Tom Latham debut century drives Warwickshire on Edgbaston belter

Tom Latham scored a debut century as Warwickshire reached 364 for four against Surrey on the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Edgbaston.

New Zealand batter Latham struck an unbeaten 139 (244 balls) after Surrey chose to bowl on another belter of a batting pitch at Edgbaston. Rob Yates scored 86 (151) against the champions' much-changed team with Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson having departed on England duty.

Surrey are also without Dan Worrall whom they decided to spare the hard labour on a pitch which appears so good for batting that the best chance of victory lies in a fourth day run-chase. Warwickshire, meanwhile, are without young seamer Michael Booth who will be sidelined for two to three months by a stress fracture of the fibula. Barbados-born Che Simmons has come into the team for his home championship debut.

Against a Surrey attack including debutant Nathan Smith. Warwickshire started serenely in the Second City sunshine as Yates and Alex Davies (45, 58) gathered an untroubled 70 in 19 overs. Davies twice hoisted Jordan Clark for six over the short Hollies Stand boundary but departed in angst after swinging and missing at a full toss from Dan Lawrence.

Yates and Latham added 112 before the former departed in a different type of angst to this captain. With a century beckoning, he tickled an unthreatening leg-side delivery from Tom Lawes to the wicketkeeper.

A Latham century looked likely from the moment he took guard. He moved sweetly into the 40s, took a breather and spent 35 balls there, then pulled Clark for six to reach his half-century and galloped from 50 to 80 in another 18 balls. It was batting of simple, solid, unhurried class.

Surrey's rejigged bowling attack, with Smith on his debut and Lawes and Cameron Steel each playing their first game of the season, persevered nobly. Sam Hain flicked Clark straight to backward square leg and Lawrence bowled Beau Webster with a beauty through the gate.

But Ed Barnard (38, 63) joined the implacable Latham to add an unbroken 83 in the last 24 overs of the day. Latham reached his 27th first class century from 161 balls to emulate his countryman Jeetan Patel in making a ton on his Warwickshire debut. Whether Latham matches Patel's subsequent haul of 742 wickets for the club remains to be seen, but he has immediately provided the top order ballast they badly need.

It was a gruelling day in the field for Surrey but they will expect similar plunder from their batters, including Jason Roy who will be looking to make it back-to-back championship centuries spanning six years eight months, having scored 128 against Essex at The Oval in his last Championship game, in September 2018.