Don't blame Surrey for winning so often, blame the rest of county cricket

My column for The Cricket Paper in May 2023

Last time I was at The Oval, it happened three times. It was quite out of the blue, entirely un-British and yet refreshingly pleasant.

Club staff bade me an unsolicited hello as I walked by.

The first two were from stewards so it was only after a third greeting from Steve Elworthy, former South African pace bowler and current Surrey CEO, that I twigged it.

My Essex hat.

I have worn it all over the county circuit in the last few years and have never received so many active greetings from people I did not know.

Now, old habits die hard and older sticks used to beat sworn enemies are almost impossible to break but, over the past few years, Surrey have become the closest thing we have to moral leaders in county cricket.

As ever, the true divide was The Hundred. If, as many of us suspect, it was a Trojan Horse designed to see off the existing structure and jettison six to eight sides then Surrey had every reason to welcome it in. After all, they are the richest county, would be strengthened by the loss of so-called dead wood and even had a franchise named after their ground.

However, the Richards, Thompson and Gould, pushed back citing their belief in the 18-county structure and Blast sales that already attracted exactly the demographics the ECB believed only the new event could reach. Their eventual elevation from county to national body chair and CEO was met with a sigh of relief by legacy fans. It is rare to find leaders of a sporting organisation acting, not just talking, as if the “we” is more important than the “me”.

That said, the fiscal advantage they helped create at Surrey is only getting bigger. At the start of this year, their membership had grown to 17,500, more than a third of the total among all counties. Their balance sheet is akin to that of a Premier League side, bar the foundation stone of football’s success – media rights. Many other counties are nearer non-League.

That day The Oval, the stewards not so much invited as implored me to go on the pitch at the intervals (see pic). None of the stuffiness of Lord’s. It is fitting that a modern, sensitively developed stadium such as The Oval should play host to the World Test Championship this week. However, bear in mind that, before the pandemic, the host county generated more revenue than the current holders New Zealand.

Gone are the days of opening the chequebook and mindlessly hoovering up all the best talent from other counties, something that crystallised their ‘rich boys’ reputation among non-believers. No title between 2002 and 2018 plus a spell in Division Two would suggest it did not work anyway.

That breakthrough title was based on 13 home-grown or academy players, who accounted for 166 of the 216 wickets and eight of the nine centuries. Yes, money still buys the best academy facilities and back-room teams to attract and nurture the best young talent. Money also brings the best overseas available, more than enough cover for the inevitable international call-ups and provides salaries sufficient to lure the key domestic signings. But, as with Manchester City’s domination of the Premier League, we should still applaud the intelligent, planned deployment of vast resources to create sporting success given their power means they operate in an environment of expectation not hope. You just cannot spin the ‘fighting against the odds’ fairytale.

Thankfully, Surrey are not as dominant as Pep Guardiola’s side yet but the signs are ominous. They have a commanding Division One lead in defence of their Championship title with three of their four wins coming by nine wickets and the other by 10. Last Sunday, Sussex squeezed home with one ball remaining in the Blast fixture at The Oval to consign them to their first defeat of the season.

Manchester City’s achievements may yet require an asterisk given they face 115 charges for breaking the Premier League’s financial rules, presumably to secure their on-field success. Beyond that, there are justifiable accusations of sportwashing. Like City, Surrey have a bundle of progressive, community schemes. Important, worthy and clearly not for show but, at the same time, charity can become a higher priority when you have posted a profit nine years in a row as they did before the pandemic.

However, Surrey stole a unique place on sport’s moral high ground when they handed back the furlough money they received during lockdown, a reported £70,000.

Let us not overstate this. The so-called ‘Surrey Strut’ is still visible, along with a certain public school sheen and, for me, Rory Burns’ pony-tail might be worth a points deduction on its own. I will still spell Surrey with a $ in my tweets.

But a robust, progressive business, sensitive moral compass and capacity to speak truth to power has, in my biased mind, elevated the reputation of the second-most successful club in County Championship cricket.

If you want a further yardstick then compare Surrey’s standing - financial, ethical, communal and on the pitch - to the only county to have won more Championship titles. One who, by rights, should have nearly all the advantages of Surrey.

Alas, Yorkshire are bottom of Division Two and, just 48 hours after Sussex sneaked home at The Oval, they finally recorded their first win since August 21 last year. They are expected to face a points deduction following claims of racism while financial problems reportedly threaten their very existence.

Never has the divide between county cricket’s biggest teams felt so wide.

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