County Championship: Ryan Patel hits 75 as Surrey make breezy start against Bears

Rory Burns shared an opening stand of 117 with Ryan Patel

Surrey's batsmen shone amidst all the squally showers in Birmingham as they made a sound start against county champions Warwickshire.

Ryan Patel dominated the morning, making 75, as he shared a century stand with England's Rory Burns, who made 41.

The Bears took three wickets either side of a delayed lunchtime restart before England's Ollie Pope hit eight fours in his 40 in the final session.

But the frustration was that half the day was lost to the weather.

Warwickshire, without suspended new signing Alex Davies, were also missing last season's leading wicket taker Liam Norwell and new Australian fast bowler Nathan McAndrew, who is not due to arrive until next week.

They did have paceman Henry Brookes fit for his first County Championship game since September 2019 - but it was Olly Hannon-Dalby, also back after injury, and impressive spinner Danny Briggs, who shared the wickets.

Surrey, without both their Curran brothers Sam and Tom, got off to a flier early on.

Patel bagged a pair on his only previous trip to Edgbaston three seasons ago, twice removed by Jeetan Patel. But this time he put on 117 with his captain Burns.

They fell within four balls of each other, two hours apart either side of a heavy downpour before Pope then showed his full array of shots in front of a not surprisingly sparse crowd on such a bitterly cold, windy day.

Hashim Amla was the other wicket to fall, bowled by Hannon-Dalby before, from 126-3, the stylish Pope and Ben Foakes put on an unbroken 42 before the premature close.