Atkinson made to wait as Essex impress at Oval: county cricket, day one – as it happened

Paul Walter’s 101 and Dean Elgar’s 92 gave the visitors a strong start before Gus Atkinson led Surrey’s fightback

Former Essex cricketer Doug Bracewell has been suspended for two years by the Cricket Regulator for “an Adverse Analytical Finding for the presence of cocaine and its Metabolite, benzoylecgonine” when he was tested on the 25th September 2025. Bracewell has accepted the sanction. The suspension lasts until 24 November 2027.

All teams have played two games unless marked