Surrey have closed the day on 255 for four against Essex at Chelmsford. The runaway leaders of Division One will be pleased with that considering how difficult batting was in the morning, with England hopeful Rory Burns the standout batsman as he battled his way to 90 from 217 balls to take his tally for the season to 1,051 Championship runs. Ollie Pope may have been retained in England’s squad for this week’s fifth Test against India at The Oval but, having been cleared to play the first two days here, he was out for just 21. Peter Siddle, the Australian who also bowled Burns, was the bowler who had Pope caught at second slip as he produced a carbon copy of the loose shot outside off stump that did for him in his last Test innings at Trent Bridge last month.