Surrey news/articles

Smith was back in this country today - and at Anfield to watch Liverpool beat Man City! That's nice for him. Now, I'm not suggesting he should spend his days off picking up litter in the Lock Stand at the Oval but it is important he starts to deliver for the club paying handsomely for his services.

guildford are you giving him a  

jimbobgooner wrote:guildford are you giving him a  

Hi JimBob - probably confirming I'm a grumpy old man more than anything else!   

I do though think it's fair to say that Smith needs to show Surrey supporters he understands the importance of his day job and delivers on his part of the deal. Not saying he doesn't or won't but flagging the importance. A century and a CC win next time out would soon stop me grouching. However, in the event of another couple of low scores and a further defeat, it might be more diplomatic for him to quietly turn up at somewhere like Woking if he wants to watch to watch a bit of footie rather than posing for photos at Anfield.

Hampshire 2nd XI vs Surrey 2nd XI - strong surrey side out....


Surrey: Harinath, Burns, Sibley, Wilson, Roy, Jewell, Curran, Batty, Tremlett, Dunn, Edwards, Linley

Hampshire: Terry, Hose, Bates, McManus, Alsop, Porter, Briggs, Balcombe, Brathwaite, Barber, King, Crane.

Haants 291-5

Alsopp 118* from 157 balls
Bates 48 from 53 balls

Standouts for Hants.

Tremlett with 2 wickets

Hi Jimbo and all - managed to get along for some of today's play.

Although Surrey put out a strong side, it wasn't a wonderfully well balanced one. Surrey used six bowlers in the morning session - all seamers. Graeme Ford was there, watching intently from the boundary. I suspected that a lot of what Surrey were doing was as much for his benefit as anything else.

That said,  Hants' mainly young side played impressively and responded very well to a difficult start which saw both openers back in the hutch early doors. The shining star by far was teenager Tommy Alsop (no, never heard of him before) who batted at number 5 and made 150 in an attacking but intelligent innings. Several cover drives which raced to the ropes on the fast outfield particularly caught my eye.

Tremlett was the pick of the Surrey bowlers although a couple of tail end wickets (after I had left) took him to a fivefer which was perhaps a little flattering. Of all the bowlers, Edwards looked the fastest (he definitely generated more height than the others) and deserved his brace.

Dernbach wasn't playing but was at the ground and appeared to be seriously going through his paces during the lunch break.

Guildford   

Alsopp has played a quarter of a game for the first team! Our wicketkeeper, Wheater, got injured in the warm up so whilst they waited for Bates to get to the ground, Alsopp took over, think he was there training for the academy. Took a brilliant catch standing up to the stumps at Dimi. Looks like he can bat a bit too!

Double century for le Roi    and a century for Burns enabled Surrey 2nd XI to take a lead against Hants 2nds.

Firstly, some bad news for Jimbo - Terry had his arm broken last night by a ball from Tremlett. I didn't see that but was at the ground part of today and Terry was there with his arm in a sling. Apparently, he was waiting for the x-ray results but early thoughts were that he would be out for 6 weeks.

Batting seemed to get easier on days 2 and 3 (apart from for Terry!). Typical power and aggression from Roy yesterday as he made an untypical chanceless double hundred . Good knock also from Burns as he made a ton. Balcombe was the pick of the Hants bowlers and deserved his fourfer. Briggs picked up 3 wickets but looked some way off being England's next spinner. Very good keeping by Bates - generally tidy and several catches including a flyer down the legside to dismiss the ever luckless Jewell.

More runs today for Alsop as the game fizzled out and a draw was declared at tea. A wicket each for Linley, Dunn, Winslade (coming in for Jewell suffering from a bad back) and Sibley. Along with Tremlett, Dunn was the best of the Surrey bowlers and didn't give much away.

Dernbach was again at the ground and went through his paces at lunchtime. His enforced rest by the ECB is now over and he's available for the Essex game. My early guess is that he might replace Linley with Dunn coming in for Curran.

Cheers for the update Guildford   

Good to see Roy in the runs, always thought he has the potential.

Interested to hear how Bates looked like with the Bat? He is a brilliant behind the stumps but his batting is the reason he's not in the team. (although wheater broke his finger yesterday so think bates will play the next game, big chance for him IMO!)

My personal view is that Bates being an exceptional gloveman but a poor batsman is a cliche that he has unluckily become burdened with. Came into the team earlier than planned with Pothas' sudden departure and couldn't quite nail the batting initially. But he can bat and has been a regular run scorer in 2nd XI cricket, and always improving in the firsts.

Jimbo - Bates batted at number 3 in both innings making 48 and 49. I didn't see the start of either innings but I saw him bat both times. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed (I thought he was an old fashioned ''wicket keeper only type'' who didn't really bat and would be low down on the scorecard). He certainly looked capable at the crease - seeing off Tremlett and Linley both times - and was keen to push the score along, particularly in the first inings where his strike rate must have been pushing 100. He was adjudged lbw to Edwards first dig and appeared unhappy with the decision. Lbw to Dunn today, didn't appear much doubt about that one.

Anyway, whilst Wheater's injury is obviously unfortunate, it's a good opportunity for Bates and not one - imo - that you need to worry about.

Shelsey, I agree, which s why at the time I thought Wheater was a strange signing.

Guildford, cheers. Im a big fan of his, you always want to see the young players come through the academy and get into the first team. I hope he takes his chance in the next game. If he does can see him replacing Gatting in the team and play Wheater as a batsmen. Gatting has been quite poor in the first 2 games, im surprised he is in the team tbh

16 year-old Bradley Erasmus is playing for Surrey in the current 2nd XI game against Gloucestershire. I point this out because, after playing for all of Middlesex's age-group sides up to U17 (playing above his age) he has transferred south of the river. He plays his club cricket at Chertsey which may explain why - assuming he lives around there it would be difficult to get to Finchley/ Lord's/ Radlett - where Middx's Academy train. Still, it is quite unusual for an Academy prospect to switch counties unless they get dropped by their current county.

Tom Lancefield is also continuing his Surrey comeback in that game (13 and 23* overnight).

anyone know much about adam rouse scoring runs for fun in the Second XI

jimbobgooner wrote:anyone know much about adam rouse scoring runs for fun in the Second XI

He was a highly-rated youngster with Hants - a wicket-keeper batsman who played for England U19s. Probably a victim of Hants having two very decent 'keeper/batsmen in Wheater and Bates.

Shelsey93 wrote:

jimbobgooner wrote:anyone know much about adam rouse scoring runs for fun in the Second XI

He was a highly-rated youngster with Hants - a wicket-keeper batsman who played for England U19s. Probably a victim of Hants having two very decent 'keeper/batsmen in Wheater and Bates.

cheers jack   

jimbobgooner wrote:

Shelsey93 wrote:

jimbobgooner wrote:anyone know much about adam rouse scoring runs for fun in the Second XI

He was a highly-rated youngster with Hants - a wicket-keeper batsman who played for England U19s. Probably a victim of Hants having two very decent 'keeper/batsmen in Wheater and Bates.

cheers jack   

Just to add a little to Shelsey's post - found out tonight (after the Club's AGM) that Rouse is being trialled as a batsman. With Davies, Burns and Wilson on the staff, we're not really interested in his keeping and have made that clear to him (that may sound a bit blunt but that's the way it is). Whilst Rouse obviously did well against Gloucs seconds this week, their bowling was 'poor' and so Surrey aren't going overboard at this stage. However, he certainly deserves and will get further opportunity.

Meanwhile, Sibley is expected to miss three CC matches over the next few weeks whilst he takes his A-levels. However, he should be available when we play Kent at Canterbury in early May - that's good and significant as Wilson will be with Ireland then. Harinath will come in when they are unavailable.

Ansari will hopefully be ok for the match at Hants starting on Sunday although a final decision will be left until the morning of the game. Although any concussion seems to be going fairly rapidly, the upper half of his body is badly bruised and sore at the moment.

Sadly, it's unlikely that Solanki will be back any time soon.

Thanks for the update Guildford. Whatever it is with Solanki it sounds pretty bad.  

Rouse is/was rated highly by Hants, im surprised he has been released. Here is a bit more info on him:

http://www.ageasbowl.com/cricket/the-squad/adam-paul-rouse/

cheers jimbo   

Just to add to my previous grumbling about Graeme Smith.

At last week's AGM, a question was asked concerning whether Smith had yet been granted Irish citizenship (as mentioned in the media when he retired from Test cricket - his wife is Irish allowing him to apply for the same) and, if so, whether that meant we could add an overseas player to the squad.

To the surprise of some, Alec Stewart replied that Smith had not at this stage applied for Irish citizenship and so the question of signing a further overseas player for this season was not appropriate. It was hoped that this situation would change by the start of next season.

It was commented upon informally afterwards that the reason Smith isn't seeking Irish citizenship now is because he wishes to keep his options open about playing t20 in South Africa during our winter time. If he were then to be classed as 'Irish', that would make it more difficult for him to find a club as he would no longer be a home (ie South African) player.

I can follow the logic of that but can't help noticing it doesn't help Surrey and feel that after his prolonged absence last season he still owes us. To this grumpy old poster, the relationship does seem rather one sided.

I'm sure JimBob will put up an official thread for the Kent game when the squad is announced later today. Just to say in the meantime that Harinath is fully expected to replace Wilson who'll be on duty with Ireland. Linley may also come back into contention after picking up some wickets for the seconds in the week.

Tom Lancefield has signed a 1 year contract with Glamorgan. At least he's impressed one county on his trial period. Hopefully not another release we will come to regret though.

I see Dernbach not included in the T20 / ODI squads just announced. Not a surprise, and I imagine that he is unlikely to feature in any international squads for some considerable time.  Maybe he can at least find his best county level form at T20.

I don't suppose after tonight's effort, JD's chances of appearing again in an international T20 match have diminished  

chichestersurryfan wrote:I don't suppose after tonight's effort, JD's chances of appearing again in an international T20 match have diminished  

Probably not. But neither have they increased.    

Smith out for the season with a fractured

....knee

   Gary Wilson will be captaining Surrey in the next four day game.    

Amla will be able to play some games for Surrey.

Olly wrote:Smith out for the season with a fractured

Must be serious doubts as to whether he'll ever be back to play.

The words ''busted'' and ''flush'' come to mind.

guildfordbat wrote:

Olly wrote:Smith out for the season with a fractured

Must be serious doubts as to whether he'll ever be back to play.

The words ''busted'' and ''flush'' come to mind.

will you be sending him all your best guildford     

So good of Mrs Smith to put a brave face on things. From her twitter account about an hour ago,
"Paris this evening .... Can't wait ".

Perhaps you would like to tweet her your best wishes, JimBob! 

The club captain leaving the country, and soon to be the continent, immediately rather than staying to aid whoever takes over is poor IMO. I have sympathy for what is a nasty injury and one which requires surgery but then immediately leaving during a hectic period of the season is unprofessional if you ask me.

I have huge respect for what Smith has achieved throughout his career and have been a fan of his for a long time so will try to give benefit of the doubt. However I'd be pretty surprised to see him back in a Surrey shirt at this rate. On a brighter note at least we have secured the services of Amla for another stint which to give Biff credit where due he will likely have been heavily involved with.

A blow to lose Smith just as he seemed to be finding some form. Amla is a good replacement but can only be short term and I see he's unavailable for the Worcestershire game. What are the chances of KP being persuaded to play that match ?

I wonder if Wilson will be the captain for the rest of the season or will Batty take over when fit ? Maybe KP will lead in the T20s ?

Interesting times ahead.

Beehive - wonderful to hear your voice over here. A very warm welcome.

Interesting times ahead - certainly. However, the current situation is hugely disappointing imo. We again seem to have put too many eggs in the Smith basket and are now faced with a major patch up and repair job.

Amla may actually score more runs than Smith would have done in the next few weeks but, as you say, he (Amla) can only be viewed in the short term. I'm sure conversations are currently going on to try and lure Pietersen back for the Worcs CC fixture and others.

I've no issues with Wilson's credentials as a stand-in skipper (although he's obviously a long way off from what we thought we were getting i.e. Smith). Wilson comes across as a decent sensible bloke who is vocally encouraging on the field. However, he does need to justify his place in the side as a player. From his five CC innings this season, he's barely averaging above 10. Whilst he's also now donning the wicket keeping gloves, that owes more to Davies' inability to cope with the demands (real or perceived) than Wilson's own brilliance behind the stumps.

Alec Stewart said yesterday that all the players - ''young and old'' - need to take on responsibility. That is very true. I particularly hope that Davies (would be pleasing for him to offer to don the gloves now) and Tremlett were listening.

Many thanks for your kind welcome g-bat. Nice to read your posts again.

I see the Second Eleven got their first and only win in defence of their T20 crown today. The second match in the double header against MCC YC was abandoned. I think that means we managed one win, four defeats and three abandonments from our eight group matches. Not our year this time.

A guy called Ryan Canning played for us today.  He's yet another wicket keeper batsman and he played 105 first class matches in South Africa. He's been playing for Nelson in the Lancashire League for the last few years and has now settled permanently in England to try and get a county contract. He has an English grandfather.

Talking of trials Michael Rippon still seems to be featuring for the 'twos'. He seems to be having a very long trial. I did wonder when Batty got injured if he might have been registered for the first team but it doesn't seem that's going to happen.

Beehive - thanks for the seconds update. I suspect Michael Rippon's best chance of playing in the Surrey firsts was in the t20 and that the recent signing of Robin Peterson has probably put the mockers on that.

Meanwhile, several posts on the Surrey Supporters Club website suggesting that we cut our losses on Smith. Hmmm - think we're in too deep for that.

As per Richard Spiller in the Surrey Ad, Amla replaces Smith in the Essex game whilst Harinath is expected to come in for Sibley who finally sits one out due to A-levels.

Interesting to see Batty - after his excellent bowling yesterday - suggesting that he could fill the unclaimed spinners' spot in the England team.     Sounds a tad optimistic to me!

Good to hear Beehive here as well!

Graeme Smith's tweets yesterday included "sad to be leaving @surreycricket today but wish the club and the team well" and "It's been a privilege to be part of @surreycricket and thank everyone at the club."

That sounds as if he's not planning on returning, but I havent seen any announcement to that effect.

Regardless of how much Stewart says things are not decided, the tone from Smith is clear.

I've felt for a while that Surrey were more committed to Smith than vice versa but would have liked him to prove me wrong.

Bad judgment or bad luck on this signing? There's a members' forum at the Oval on Monday. I expect the majority there to be giving Stewie a hard time. (I'll also try to raise the question of our slow scoring in CC matches - good comments on the "v Essex" thread.)

From my outside rather uneducated view it seems to me that you've got Smith at exactly the wrong time

Just retired from international cricket, so from that I deduce that he's not exactly "up" for playing at the minute

Managing a lot of injuries before this one that ruled him out for the season 

I'd say its a bit of bad luck (with the injuries, they are just a fact of life an older player is more likely to pick them up/not recover quicker) and bad judgement as well.

Olly - imo you're on the money. Bad luck tends to follow bad judgment.

Surrey were desperate for Smith to succeed and staked a lot on that. Smith had already succeeded at a higher level and no longer had that much (certainly not as much as Surrey thought) to give.

Interesting suggestion by my man Spiller (the ever excellent Richard Spiller) writing in today's Surrey Ad - if the necessary permission can be obtained, Surrey might play their t20 signing Robin Peterson as their 'overseas' player in the CC fixture against Worcs. In that event, Peterson would replace Amla (who is back in South Africa for a few days) who in turn replaced the crocked Smith.

So if KP is unavailable for the Worcs game, in place of the unavailable Amla, in place of the unavailable Smith, I guess Surrey will just have to...
 
...Saffer in silence  

guildfordbat wrote:Olly - imo you're on the money. Bad luck tends to follow bad judgment.

Surrey were desperate for Smith to succeed and staked a lot on that. Smith had already succeeded at a higher level and no longer had that much (certainly not as much as Surrey thought) to give.

For me at least the overseas player for a county should be a complimentary piece, not an integral cog. Especially ones who are known to have questionable injury status

Obviously there are positive and negative examples of overseas players (ajmal st Worcestershire being an example) but if I was running a county side I'd look at the overseas signing as a bonus, not a necessity

Olly - that's another very pertinent post.

With regard to the overseas aspect and Smith, Surrey believed - or, at least, led their supporters to believe - that he would very largely become a 'home type' player in that he was known to be close to ending his Test career and, more particularly, has an Irish wife with a family in that country which pointed to him settling in the UK. Unfortunately, the reality has proved somewhat different as Smith heads back to South Africa for his medical treatments and Mrs Smith continually tweets her enjoyment of world travel.

A few things from today's members' forum at the Oval.

The Club were represented by Chairman Richard Thompson, Chief Exec Richard Gould and Director of Cricket Alec Stewart.

Have to be brief as going out soon. Most comments from Stewart.

* Smith - 'doubtful' he'll be back this season. What happens after that will 'depend upon his rehabilitation and where it leaves him as a professional sportsman'. The common view of members on their own after the meeting was that we won't see him again.

* Pietersen - will play in the t20 Bash this Friday. In other formats - a case of 'discussion and see'. Next season - 'he will come under the salary cap' suggesting we may not be able to afford to keep him beyond this year.

* Linley and Meaker - both are currently out with side strains. Linley's is 'more serious' and the implication was that he would be out for some time although no timeframes were given.

* Solanki - the plan was for him to play for the seconds this week but he offered to step up in view of Amla's unavailability. Sadly, his availability remains uncertain going forward. It's fairly common knowledge now so PM if you do want to know more - I'm just uncomfortable flagging it on a public forum.

* Amla - back for the next CC game and around until the end of June (? Leics match). Negotiations for a new overseas from then are at an advanced stage.

* Edwards - offered on loan to several counties (Essex, Northants) to gain first eleven experience but no take up.

* Chris Taylor (ex Gloucs) - engaged as a fielding coach and working closely with the players. Positive comments about his work. [Several catches dropped against Worcs but imo the ground fielding is definitely better this season.]

* General - looking to bring on the younger players in the CC whilst making a more concentrated effort on shorter term success in the limited overs formats.

* Slow scoring - will cover on the 'v Worcs' thread later.

Thanks for the round-up guildford. I'm also uncomfortable with saying too much about the Solanki situation but my impression was that this was a one-off in light of the lack of an overseas for this game. The nature of his personal issue does not prevent him from taking part in some training and playing the occasional match but he is unlikely to be regularly available this season. Given his lack of middle time I wouldn't be surprised if he comes in down the order at 5 or even 6 (he was on the card that I have for 3 but Ansari came in at first drop).

Re Amla, I hear that his reason for going back to SA is that he is to be named Test captain. This is interesting as his stints as a stand-in didn't go well.

I'm surprised Edwards wasn't taken up - Middx have had success with sending Helm on loan - though counties tend to look for experience when bringing loans in, or players that might end up making a long-term move.

Cheers, Shelsey.

I think you're absolutely right about Solanki. Also, at the members' forum there was a suggestion that Davies needed to step up his game (Stewart commented that his batting had improved since giving up the gloves but didn't fundamentaly disagree) and Stewart praised Roy's 'increased maturity' this season - that might point to one or both batting before Solanki.

I'm also a bit surprised about Amla. I met one of the Surrey players late last year through family friends and we spoke about Amla. I would (genuinely) emphasise that there was nothing but respect for Amla but it was clear that whilst Amla was extremely pleasant and very willing to help if asked, he was very much wrapped up in his own preparation. In other words, far more a dedicated player than a leader. It was particularly commented that Amla was normally last to arrive at the Oval (I stress he wasn't late, just last) - his arrival time was meticulously planned and there was just nothing to be achieved for him by turning up sooner.

Thought you would be surprised about Edwards. Know you like him. Stewart was disappointed by the response of these counties - remember now that Gloucs was another to be approached.

Guildford - thanks for the update from the Forum. The twin strategy for cc and limited overs matches makes sense to me - and in advance of seeing your comments re slow scoring I could see a possible line of argument about getting the younger players really to concentrate on building an innings and accept that scoring rates will sometimes seem on the slow side.

Separately, I hadn't realised that Chris Adams is a batting consultant for Sri Lanka. Hopefully for England's sake he will not be too immense in the dressing room.