Surrey fold after Tremlett's eight

Chris Tremlett could be forgiven for thinking if all his efforts are worth it. Firstly he misses out on a Test recall he seemed assured of, then he takes a career-best 8 for 96 only to then see Surrey's top order crumble to further their relegation concerns.

Tremlett was close to being needed with the bat before the close which was hardly the reward a fast bowler deserves after 33 overs and eight wickets. Surrey sank to 97 for 6, which included two wickets in an over for debutant Usman Arshad, with Mark Wood claiming the prize wicket of Hashim Amla for 14.

James Whitaker, the England selector, will at least be able to report good news about Tremlett ahead of selecting the touring squad to Australia at some point over the next month.

Tremlett started Wednesday morning at The Oval hoping to be in England's XI for the fifth Ashes Test. Despite the disappointment of that omission, the journey to the North East, via a quick trip home to collect his Surrey kit, has been worthwhile although he admitted he would have swapped eight wickets here for half as many at The Oval.

His figures were the third best in the Championship this season but Durham, who will remain firmly in the title race with victory, repelled Surrey's other bowlers with such success that they reached 421, a total that was soon looking vast. Phil Mustard's unbeaten 45 was the core around which their lower order put on 90 for the last four wickets

The Surrey openers went inside five overs and Vikram Solanki was lbw offering no shot at Jamie Harrison to leave them 20 for 3. Then Wood came on for the 13th over and seemed to surprise Amla with his pace first ball, Amla playing back and the ball skidding through his defence.

Bradford-born Arshad, a Durham academy product, struck with his eighth and 12th balls in first-class cricket having earlier batted for 18 overs. Zander de Bruyn played back against the brisk medium-pacer and chopped the ball into his stumps, then Gary Wilson edged to Phil Mustard. Steven Davies played positively for his 36, striking seven boundaries, but Surrey remained 174 runs short of saving the follow-on.

During the day local umpire Philip Raine stood at square leg after Mark Benson left the field for family circumstances*. Michael Gough, the other ECB umpire, stood at both ends until Paul Baldwin arrived during the afternoon to replace Benson.