County Championship: Lancashire beat champions Surrey inside three days

Surrey were presented with the County Championship trophy after their defeat

Lancashire wrapped up an impressive victory over county champions Surrey inside three days as they signed off the season with a win by an innings and 130 runs.

Left arm slow bowler Tom Hartley did the damage with the ball, with the 23-year-old claiming 5-52 and match figures of 8-80 after nine sessions of cricket which were utterly dominated by the hosts, who dismissed the visitors for 173 in their second innings.

Resuming the first innings under bright autumnal sunshine, Will Williams and Tom Bailey began with the ball against Cameron Steel and Jordan Clark and it was Williams who made the breakthrough early when Clark played on to his stumps attempting to drive for five from 47 balls.

Matt Parkinson went on to take 3-57, with Jamie Overton somehow hitting straight to Dane Vilas at midwicket to depart for nine as the slow bowlers took charge.

Cameron Steel, who had shown a rare patience among the Surrey batters in compiling 47 off 163 balls, was next to go trapped in front by Hartley before Tom Lawes was bowled around his legs by the same bowler for 21.

A nice cameo from Kemar Roach rounded things off with the West Indian seamer hitting an entertaining 26, including a towering straight six off Parkinson, before he skied one to Williams.

With Surrey still trailing by 303 runs, Lancashire inevitably forced the follow on, and a three-day finish looked on the cards.

Credit then to Rory Burns and Ryan Patel who set about things in the second innings with a great deal more determination than they had shown earlier.

Burns took the game to Parkinson and Hartley, regularly dancing down the wicket and displaying the kind of composure and dominance which has seen the ex-England opener enjoy such a fruitful season.

The first-wicket pair had amassed 89 runs when Burns made his first mistake which proved lethal as he walked past a Hartley delivery and was bowled for 61.

Patel suffered from a similar lack of concentration four overs later when he swiped Parkinson to a diving George Balderson at mid on for 36 to leave Surrey 107-2 and Lancashire beginning to dream of a day off.

With Hashim Amla coming to the crease though, the hosts had a sizeable object to still remove, but Hartley did the trick with a sharply turning delivery that was given lbw despite pitching outside leg.

With Amla gone for 15 all fight seemed to disappear from a Surrey side left with little motivation for the role of blockers, and Steel certainly fumbled his lines when he hesitated mid-pitch and was run out by Vilas for five.

It was a nightmare spell for Surrey during which they lost six wickets for 24 runs in 15 overs, with Tom Curran skying his fourth ball to Steven Croft for a duck before Jamie Smith was caught at short leg off Parkinson for 23.

Overton was then bowled around his legs by Hartley for one with Lawes also opting unwisely to attempt the same shot to the same bowler minutes later to hand Hartley his first five for in first-class cricket.

With end of term vibes suddenly the order of the day, Bailey came back on to bowl some off spin and immediately accounted for his old team-mate as Clark was trapped in front for nine.

The last-wicket pair of Daniel Moriarty and Roach hung around until 15:45 BST by which time everyone was ready for a title presentation and umpire Martin Saggers duly obliged when he raised his figure to dismiss Roach lbw off Parkinson.

Lancashire head coach Glen Chapple:

"Our intention was to make sure we finished the season well and make sure we tried as hard in this game as we have in every other one. The effort from the lads was superb to see because they could have easily taken their foot off the gas.

"We can't take any negatives from the season. The lads have performed really well. There are huge positives and when we sit back and reflect on the season there's a lot we can be proud of.

"There were a few pockets here and there where we didn't quite get over the line and possibly that's an area where we can see points have slipped. But the commitment the team has put in in all three competitions has been brilliant.

"Collectively it's one of the best seasons we've had. We want to lift silverware of course we do and that's what we're going to keep pressing for, but seasons like this only serve to reinforce your motivation to get stronger and better."

Surrey head coach Gareth Batty:

"Most of our emotion was spent last week and this week has been difficult - it's like popping a balloon I suppose. But that's no excuse. Lancashire were magnificent and they deserve a hell of a lot of credit for their season.

"The unity of the group has stood out .The fact that Olly Pope and Ben Foakes came back after winning a series with England and were desperate to play to get us over the line speaks volumes for everything and all the work everyone does.

"It's a tight group and I feel it's a special changing room. We also need to respect the fact that Vikram Solanki started all this. He's gone on to win the IPL and it's nice and fitting that we've gone on to win the County Championship.

"We've been very dominant and powerful at home and put teams on the back foot. There have been times when Hashim Amla, who has achieved pretty much everything in the game, has walked off the pitch and said it felt like a session of Test match cricket. That is the biggest compliment you can pay the boys."

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.