Sean Abbott shines as Lancashire do little to justify early top-of-the-table billing

Given that on Thursday morning no county in the land had gained any points at all, it seemed both true and barmy for a few pundits to describe this as a top-of-the-table match. The expectation lying behind such a statement, of course, was that both Lancashire and Surrey will be among those fighting it out in September when every point's significance is clearer and the title is in the hazard.

But the significance attached to this first game of the season explains why Lancashire's steady, and then headlong, subsidence this afternoon and evening mattered so much. The home side's decline from 43 without loss to 197 for eight might not lead to a Surrey victory. (Can Keaton Jennings' top-order donate their wickets so carelessly a second time?) But it has allowed Surrey to gain a powerful psychological advantage over the home side, even if such an advantage has modest expression in points. So far, at least…

So almost all of today's cricket will have pleased the Peter May Boys, whose loyal support is purely vocal at Surrey's away games; sadly, they do not cheer on their team from a fine encampment such as they have established at The Oval. However, there is so much building work taking place on the ground at the moment that the addition of a gazebo or two shouldn't cause much of a fuss and surely something should be done to mark Sean Abbott's day.

That said, Lancashire's problems were very often their own damn silly fault. Facing a seam-dominated attack that asked probing questions, they offered inadequate answers and no one was guiltier than the specialist batsmen. For example, in the fourth over after lunch, Luke Wells drove at a wideish ball from Abbott at edged a catch to Ollie Pope, who pouched a diving two-handed catch to his left with an athletic lack of fuss. An hour later, Josh Bohannon, having played with impressive composure for his 32 runs, slapped a full-length leg-spinner from Cam Steel straight to Abbott at shortish extra-cover. Steven Croft, so often the source of Lancashire's common-sense recoveries made 11 before hooking Abbott straight to Kemar Roach at long leg.

By now, Abbott might have reckoned that this was his day and that memories of his previous injury-plagued stint at The Oval in 2021, when he took two wickets and scored 40 runs in his only game, were fading.

If so, he was quite correct. After tea, he would take two more wickets and another catch to wreck Lancastrian hopes that their tail-end resistance would match that of their opponents. One of the most vital wickets, though, was taken by Dan Worrall, whose short ball was inside-edged into his stumps by Dane Vilas. "Oh, it's a drag-on!" said the excellent Paul Allott on commentary, thankfully referring to the mode of dismissal rather than any perception that Lancashire's batsmen were now being threatened by Smaug in addition to the Surrey attack.

Seven overs later Jordan Clark bowled Keaton Jennings off his pads for 76, although Ben Foakes' determination to stand up to Clark may have cramped the Lancashire skipper. As though reacting to the loss of a batsman who had scored runs for fun in 2022, the home side lost three wickets for one run in seven balls and did disappear as though there were a few fantastic beasts in pursuit of them. And nothing was quite so out of kilter with that passage of play than what then resulted - a last hour's cricket in which Colin de Grandhomme and Will Williams put on 36 more runs in 17 overs and gave the impression that batting was one of the simplest activities known to humankind.

Surrey supporters will rightly point out that a similar mood had been achieved on Thursday evening and Friday morning by Steel, who drove Williams through the covers and picked him up over square-leg for a six before reaching his century with his 11th four, this time a neat clip off his legs. The batsman's celebrations were effusive enough but they were matched beyond the boundary: every member of the Surrey squad applauded him from the away balcony and cheers were also heard from a particular enclave of supporters sitting in the pavilion.

One warmed to all these reactions; Steel's century had taken him 189 minutes, 152 balls - and months of winter work in the nets. This was his fourth first-class century but, rather more significantly, his first score above 50 since September 2018, when he played for Durham. He has already provided us with one of the moments of the season.

The broader context of Surrey's batting deserved an ovation, too. Three of their last five partnerships had put on at least 50 and none had yielded fewer than 37 runs. Having been 77 for four and having lost half their side for 164 they had scored another 278 runs, thus collecting four bonus points. The only sliver of grit in their caramel Freddo was the dismissal of Kemar Roach for 18 caught behind by Bell off the final ball of the 110th over. Luke Wood's second wicket had thus given Lancashire a third bonus point but even that was a thin reward and things might look a damn sight worse for the home side come Sunday evening.