There was never really very much doubt about it but, mathematically, when Warwickshire failed to take full batting points in their match against Lancashire and Kent drew with Somerset, Surrey officially became the Frizzell County Champions of 2002. They have been the outstanding performers throughout the season and it was only a matter of time before they were crowned.

Furthermore, they achieved the feat without the services of their inspirational captain Adam Hollioake until June. He had remained in Australia after the tragic death of his younger brother Ben who was killed in a car crash in March. There was almost a feeling that the Surrey players were determined to win the title to honour Ben's memory.

But those sentiments were not at the forefront of Adam Hollioake's mind. "For me personally that was never a factor, to me it doesn't bring Ben back. The other guys would be likely to treat it more that way; they probably thought it was a way of paying their respects to him.

"The other players talked to me about Ben before I came back to England and when they walked out they knew they were winning, that was the biggest honour, they were that fired up and focused.

"What they have done for the club and for me and my family has been more than a tale of winning the championship. I feel honoured to know them, they are a special bunch. People within cricket talk about us as being a hated side but if you get to know these people you could never say that."

This is the third championship success for Surrey in the space of four years, having also won the title in 1999 and 2000. But Hollioake believes that this has been a different campaign to the other two.

"In the other two years we won it we went through huge periods, we won something like eight games on the spin the first year with some of them by an innings. This year it's been a bit more disjointed, perhaps more of a sustained effort. We lost a couple but made sure we came back from that immediately.

"Everyone around the country might say that they have a fantastic team spirit but I have played in a lot of cricket teams, junior sides, second teams, England teams, and I have been lucky to always be involved with winning teams."

The question of England teams is always topical at The Oval, for Surrey have provided more than their fair share of players to the international side. Of course, that leads to disruption, but Hollioake paid tribute to the understudies to the international stars.

"Having great players doesn't guarantee you are going to win the Championship and this year more than any other season it's been the year of the non-stars. People like Nadeem Shahid and Jon Batty have been exceptional.

"The spirit Nadeem has shown is incredible, he stands at short leg, watches the ball whistle past his face all day and then scores runs when it's tough. He got left out after scoring 150 and there wasn't the slightest hint of a moan. Other sides don't have players like that, guys elsewhere are not in the side and they want to go and play for another county."

At times like these, thoughts of Ben are never far away and now Adam is working at raising money for the Ben Hollioake Fund. "I thought it would be nice to keep Ben's name alive and generally do good deeds," he said.

"At first we started out thinking we might make a grand here or there to give to a few charities but it's gone huge very quickly. I've had people sending in cheques, spectators handing them to me at games and others just walking up and giving me tenners."

With all the support he has encountered, from ordinary cricket followers to former prime minister and now Surrey president John Major and the club sponsors, AMP, he has set his sights a bit higher with the possibility of using the money raised to fund a new medical centre. One way or another, Ben's name will live on while Adam continues to steer Surrey to success on the field.

© CricInfo