Essex take control

County Championship D1, The Oval, day one of four (stumps): Surrey 318 v Essex 112-1

Full scorecard

Relegated Essex gained the upper hand against a makeshift Surrey side.

Last year's champions, who fielded up to six non first-team regulars, struggled after winning the toss as James Middlebrook picked up four wickets.

Three Surrey players made a half-century, with first-choice keeper Jon Batty's 87 the top-score.

Alistair Cook and Andy Flower steered Essex into a strong position after the early loss of Will Jefferson.

Jefferson fell to Paul Sampson in the first over of Essex's reply, but Cook (63 not out) and Flower (47 not out) put on 112 unbroken runs together before the close of play.

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Surrey: S A Newman, J N Batty, N Shahid, R Clarke, A D Brown J G E Benning, B J M Scott (Wkt), I D K Salisbury (Capt) T J Murtagh, P J Sampson, N C Saker.

Essex: W I Jefferson, A N Cook, A Flower (Capt), M L Pettini R S Bopara, J S Foster (Wkt), J D Middlebrook, G R Napier J P Stephenson, A J Clarke, Mohammad Akram.

Umpires: A G T Whitehead, P Willey.