Jimmy Ormond showed that the old virtues still have a place in the all-singing, all-dancing world of Twenty20 cricket by bowling Surrey to victory in the first final of county cricket’s popular new competition last night.

Ormond, who came close to being recalled for this week’s first Test against South Africa before losing out when Darren Gough was passed fit, destroyed Warwickshire with a superb exhibition of accurate seam and swing bowling, taking four for 11 in four overs to leave their innings in ruins at 33 for five.

Incapable of batting out their 20 overs, Warwickshire were dismissed for 115 in 18.1 overs. It was a score Surrey overhauled with an ease that crossed well over the border of contempt, rattling off the runs in 10.5 overs as Ian Ward and Alistair Brown struck fifties off 26 and 32 balls respectively. The former took four successive fours off the first over from Neil Carter to scotch any slim hopes of a Warwickshire fightback.

Ward batted with a small camera attached to his helmet for the benefit of television viewers. Given that he hit 49 from 48 balls in the semi-final against Gloucestershire, perhaps he should try batting in a hat-cam more often. He was one of those players who perhaps discovered a few shots he didn’t know he had during this tournament.

Surrey picked up £42,000 for last night’s win, a victory which keeps them on course for a treble, and prize-money in excess of £200,000. They lead the Frizzell County Championship and National League First Division tables and have only lost twice all season. They were eliminated from the C&G Trophy by Derbyshire, and Warwickshire beat them last Sunday in the National League. Warwickshire, in 1994, and Gloucestershire, in 1999, are the only counties to have previously completed trebles.

With batsmen ready to contort themselves to manufacture shots in this kind of cricket, bowlers such as Ormond, who basically look to move the ball around off the straight, can be a handful. Carter and Nick Knight both got themselves out in this way, but Jim Troughton and Dougie Brown were both undone by classic deliveries from a man who must find the abbreviated nature of Twenty20 cricket much to his liking, given the scope it provides for a pint and a cigarette afterwards.

Earlier, during what was the longest day of cricket ever staged in England (it ran from 11am until 9.35pm) Ormond — named man of the final — also bowled well in a tense semi-final victory over Gloucestershire, removing the dangerous Craig Spearman in his first over. His haul took his tally for the tournament to 11 wickets, second only to his captain Adam Hollioake, who helped keep Warwickshire on the slide by dismissing their top-scorer, Trevor Penney, for 16. Ormond’s overall rate of 5.5 runs per over was bettered by few bowlers.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) were delighted with the way the day went, with the majority of a capacity crowd of 15,000 staying for both semi-finals and final. However, the decision to use the same pitch for all three games — at a venue having problems with its square — was not ideal: there was a rogue patch at the Radcliffe Road end which made the ball bounce alarmingly and cost Ian Bell his wicket in the final.

There seems to be no need to worry that the kind of cricket produced by the format is inferior. It rewards measured hitting and straight bowling, and encourages fewer no-balls and even more athletic fielding than is now the norm.

It is surely no coincidence that the strongest county in the land came out on top. Had Derbyshire won it, there really would be something to worry about. This was, in fact, Surrey’s sixth county trophy during Hollioake’s reign, which began in 1997.

Surrey asserted their supremacy after starting their semi-final shakily. Gloucestershire, boasting an excellent record bowling first in this event, having not conceded more than 134, pegged them back to 147 for nine with nobody other than Ward making more than 18. Mike Smith, cementing his status as the best bowler of the tournament and the success of left-arm seamers in these games, led the way by conceding just 11 runs from his four overs.

Surrey’s total did not appear to be enough, but with Ormond accounting for Spearman and Azhar Mahmood removing the dangerous Ian Harvey — the only century-maker in the 48 matches — and Jonty Rhodes, Gloucestershire were sent reeling as dizzily as Warwickshire would be later.

They lost four wickets in seven overs, and even some brave hitting from Mark Hardinges, who came in for Gloucestershire captain Mark Alleyne (absent with a back spasm) and the promising Alex Gidman could not salvage the situation. Gidman, 22, who is on the short-list for the national academy next winter, played some high-quality strokes against Saqlain Mushtaq during an impressive innings of 61 from 49 balls.

The result was a bitter disappointment to Gloucestershire, who must have had high hopes of winning another one-day trophy under John Bracewell, who is leaving Bristol to take over as New Zealand coach at the end of the summer. Bracewell fell out with several senior players last year over rotation policy, and a trophy last night might have healed any remaining sense of division. They are still in the C&G Trophy semi-finals. In the first semi-final, Warwickshire proved too strong for Leicestershire, winning by seven wickets with four balls to spare. They paced their chase for 163 to perfection, thanks to some robust straight hitting at the top of the order from Carter, while Knight dropped anchor.

The pair posted 61 in the first five overs, one of which, from Jamie Grove, cost 20. Although Leicestershire’s slower bowlers clawed the rate back and Knight was punished for a moment’s hesitation when Jeremy Snape made a direct hit from mid-wicket, Warwickshire were always well ahead of the rate. Penney and Troughton saw them home with an accomplished stand of 67.

Earlier, the Australian Brad Hodge played one of the best innings of the day by scoring 66 from 50 balls for Leicestershire, finishing as the leading run-scorer in the competition with 301 runs. Waqar Younis, who took three for 21 from his four overs, played a key role by having the dangerous Virender Sehwag caught at gully with his fifth ball to complete a damp-squib of a tournament with the bat for the explosive Indian opener, who failed to total 100 runs in six innings.