Surrey finished the second day 473-runs adrift of Essex in the opening Rothesay County Championship match of the 2025 season.
Burns clocked up his 75th first-class fifty in anchoring the Surrey reply after losing opening partner Dom Sibley in the fourth over. At the close the second-wicket pair had put on 101 with Burns 59 not out and Pope unbeaten on 45 in Surrey’s 109-1
Essex’s 582-6 included three centuries – not forgetting Paul Walter’s 95 – as Matt Critchley and Michael Pepper emulated first-day centurion Jordan Cox. Critchley was left 145 not out, six runs short of his highest first-class score, while Pepper’s 109 came off 162 balls during a fifth-wicket stand of 216.
Dan Lawrence was chief toiler as Surrey were kept in the field for 148 overs but had the comfort of taking 3-169 from a marathon 35.2 overs .
When Surrey responded, Sibley lasted just eight balls before he was trapped plumb on his crease by Sam Cook. It was only the third wicket to fall in the day, and seventh in two days.
It might have been worse for the visitors, but Critchley spoilt an otherwise perfect day on a personal level when had put down a chance at short midwicket when Ollie Pope was on 10.
Instead, it got considerably better. Pope whipped Shane Snater through the covers for one four and clubbed Jamie Porter through midwicket for another.
By mid-evening session, Essex had spin at both ends as Critchley joined Simon Harmer in tying down the Surrey second-wicket pair to a trickle of runs. Burns, though, was sufficiently expansive to reach fifty from 114 balls with seven fours.
Critchley and Pepper had come together during the previous evening after the dismissal of Cox.
The pair took an equal share in the fifth-wicket partnership, mixing watchfulness with tempered aggression, as they steered Essex to four batting points and well beyond.
However, when he had reached 92, Critchley survived a chance when Ryan Patel could only parry a difficult chance above his head at square leg off Lawrence. Critchley soon hooked Matt Fisher for the single that took him to a 208-ball hundred.
Pepper turned Taylor leg-side for the two runs that not only took him to his century but also brought up the 200-run stand. He celebrated by hitting Lawrence straight back down the ground for six, but next ball cross-batted to wide mid-on to provide his former Essex team-mate with some long-overdue consolation.
Lawrence claimed a third wicket when Noah Thain, having hit a run-a-ball 26, picked out Roach on the long-on boundary at which point the signal came from the dressing room to call a halt to the first innings.
