HAVING one Morne Morkel is proving a huge advantage in Surrey’s bid for the Specsavers County Championship – but Nottinghamshire got a taste of the power of ‘mini-Morkel’ at the Brit Oval.

They were brushed aside by an innings and 125 runs in just over seven sessions last week and Rory Burns’s men remained 32 points ahead of second-placed Somerset in Division One with four rounds left, the first of those currently taking place against Essex at Chelmsford.

South African giant Morkel added five wickets to his already formidable haul to make it 38 from just six matches – all of which have ended in victory, Surrey making it seven on the trot and eight out of 10 altogether.

Strength in depth is key to any successful side, though, and even with Sam Curran away with England and Jade Dernbach injured, they had the heavy artillery to take advantage of a bowler-friendly pitch.

Tom Curran celebrated his opening Championship appearance of an injury-hit summer by claiming 5-28 in Nottinghamshire’s first innings, the visitors showing little appetite for the battle as they were hurried out for 101 in 31.4 overs. Opener Mark Stoneman, returning to form after a miserable summer, made a fluent 144, lifting Surrey to 375.

Just as impressive as Curran was 20-year-old fast bowler Conor McKerr, who filleted the middle-order with 3-21 and went one better when the follow-on was imposed with 4-26.

Notts did marginally better second time round and reached 149, West Indies opener Kraigg Brathwaite battling to 60 despite being hit on the head by both Morkel and McKerr and each time needing the now mandatory check for concussion.

McKerr spent three months on the sidelines after suffering a serious side injury in Surrey’s early-season victory over Yorkshire, but the 20-year-old gave Notts little respite by making the ball rise steeply off a length when Morkel was resting. The ‘mini-Morkel’ label is relative to his height at 6ft 6in.

Rory Burns said: “Having Morne to learn from both on and off the field is obviously a big bonus for Conor. But he is also around a lot of very good people at this club and he’s still got a lot to learn at his age and relatively little experience.”

Born and raised in Johannesburg, McKerr moved to the UK prior to the 2016 season to qualify for England, which is currently a seven-year process but that could be reduced to four in the coming months, which would make him eligible for international cricket in early 2020.

He spent a short period on loan with Derbyshire last year, claiming 10 wickets in his second match – against Northamptonshire in Division Two – and only injuries have slowed his advance.

Having hammered Hampshire by an innings last week, Essex moved into third spot, 76 points adrift of Surrey. The teams clash again in the final match of the season in the last week of September.

Burns and his men also face trips to relegation-strugglers Worcestershire (next week) and then Somerset, who have won their last three matches.