Foakes to the rescue for Surrey as County Championship makes its earliest start

Wicketkeeper hits ton against Warwickshire and impresses alongside Tom Lawes on season’s opening day

The County Championship whirred back into life on Good Friday, with 3 April its earliest start in history. By extension, Rory Burns claimed the record for its earliest dismissal, with Surrey’s captain run out 10 minutes into the day’s play at Edgbaston in a scene usually reserved for the village green.

Cricket really can be a sod sometimes. All that pre-season graft, all those hours dreaming big, only to plink a drive early on, think it has beaten mid-off, and set off for the run in good faith. The throw from Warwickshire’s Ed Barnard may have been wild but Kai Smith mopped up smartly at the stumps. Talk about sick Burns.