Surrey are on the brink of their third County Championship title in four seasons. If a crate of champagne is not yet sat in the corner of the visitors’ dressing room it should be. Warwickshire, who are three down in their second innings, still need 45 runs to make the Oval outfit bat again. Furthermore, with Nick Knight struggling to play on the front foot, due to a sore hip, a championship-clinching ninth victory would appear to be a formality.

The position Surrey find themselves in owes much to a hectic third morning in which they advanced their score by 183. Nadeem Shahid recorded his second hundred of the summer, though not before a relatively sedate Alistair Brown reached his half-century off 103 balls and Adam Hollioake batted with his customary authority to bring up the fifty partnership for the fifth wicket in just 29 deliveries.

The home side wasted no time taking the new ball and entrusted it to the copper-haired duo of Melvyn Betts and Shaun Pollock. Shahid showed it scant regard, however, as he on drove Betts three times in as many overs before pulling him violently for four. The 27-year-old’s next over saw the hundred partnership for the fourth wicket, which was reached in 26 overs.

Brown then posted a thousand runs for the season with an imperious drive through the on-side off Mohammed Sheikh, who bowled admirably without really looking like taking a wicket. Six overs later the man they call ‘The Lord’ was out trying to give Ashley Giles the charge. After the amount of purchase Giles had managed to extract to outwit Surrey’s number five, few could have predicted the mayhem that was to follow.

Adam Hollioake immediately took three successive boundaries off Dougie Brown. Nadeem Shahid then expertly reverse swept Ashley Giles for two fours after which the Surrey captain straight drove the England player for four sixes. The fourth brought up Hollioake’s fifty off only 39 balls. In Giles’s previous over, however, Shahid had gone to a gentle catch to slip. The 33-year-old, to whom Surrey are often indebted when they would otherwise be depleted by Test calls, made 116 including 21 fours and the pull for six off Melvyn Betts which had taken him to three figures in 144 deliveries a few overs earlier.

Ashley Giles took his analysis to 4 for 122 when he produced a double-wicket maiden straddling lunch. Rikki Clarke came down the wicket, but at the same as he was checking the stroke Tony Frost was removing his bails. The fourth ball after the break saw Martin Bicknell give a sharp bat-pad catch to silly mid-off.

Not long afterwards Salisbury was leg before, half forward to Brown. Saqlain then skied an awkward catch to extra cover and Ormond was caught and bowled when he went to drive and thought better of it. Adam Hollioake, who made two half centuries in the corresponding fixture at the AMP Oval, finished unbeaten on 82, giving his side a first innings lead of 199.

Due to Nick Knight aggravating a hip injury in the field, Michael Powell was partnered at the top of the order by Mark Wagh. The Warwickshire openers took five boundaries off the first two overs then set their sights on tea, which was reached with 83 runs on the board. Two overs after the interval, however, Wagh let his guard slip and was trapped leg before on the back foot to Saqlain Mushtaq.

It was not long before long Jimmy Ormond got one to catch the shoulder of Ian Bell’s forward prod and Michael Powell, who was caught behind off a no-ball from Bicknell when on 20, was out to catch at forward short leg.

Knight, batting with a runner, battled for over an hour to make an unbeaten 14. Jim Troughton, though, played every ball on its merits and, as well as looking the main danger, appears to a certainty for this winter’s England Academy intake.

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