Rory Burns paid tribute to his Surrey side after completing their hat-trick of titles in the Vitality County Championship.

He was speaking after the final match of the campaign, a draw against Essex at Chelmsford, having secured their place at the summit a week earlier with their eighth win of the 14-match Division One programme.

“I’m very proud of what this side have achieved over the past few years,” said Burns, who has now captained Surrey to four titles overall, starting in 2018. Only Stuart Surridge, with five, stands ahead of him in the club’s history.

“To win it once is a very hard thing to do. To win it three times in a row is incredibly impressive.

“I think the motivation at the start of every season is that when you’ve done it once, you want to do it again and you know the target is on your back. There is that pride in defending it. We’ve dressed it in different ways in trying to attack it but we’ll sit on three in a row for a bit and then we’ll think about next year in due course.”

Surrey finished 16 points clear of Hampshire, with Somerset – leading challengers in the final weeks of the season – fading badly to limp home in third and Essex fourth.

Burns explained the difficulties of success affecting player availability: “This one has probably been the most difficult. Within our squad we have got a lot of moving parts, a lot of guys going out and playing for England, which is brilliant. It is one of the challenges.

“The target is on our back.

“The next one is always difficult but there is no reason why we can’t do it. We’ll certainly have a month off now, then we’ll start thinking about it.”

Of Alec Stewart, who is due to step down as director of cricket soon, Burns added: “He’s always going to be there in the background, I imagine, and helping us in every way he can. He’s a true Surrey man.”

With the title secured, Surrey rested key bowlers Dan Worrall and Jordan Clark from the final match, while wicketkeeper Ben Foakes was suffering from a hand injury. Taking over the gloves was Josh Blake, alongside spinner Yousef Majid and batsman Ollie Sykes, the first time Surrey have fielded three first-class debutants in a Championship match.

They found it hard work. Essex – despite the loss of all but one session over the first two rain-affected days – amassed 508 for eight declared. They were led by former South African opener Dean Elgar’s 182, made mostly on one leg after suffering an ankle injury, plus Tom Westley’s 135 and Matt Critchley’s 112. Seamer James Taylor and Majid both claimed two wickets.

Left just over a day to save the game, Surrey were indebted to opener Dominic Sibley’s 125. Contributions down the order from Blake (38 not out) and Tom Lawes (33 not out) guided them to 267 for seven when stumps were drawn for the final time.