Surrey end 16 years of hurt with homegrown produce... does this signal the start of a reign of dominance?

SAM MORSHEAD AT NEW ROAD: The last time Surrey were county champions the world was a vastly different place. Twitter was just the vocabulary of our avian friends and Brexit easily confused for a new brand of laxative

^{Surrey celebrate in the dressing room at New Road}

At 2.50pm, as Morne Morkel swivelled on his hips to pull Dillon Pennington to the fine leg boundary, the 16-year wait was over.

Champagne corks popped on the New Road balcony, captain Rory Burns was soaked by jubilant team-mates in front of the Sky Sports cameras and Amar Virdi conducted a travelling gaggle of Surrey 'ultras' in a melodically dubious rendition of just about every song in their repertoire.

For these men and women, it was worth the wait.

The last time Surrey were county champions - the era of Stewart, Ramprakash, Thorpe, Tudor, Bicknell and Hollioake - the world was a vastly different place.

Twitter was just the vocabulary of our avian friends, the idea of a President Trump was imaginable only in the mind of Matt Groening and Brexit easily confused for a new brand of laxative.

Cricket is a very different game now, too. Sixteen years ago, when Adam Hollioake lifted the Championship trophy, the concept of Twenty20 was but a glint in the ECB’s eye, franchises were the domain of fast food giants and a trip to the DRS meant a blood pressure test or a booster jab.

^{Morne Morkel and Rikki Clarke secured victory against Worcestershire}

For those recent converts to the sport, it might seem ridiculous that a club the size of Surrey, with its sizeable resources, impressive membership base, enviable wealth, grand arena and hyper-productive youth system, could possibly have gone so long without success.

But it has been a long road back to the top for the Three Feathers - laced with frustration, disappointment, promise and tragedy.

After relegation in 2004 it took seven years for the club to challenge for a return to the top flight, as they came to terms with the steady flow of county legends choosing to call it a day.

Promotion was eventually achieved, by a skinny single-point margin, in 2011 but the following year became obsolete in the shadow of the death of young batsman Tom Maynard and by 2014 Surrey were back in Division Two.

Surrey beat Worcestershire to become county champions

Only in the past half a decade has a forward-thinking model been allowed to take root, under the tutelage of director of cricket Alec Stewart, chief executive Richard Gould and chairman Richard Thompson. Now, they are reaping the rewards.

“Things were struggling, we can’t hide behind that, but things don’t happen overnight,” said Stewart, talking to the media on the New Road outfield, beer in hand.

“That’s where the chief executive and the chairman were very good - I said ‘if I’m going to come back let me do it my way… if it doesn’t work kick me out but at least I’ve done it my way’.

“We’re perceived, rightly or wrongly, as this massive, wealthy, successful club off the field and we haven’t had enough success on the field for a period of time - not really since 2002.”

Now that has changed.

^{Ollie Pope is one of a number of homegrown stars in the Surrey squad}

While from a theatrical point of view, a title victory away from home with two games to spare is more matinee dress rehearsal than Broadway encore, it is entirely fitting that Surrey have claimed the Championship crown with so much left in the tank.

They have been by far and away the most impressive team in this year’s competition, ably combining old heads with young talent and steamrollering just about every obstacle in their path. The win at Worcester was their ninth in a row; they are the first Surrey team to do that since 1957.

Of the batsmen to have played 10 or more innings in Division One this year, the top two - Ollie Pope and Rory Burns - both wear the Three Feathers. In Burns, they have the competition’s premier batsman - technically a shade unorthodox but hugely effective, he added another 188 runs to his tally at New Road this week to take him to 1,241 in the campaign. No one else even comes close.

Of the bowlers in the top tier, no one has made quite the impact of Morne Morkel, with his 50 wickets at a frankly ludicrous 13.96. A fifth of the top 20 bowlers in the league by average come from the county, too (Tom Curran, Connor McKerr and Rikki Clarke along with Morkel).

Surrey’s bank account is an easy target but, while blessed with tremendous resources - the likes of which can afford Morkel’s two-year deal, tempt Liam Plunkett from Yorkshire and Jordan Clark from Lancashire - the club also invests considerably in its youth.

^{Surrey celebrate with their fans at New Road}

There were seven homegrown players in the side which won at Worcestershire and many more in the squad as a whole. They do not play bit-parts, either.

Just have a peek at the list for a moment: Burns, Pope, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Amar Virdi, Jade Dernbach and, in the limited-overs formats, Jason Roy.

Others, fresh off the production line, have made great strides this season - Will Jacks, Ryan Patel and, in the confines of white-ball cricket, Jamie Smith.

It’s easy to forget, too, that Rikki Clarke was an academy graduate. What a wonderful bonus storyline it was to see the allrounder, at 36 years old, at the wicket when the title was confirmed.

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“You’ve got to have a Surrey nucleus to the squad. It’s almost a unique club in that you’ve got to understand the club to work for it,” says Stewart.

“It is a different club to other clubs, I feel, and if you understand it you’ve got more chance of being successful.

“They have grown together. It’s nice to sit back now and watch this group grow together but the important thing is it continues to grow.”

There was never really a moment on Thursday when the title party was realistically under threat of delay.

Worcestershire fought valiantly in a game they really had to win to have a realistic chance of avoiding the drop but, on a fourth morning played out under baking September sun, they quickly saw the opportunity slip away.

Burns and Mark Stoneman continued where they had left off on Wednesday evening, striking the ball cleanly on a deck which looked increasingly benign.

Surrey players and fans enjoying their moment at New Road. pic.twitter.com/qMn5x1u57R

— Sam Morshead (@SamMorshead_) September 13, 2018

They eventually fell in quick succession, Stoneman dragging on while attempting a drive and Burns unfortunately seeing the ball bounce off his pads and back onto his stumps, but their 111-run opening stand laid the groundwork for a successful chase.

Dean Elgar, Ben Foakes and Pope all made handy contributions in the middle order but it was left to Clarke and Morkel to see Surrey home.

Will this be the start of another period of dominance?

“This has got to be the start of something,” Stewart said.

“We don’t want this to be a one-off. The toughest thing is what can we achieve next year and the year after, and not just say ‘well done, we’ve won one Championship’.

“I was lucky in that I played in a very successful side under Adam Hollioake and if we can mirror that, where there was a nucleus of Surrey players then we might have some more success going forward.”

You’d get long odds on the county having to wait another 16 years for the next one.