Abbott finds groove in Surrey return, Bancroft hits county ton

Sean Abbott has helped reigning champions Surrey towards another triumph while Cameron Bancroft hit a superb century on a day when Australians shone again in a sun-baked County Championship program.

Surrey are looking well set in their clash with Warwickshire, needing just 58 runs on the final day with all 10 wickets still standing to record a third straight division one victory, thanks in part to fine contributions from the returning Abbott and the evergreen Dan Worrall.

West Indian Kemar Roach may have been the star of the day at The Oval on Sunday, taking 6-46 as the visitors were bowled out for 209 in their second innings but Abbott, back in London after not making Australia's T20 World Cup squad, was in sparkling form with bat and ball in his first red-ball match in nearly a year.

Last season, the NSW allrounder became an Oval favourite, taking 37 first-class scalps in nine matches as well as smashing an unforgettable 41-ball unbeaten 110no in a T20 match.

He looked in the mood to carry on where he left off, coming in at No.10 and cracking an unbeaten 50 off 58 balls to help provide late-innings support to Jamie Smith, whose brilliant 155 did most to give Surrey a significant first-innings lead.

The pair put on 115 in just over 18 overs for the ninth wicket that hauled Surrey up to 464 all out in reply to Warwickshire's 343.

Then, while Roach did most of the damage, Abbott, who also took two wickets in the first innings, chipped in with the key dismissal of Ed Barnard, who'd made 44 in a stubborn 75-run stand with Sam Hain, pulling off a stunning caught-and-bowled.

Anglo-Aussie Worrall, one of Surrey's spearheads again this season as he was in their previous two Championship triumphs, finally got his reward after beating the bat regularly, taking the final wicket of the innings. He finished with 1-53 off his 15 overs, while Abbott took 1-32 off 11.

Surrey openers Rory Burns and Dom Sibley then took them close to victory at 0-31 by stumps.

At Northampton's Wantage Road, Bancroft, who had scored 53 in the first innings, ended up 130 not out in Gloucestershire's second knock against Northants to steer his side into position for a final-day victory push.

It was the Australian Test opener's first ton in his second stint with the West Country county, enabling them to declare on 5-319 with a huge lead of 557. Northants dug in late on day three though, reaching 2-144 by the close.

Bancroft's 130no was his 27th first-class hundred and was compiled off 205 balls, with 11 fours and a six.  

Without the rested Nathan Lyon, Lancashire took a pounding from Nottinghamshire with captain Haseeb Hameed hitting a record-breaking, career-best 247no at Trent Bridge in their first-innings 501 to help his side take control.

Hameed's score is the highest by a Nottinghamshire player carrying his bat through an innings in the county's history.

And Aussie quicks Wes Agar (1-88 from 20 overs) and Peter Siddle (3-74 from 23.4) toiled hard for Kent and Durham respectively over the weekend as Worcestershire amassed 7(dec)-618 in their first innings and Hampshire 503.

2024 Division One County Championship standings

Team	Matches played M	Wins W	Losses L	Drawn D	No results N/R	Deductions Ded.	Batting Bonus Bat	Bowling Bonus Bowl	Total points PTS
1 Surrey SRY	14	8	2	4	0	0	34	37	231
2 Hampshire HAM	14	6	1	6	1	2	31	33	214
3 Somerset SOM	14	5	3	6	0	0	28	40	196
4 Essex ESS	14	6	3	5	0	12	34	36	194
5 Durham DUR	14	4	4	5	1	1	30	30	171
6 Worcestershire WOR	14	3	4	7	0	0	21	37	162
7 Warwickshire WAR	14	1	4	9	0	0	33	38	159
8 Nottinghamshire NOT	14	2	4	8	0	1	25	35	155
9 Lancashire LAN	14	3	6	5	0	3	15	34	134
10 Kent KEN	14	1	8	5	0	1	12	32	99

Legend

M: Matches played

W: Wins

L: Losses

D: Drawn

N/R: No results

Ded.: Deductions

Bat: Batting Bonus

Bowl: Bowling Bonus

PTS: Total points

Australians in the 2024 County Championship

Durham: Ben Dwarshuis, Ashton Turner (both T20s only)

Essex: Daniel Sams (T20s only)

Glamorgan: Marnus Labuschagne

Gloucestershire: Cameron Bancroft, Beau Webster

Hampshire: Michael Neser, Ben McDermott (T20s only)

Kent: Wes Agar, Charlie Stobo, Xavier Bartlett (T20s only)

Lancashire: Nathan Lyon, Chris Green (T20s only)

Leicestershire: Peter Handscomb, Marcus Harris

Northamptonshire: Chris Tremain

Somerset: Matthew Renshaw

Surrey: Sean Abbott, Spencer Johnson (T20s only)

Sussex: Nathan McAndrew, Daniel Hughes