Surrey news/articles

First topic message reminder :

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.

Olly wrote:#ansariforEngland 

It's gonna happen folks...

You could be right, Olly.

I've heard he came close to being selected for the Windies tour.

Another wicket each today for Ansari and Dunn for the MCC in their match against Yorks.

Tidyish first innings analysis of 2/74 off 28.1 overs for Olly's man.

'Clive' was more expensive (2/89 off 19.1) but at least he bagged a couple. At his pace he's always likely to go for a few until he develops more control. (IF Tremlett can keep fit and keep going, he would be a good foil for Dunn at Surrey).

If the MCC can overcome a 150 deficit and get a reasonable lead, it'll be interesting to see how they get on in the final innings.

Carberry , 2 overs, 2 maidens, 1 wicket.

I see Hampshire are playing Surrey at the Rose Bowl on Saturday

king_carlos wrote:

...
9, 10, 11. 3 of Dunn, Meaker, Curran, Tremlett, Linley, Balcombe and Dernbach
...
- Who will be first choices from the battalion of seamers?

And now we have Australian Moises Henriques for the t20s and as overseas replacement in all formats for Sanga when the Sri Lankan is on Test duty. Doesn't look as if the battalion is ever going to be light!

Did hear recently though that Linley is recuperating from a knee op and would be unlikely to be ready for the start of the season. Truth be told and much as I love his attitude, I think that even a fully firing Viscount has some way to go to claim a first team place.

That's a good overseas replacement, especially considering he has the added incentive of potentially forcing his way into the Aussie squad if an injury etc occurs.

According to my man Spiller (the excellent Richard Spiller of the Surrey Advertiser), Sanga is expected to miss 4 LVCC matches when away playing Tests for Sri Lanka and Henriques will be able to deputise for him during this time.

I've never heard or seen an actual figure before.

I'd say Henriques is a excellent signing personally. A bit of international exposure, good in all three formats and offers the all rounder that many of us have felt we were missing. He's captained a few sides in t20s as well.

If he's there as Sangas replacement when away will he be with the squad for the full season, i.e. before the t20s start?

I wonder how the t20 side will look now with KP on board as well.

1.Roy
2.Davies
3.KP
4.Sanga
5.Mahmood
6.Foakes (wk)
7.Henriques
8.Ansari or Batty
9, 10, 11. The chosen triplets of the battalion

Could Davies be given the gloves back to accommodate Solanki?

Will KP open and Davies drop to 3 or 4?

Hi Carlos - just a note of warning. My understanding is that Pietersen's Surrey contract at the moment only covers CC matches. It may be extended to include all limited overs stuff but that will probably depend upon how things go.

Cheers guildford. I hadn't heard that, guess it makes sense given that CC runs is what everyone wants to see from him though. Does smell a bit of only wanting to prove a point to the ECB rather than make a real impact at the Oval however.

Guess that opens the way to Solanki remaining in there.

I'm also interested to see how Ansari will fit into the t20 side given we have 2 experienced all rounders in Henriques and Mahmood, the battalion of seamers and Norah as skipper.

Hi again Carlos - my guess is that only two of the battalion of seamers will play t20 which would allow Ansari into the team along with Henriques, Mahmood and Norah.

In the friendly at Hove: Piolet st Burns bowled Burger Van 15.  I wonder how many opportunities Burns will have to keep wicket and Burger Van to bowl for the first team this season!

Hi Corporal - I noticed that on the Surrey twitter account. Fair enough to have a look at what the Burger Van might be selling but extremely odd that Burns was keeping. Thought the jury would still be out on whether Wilson or Foakes has the keeper's gloves to start the season and there wouldn't be time to muck around.

Very puzzled as well by schoolboy Douthwaite being included. Unfair to have a pop at the lad as I've never seen him play plus he didn't select himself! However, is he really in serious contention for the CC opener in Glamorgan? Surely a 2nd XI game early in the season would have been a more appropriate introduction?

I see that Alec Stewart has reportedly thrown his hat into the ring for the new position in England set up, though I imagine that Vaughan is probably the favourite.

Right folks - these nicknames you guys have (ie. Burger Van) - who are the players and why are they nicknamed as they are?!

(If I'm gonna be a fan I'm gonna do it right)

Corporal - you fancy having first stab at Olly's question?

Right, Olly.  The main ones used on this site are:

"Third Degree" Burns
"Norah" Batty
"Clive" Dunn
"Interesting" Davies
"Viscount" Linley
"Harold" Wilson
"Baron" Arun Harinath
"Burger Van" Fredie Van Den Bergh (also ironic as he is waif like figure)

I imagine that most of these are reasonably self explanatory - they probably also reflect the fact that a number of posters here are of a somewhat mature vintage!  As far as I know, Viscount is the only one of the nicknames that is used widely, well beyond this site.  I may have forgotten a few, in which case I am sure Guildford and may be others will be able to add.

Olly - the Corporal has done a good job for you there. Know all those by day one of the Glamorgan CC opener and you'll be fine!

A few alternate and additional names for your further learning:

''Monty'' Burns (after the Simpsons character)
''Sergeant'' Wilson (after the Dads' Army character)
''Dirtbag'' Dernbach (not often used and I'm not sure after what but it doesn't sound too pleasant which probably fits!)
''TC'' Tom Curran
''le roi '' Jason Roy (has to be used with the emoticon; copyright is held by the Corporal).

Being reported that Pakistan paceman Wahab Riaz has signed to play t20 for Surrey for ''a short time'' this season. Presumably to replace Sanga when he is with Sri Lanka.

Really exciting signing in my view. He produced one of the most thrilling (and unlucky) spells of the World Cup when bowling against Australia.

In other news, excellent interview with Norah (ok, Olly? ) on the club website / twitter account. He makes clear that ''conditions'' will considerably influence selection which will lead to some being left out, of which he could be one.

Batty didn't make the XI for last season's CC opener and there is again a case for us starting with 4 seamers plus Ansari (and perhaps Pietersen) to do all the bowling.

...how could I have forgotten "Le Roi "    

Cheers chaps - major fan of the Dads army references!

That's good, Olly. Feared you would be too young for the Dads' Army references. One of the minor cast members was at my wedding - if you think that's name dropping, wait til I tell you about my chats with Stewie in the Guildford club car park!

king_carlos wrote:Cheers guildford. I hadn't heard that, guess it makes sense given that CC runs is what everyone wants to see from him though. Does smell a bit of only wanting to prove a point to the ECB rather than make a real impact at the Oval however.

...

Hi Carlos - very astute comment by my man Spiller (the excellent local cricket journalist Richard Spiller) in today's Surrey Ad: ''For his part, Pietersen appeared at Surrey's press call yesterday, having his picture taken with the rest of the team in whites but not coloured clothing to underline that his involvement is expected to be only in first-class cricket.''

Thanks guildford. I hadn't noticed that article until you pointed it out.

I try to keep up with Spiller via the getsurrey website - I'm currently living North of the wall in Edinburgh!

I agree he's an excellent journalist however. The perfect writer for a Surrey fan as well given he tends to offer just enough optimism during the bad times to keep me coming back but plenty of pragmatism during the good to keep my feet on the ground.

I've just read his article with that quote in. I particularly like the picture of Pietersen with 7 cameras pointing at him and Tremlett next to him somehow looking smaller than KP and very uncomfortable!

Also glad to see that Sibley got 97 against Essex at Chelmsford. That will hopefully settle some of the nerves he may have had after a difficult summer in his 6 CC matches last year.

13 man squad named for the 3 day game starting tomorrow away to Oxford MCCU . It's not a first-class fixture (due to quirks and fudges concerning which Uni games are) but is definitely planned as a rehearsal for the CC opener the following week at Glamorgan.

According to Spills [OLLY - as recommended by Carlos, start reading his articles on the getsurrey website - I assume it'll be hard to get a Surrey Ad in even Norwich's finest newsagent! ), the intention is to pretty much field the same team as will play in Wales. The one expected change is that Sanga should arrive this coming week and then go straight into the XI.

The squad is Burns, Ansari, Solanki, Pietersen (yes, he's there), Davies, Roy, Wilson, Foakes, Kapil, Batty, Tremlett, Meaker and Dunn. That's my loose take on where people will fit in the batting order.

The one surprise for me is that Kapil is in and Curran isn't. TC is fit as far as I know.

Extremely hard to make a call on who misses out tomorrow. I suspect that Foakes will play and keep (don't think he would have been in the squad otherwise); that probably leaves Davies and Wilson to fight it out for the last batting spot (expect toys out of my pram if Roy misses out!). I would bench Davies although admittedly I've never been as taken with him as some.

The final place may actually be between Batty and Kapil. Whilst conditions will be considered, I'll be surprised if they are so influential as to leave out the skipper.

I would expect Sanga to replace Solanki next week although plenty of runs for Vik in this game will further confuse that selection.

OLLY - if you didn't know it already, you will soon learn that I talk a good game with little of it ever being right!

KP the only one standing up with the bat today as my Ansari for England campaign got off to a rip roaring start

Olly wrote:KP the only one standing up with the bat today as my Ansari for England campaign got off to a rip roaring start

Olly - you'll soon get used to these frustrations!  At least Harold is keeping KP company for a bit as Surrey rattle along towards some sort of respectability!

KP notches up a century in his first match on return to Surrey. Followed by Harold  The student bowling line up taken apart once Surrey got on top.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:

... KP notches up a century in his first match on return to Surrey. Followed by Harold  The student bowling line up taken apart once Surrey got on top.

Yes, very well done to Pietersen and Wilson for their centuries. Both were under pressure in different ways. Pietersen - with the hopes of many upon him and probably the same number happy to see him end up with egg on his face. Wilson - with doubts over his place in the side and probably suspecting that a poor showing in this game would see him ditched.

Surrey massively on top at the end of day one. The students perilously placed at 28/4 in response to Surrey's 420/7 declared. However, it didn't begin that way with 5 of our top 6 falling cheaply. We'll almost certainly be in a position to enforce the follow on tomorrow - Tremlett currently leading the way with 3/3 - but I'll be very surprised if we do. We need to take the final chance before the CC opener to get some more of our batters into form.

Don't know any details but it appears that Tremlett is injured. After the first ball of his 18th over, Roy replaced him and completed the over.

Probably not a huge surprise (Tremlett has an appalling fitness record) but concerning with him being in good pre-season form and a handy foil for Dunn ....

... no explanation about Tremlett on the club website. It's disappointing that they always look for the easy, good news option.

Tough cheese for anyone who turned up at the Parks on day 2 hoping to see Pietersen bat. Should have read my earlier comments! Rightly not enforcing the follow on, Surrey gave others the chance to bat themselves into form. Opportunity just about taken by Burns, Ansari, Davies and Roy. Missing out again though was Solanki - if he doesn't drop out for Sanga, Olly is an Ipswich supporter!

After we caused early damage with the ball, we then seemed to make hard work of things. Concerning that a student number 9 tonked us for 80 odd. Our pace attack should be sending the stumps cartwheeling of someone like that. Meanwhile, Batty's figures did little to make a case for his inclusion in Sunday's CC opener at Glamorgan. 0/18 off 7 overs. Tidy enough but no more than that. He is very much a team man and so it's possible he could stand down for a 4th seamer.

Another concern was that Wilson conceded 20 byes, coming off most of the bowlers (not like Dunn or Meaker alone were responsible with fast wideish balls). Hard to see Harold not being selected in Wales after his unbeaten ton but just maybe Foakes could get the nod with the gloves which could put a question mark over Davies' or even Roy's place. They'll both be looking for some more runs first thing today. Reckon we'll bat on for circa 40 minutes and then look to bowl the students out in the remainder of this last day.

hi everyone just dropping in to say the glamorgan thread will be up when i get back from wembley

Normal service. Hi Jimbob!

Good to have you back, JimBob!

I'm guessing a 13 man squad being named including Foakes and Curran but not Solanki.

A few goofs there from yours truly but I'll let JimBob tell the story. 24 hours before our season starts and I'm already !

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Normal service. Hi Jimbob!

guildfordbat wrote:A few goofs there from yours truly but I'll let JimBob tell the story. 24 hours before our season starts and I'm already !

looks like i have time then

guildfordbat wrote:Good to have you back, JimBob!

Surrey 2nd XI playing friendly against a combined Hants/Kent side.  Interesting to see how players get on especially those who might have hoped to be playing in the 1st XI.  Couple of wickets each for Meaker and the Berger Van, but Luke Beaven took four, albeit lower order wickets.  Balcombe was very expensive for his one wicket and Kapil was wicketless.  Sibley and Harinath resume their opening stand tomorrow.  Foakes among those hoping to impress with the bat.

The Surrey seconds conceded 34 runs through no balls and another couple with wides. 31 of those came from Balcombe's 11 overs!!

Surrey 2nd XI beat combined Hants/Kent by 3 wickets in a high scoring match. Batsmen doing well included Kapil (century and half century) Harinath (two half centuries), Sibley and Solanki (one half century each). Various other batsmen, including Foakes and Burke, made some useful scores.  No very notable feats by the SUrrey bowlers in the second innings, tho Meaker took 3 wickets.

guildfordbat wrote:

Olly wrote:#ansariforEngland 

It's gonna happen folks...

You could be right, Olly.

I've heard he came close to being selected for the Windies tour.

ZAFAR IS IN!

Olly wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:

Olly wrote:#ansariforEngland 

It's gonna happen folks...

You could be right, Olly.

I've heard he came close to being selected for the Windies tour.

ZAFAR IS IN!

Yes, and as the Surrey website will probably tell us, he pretty much ran through the Essex line up today!

In today's Surrey Ad, my man Spiller refers to Dernbach's side injury as being described as ''significant''. Spills doesn't give any time frame - unlike a lot of journos, he doesn't make things up if he doesn't know. I'll leave you guys to guess your own time period.

Spills mentioned a fortnight ago that the Viscount was then around a month off returning following his knee op. After our poor (bowling) start to the season, he probably has more chance of a first team spot than was thought a few weeks ago. However, I'm sure he'll need to get some second XI cricket under his belt before he realistically comes back into contention.

No news on Tremlett. However, even if he's fit now, that's no reason to suggest he still will be by the start of the - already being billed in some quarters as ''a must win'' - Leics game!

With Balcombe struggling in the 2nd XI game, Dernbach injured and Tremlett being Tremlett combined with the coaches wanting a seamer capable of tying up an end I'd say Linley's chances are very strong now.

8.Curran
9.Meaker
10.Tremlett or Linley
11. Dunn

That could certainly offer some more potency at this time of year but leaving out your 1st choice spinner is always risky.

It would also leave us with a long tail unless Curran can start batting like the bowling all rounder he's been touted as.

Surrey seconds* play MCC Young Cricketers in two back to back t20 games at Purley tomorrow. Tremlett, Meaker and Balcombe are not included. That suggests the last two will be named in the squad for the first XI CC match against Leics starting at the Oval on Sunday plus also Tremlett if he's fit.

Sam (kid brother of Tom) Curran is included for the seconds. He's highly regarded and could be involved with the first team squad next season or maybe a bit at the end of this.

* I recommend the second eleven thread started by Beehive with his blogs. Whilst the thread is across all counties, he's also a Surrey sufferer so we should get decent coverage there.

According to my man Spiller today, Tremlett is ''expected'' to have recovered from his hamstring strain and will play against Leics.

In other news, Dernbach's side injury is likely to keep him out for ''at least six weeks''. Spills quotes Stewart as saying, ''... although his figures didn't represent it, he bowled very tidily before he got injured.'' Think of that what you may but it does seem to tally with my earlier posts expressing the belief that Dernbach had been included as a replacement for Tremlett with the main aim of keeping one end quiet.

Spills also comments that Strauss is expected to appointed as new ECB director of cricket ''imminently'' leaving Stewart to continue his role at Surrey.

guildfordbat wrote:Surrey seconds* play MCC Young Cricketers in two back to back t20 games at Purley tomorrow. Tremlett, Meaker and Balcombe are not included. That suggests the last two will be named in the squad for the first XI CC match against Leics starting at the Oval on Sunday plus also Tremlett if he's fit.

Sam (kid brother of Tom) Curran is included for the seconds. He's highly regarded and could be involved with the first team squad next season or maybe a bit at the end of this.

* I recommend the second eleven thread started by Beehive with his blogs. Whilst the thread is across all counties, he's also a Surrey sufferer so we should get decent coverage there.

Press the rewind button about Balcombe. The first t20 game against MCC YCs is currently in progress and Balcs is playing, despite not being in the team named yesterday. Unfortunately with concerning results. He came on as seventh bowler and bowled just one over. Not too surprising as it was wicketless and went for 22 including 8 wides and no balls. No way he'll make the Leics squad now.

MCC YCs knocked up 200/4 off their 20. At least I wasn't so far off the money with Sam Curran - he was the pick of the Surrey bowlers with 3/31 off his 4 overs.

Tremlett for Dernbach the only change in the squad.

I'd expect Curran to drop out for Meaker providing everyone is fit enough to play

Not at the Oval today but managed to pop down the road in Guildford for an hour where the seconds are playing Warks.

In the wake of Strauss' comments, there was a clear view expressed from someone you would expect to be in the know that the current Leics match is likely to be Pietersen's last.

guildfordbat wrote:Not at the Oval today but managed to pop down the road in Guildford for an hour where the seconds are playing Warks.

In the wake of Strauss' comments, there was a clear view expressed from someone you would expect to be in the know that the current Leics match is likely to be Pietersen's last.

 Wow!