On a spearmint green pitch at the Oval, Dan Lawrence had one of his unstoppable days, an unorthodox tub-thumping of Hampshire. With fierce eye and rampaging bat, he bashed 218 off 190 balls and became the first player to hit four Division One centuries this season, achieving his highest first-class score.
The Oval had been the site of Lawrence’s maiden first-class hundred for Essex in April 2015 when he was only 17. Eleven years later, it was the venue for his first double century, reached with a peerless inside-out drive over extra cover. Spectators rose around the ground as they had when he passed 100 and 150, and would again when he was finally dismissed with Surrey eight down, heaving for one final six off Sonny Baker.
Lawrence was also awarded his county cap, not given away lightly here, from director of cricket Alec Stewart at tea, with 2,150 runs for Surrey in the bank.
This one-off Championship match, sitting alone in the schedule due to fixture congestion, was always a bit of an anomaly. But Surrey’s marketing team, with a keen eye for good publicity, invited day-four spectators at Lord’s, whose cricket had been curtailed, to cross the Thames for only a fiver on production of their ticket – and 250 did, joining a crowd of 4,700.
Surrey were sporting a new-look side, shorn of their England players and with a string of injuries including Ben Foakes, still out of action after bowling at the fag end of the draw against Essex in April. Bottom-of-the-table Hampshire were boosted by the return of Baker from Lord’s.
The morning session had been steady, even earnest, with Hampshire winkling out Rory Burns and Will Jacks cheaply. When Dom Sibley followed soon after lunch, the decision to bowl looked a good one. But then Lawrence and Ollie Pope (76) stepped on the accelerator in a partnership of 255 in 37 overs.
To rub salt in the wound, Surrey were awarded five penalty runs when a cheesed-off Delano Potgieter, who had just been crunched for two fours by Lawrence, fielded off his own bowling and flung the ball back, throwing down the stumps.
Hampshire came back well with the new ball in the evening as Surrey lost six for 31, but the damage was done. Nick Gubbins and Toby Albert survived 5.2 overs before bad light stopped play, but the day belonged to Lawrence.
