Surrey captain Rory Burns will have twin targets for 2025 – leading his side to a fourth successive County Championship title and making a success of his testimonial.

The opener, who made his debut in 2011 and quickly became an integral member of the team – scoring more than 11,000 first-class runs for them so far – has been involved with the county since appearing for the under-nines in 1999.

“Having been part of the club for 25 years, I’m honoured to be awarded a testimonial by Surrey,” he said.

“The Oval has always been home to me and I’m grateful for the support I have received while I’ve been here.”

Burns has been the model of consistency at the top of the order, passing 1,000 first-class runs for six successive seasons from 2014-19. That earned him an England call-up, playing 32 Tests and scoring three centuries.

His first year as Surrey captain, in 2018, saw him lead them to their first Championship title since 2002 and since then he has added three more – a hat-trick from 2022-24 – putting Burns only second behind Stuart Surridge (five) as the club’s most successful skipper.

Alec Stewart, the high performance cricket advisor at the Kia Oval, said: “No one is more deserving of this honour than Rory.

“He is a leader of the highest calibre and very few men have had the impact on the club that he has.

“Everyone knows what he can do on the pitch with bat in hand but that quality is matched by his tactical skillset in the field as captain and his leadership in the dressing room.

“On behalf of the club, I want to thank Rory for his 25 years of service and I look forward to seeing him scoring runs at the Kia Oval for many more years.”

By Richard Spiller