Dom Sibley: Surrey's symbol of dependability, and the man his teammates always look to for reassurance

As he starts another day at the office he is a reassuring sight, removing the fears of his teammates and the doubts of Surrey supporters. Whether there are twenty minutes in the day to survive under the floodlights, or the sun is beating down on a flat one, the sight of Surrey’s tall right-handed opener making his way to the middle means everything will be well and the only doubts and fears will felt by the bowlers who have to start the long job of trying to prize him from the crease.

Sibley loves batting and he has an insatiable appetite for runs. Everybody saw that just three games into his first-class career, when he made 242 against Yorkshire at the Oval. He was 18 years old, in his final year at Whitgift School, and he was already greedy for runs - facing 536 balls, feasting for nearly ten hours, and becoming the youngest player to score a double hundred in County Championship history.

To those aware of the young Sibley's huge promise, however, it was not a surprise. His abilities had been recognised long before that 2013 game against Yorkshire and 9,422 first-class runs have gone under the bridge since then. Today he also really knows his game.