elgar (962 championship runs at an average of 50.63) has been phenomenal with the bat in his first season as an Essex player; Jordan Cox (918 at 65.57) likewise, although he will miss this game due to England's impending Test series against Pakistan. Matt Critchley, Michael Pepper, Paul Walter and skipper Tom Westley have also dipped their bread on occasions.

But it's with the ball that Essex have truly excelled this term. Seamers Jamie Porter (55 Champo wickets at 19.29 runs apiece), Sam Cook (43 at 16.00) and Shane Snater (40 at 22.40) have blended perfectly with spinners Simon Harmer (42 at 33.61) and Matt Critchley (33 at 29.57).

Surrey v Essex - First-Class Records Sheet

If they play, Josh Blake, Yousef Majid and Ollie Sykes will be making their first-class debuts. Dean Elgar (962) is 38 runs away from a thousandth in this year's County Championship, while Sam Cook (43) and Simon Harmer (42) will be hoping to join team-mate Jamie Porter in this summer's 50+ Champo wickets club.

The luxury of clinching the title with a week to spare means the visitors are able to rest Jordan Clark, Ben Foakes and Dan Worrall, who (according to Surrey's website) "miss out after having been carefully managed through the final block of the Championship season." The Currans are also conspicuous by their absence. Josh Blake is therefore inked in to steal the wicketkeeping gloves from Foakes. Ben Geddes, Yousef Majid, Kemar Roach, Ollie Sykes and James Taylor are also named in the South Londoners' 13-strong party.

The ECB's insistence that the domestic season can roll on until the end of September looks like it will be challenged by the elements, with the forecasters warning of rain on days one and two in Chelmsford. So, expect a draw. Will the weather in the rest of the country give Lancashire a shot of Division One survival; similarly, in Div Two, will Middlesex be able to nick the second promotion spot off Yorkshire? Sussex will definitely be coming up, which raises the prospect, next summer, of the first Sussex v Surrey championship game at Hove since 2010.

D.Elgar, R.Das, T.Westley (capt), L.Benkenstein, M.Critchley, P.Walter, A.Rossington (wk), S.Harmer, S.Snater, S.Cook and J.Porter.

Rob Bailey and Ian Blackwell.

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