Dan Lawrence gives Essex stability in face of Surrey's fearsome foursome

SAM MORSHEAD AT THE KIA OVAL: It was a slovenly sort of day, one where the casual onlooker might easily have got lost in their paper or iPhone, or suddenly found their mind drifting to weekend plans

Kia Oval (second day of four): Surrey 395, Essex 202-4 - Essex trail by 193 runs with six first-innings wickets remaining

Scorecard

When cricketers speak of the county grind, it is usually in affectionate tones.

The phrase is tied to smudged pictures of service station car parks on social media, extra strong coffee in paper cups and long hauls up and down England’s concrete arteries. It’s part of the job; a right of passage; certainly not a criticism.

Yet there are days of county cricket to which the same words can be aptly applied in a less convivial manner. This was one of them.

Friday’s play at the Oval - in front of 2,000 huddled and hoodied spectators, with temperatures steadfastly refusing to rise above 10 Celsius - was attritional, but not in any particularly dramatic sense of the word.

Surrey, their platform set by the cocky batsmanship of Will Jacks, were guided by a vigilant century from Ryan Patel to 395, a total neither big enough to be intimidating nor small enough to give Essex that much hope of a first-innings lead.

In response, the visitors lost both openers cheaply yet pulled themselves to a competitive position by the time the cloud cut out the light just after 5pm.

It had been a slovenly sort of day, one where the casual onlooker might easily have got lost in their paper or iPhone, or suddenly found their mind drifting to weekend plans.

^{Ryan Patel made 100 for Surrey}

“I must put up that shelf.”

“Did I book the MOT?”

“Oh, Curran’s had Cook caught behind.”

That is not to say that days such as these are an unacceptable part of Championship life, far from it. In fact, days like today make the eventful sessions in this fabulous competition that little bit more special.

But it’s okay to call a squib damp. And this squib was dripping.

Patel methodically manoeuvred himself to his first senior century for Surrey just before the final wicket of the innings fell, finishing unbeaten on an even ton made from 277 deliveries, and spread across six hours. Your correspondent cannot remember one ball being hit in the air in that time.

It was a knock which belied his 21 years, and gave his seam attack a real chance to make Essex suffer.

Initially, that looked possible. Sir Alastair nicked off to Tom Curran with the visitors on 20, and the scoreboard had not ticked over any further when Morne Morkel pinned Nick Browne in front of middle and off.

You could almost hear the home crowd rubbing their hands in eager expectation of a mauling as the players returned after lunch, though admittedly that might have been a forlorn attempt to avoid frostbite.

However, for the rest of the afternoon, Surrey struggled with writer’s block.

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Essex’s third-wicket pair of Dan Lawrence and Tom Westley put on 96 despite never looking totally comfortable - they were rarely ill at ease either - as Surrey’s fearsome foursome suddenly seemed a whole lot less scary.

Ball only occasionally beat bat and, in overcast conditions which really ought to have helped them, Morkel, Curran, Liam Plunkett and Rikki Clarke could not find the necessary spark.

Westley, still the same classy strokeplayer, was eventually undone only by a superb catch in the gully by Ollie Pope, leaping low to his right to give Curran his second wicket, while Rishi Patel - a 20-year-old second-year pro - swashbuckled his way to 31 in 25 balls before trying one shot too many and finding himself caught in the slips.

That was as good as it got for the champions. Essex, led by Dan Lawrence, made sure their hosts never re-established control.

It is easy to forget that Lawrence himself is just 21, so great have the expectations been for him for such a long time.

He will resume on 87 on Saturday, looking to gather the 13 runs that will take him level with his century haul for 2018 - he averaged less than 24 last year, and has openly accepted there must be substantial improvement this time around. This is a mighty fine retort.

Alongside Ryan ten Doeschate, Lawrence helped the away side reach 202 for 4 when bad light intervened and, one by one, the Oval audience dragged themselves home.

Maybe they’ll be back tomorrow. After that shelf is up, of course.