Surrey Promotion Celebration Thread

[SimonofSurrey]

The clue is in the name. Post here to celebrate the return of a young* and exciting Surrey side to CC1. Yorkshire, here we come!

Post here also your personal highlights from a great season (with more yet to come). Mine include:
- England's Number 1 Jason Roy, and his first significant score (of many?) for England last night
- the rise and rise of Zaf with bat and ball
- the emergence from nowhere of the Curran brothers
- the steady 'below the radar' climb of 'First Degree' Burns towards Lions recognition this winter (England selectors - are you listening?)
- *the rejuvenation  of G Batty - used to be old but now appears to have outgrown that and looks young again
- everyone else who contributed on and off the field: kudos to KP and Sanga for their valuable 'wise old pro' contributions.

The future's bright, the future's Surrey Brown

[king_carlos]

Whilst possibly an over indulgent thread for our army of Surrey fans it is still a fun one and good opening post with nice highlights.

I would add:

The Baron taking his chance when given one in the CC side was pleasing reward for a player who is immensely popular at the Oval.

Burke coming through as a bowling all rounder capable of giving us some much needed balance in all formats. His performances still need to become more consistent and his bowling more economical but he has been a very useful find nonetheless. I hope that Kapil can continue to come through to offer a batting all rounder to offer versatility and competition to that 7 spot.

Sanga settling in well as the overseas player we have been searching for in vain for many seasons.

Interesting coming back to form in wonderful style early in the season. He may have faded a bit later on but I will admit to being a doubter at the start of the summer. I questioned whether he could still deliver on his talent and whether giving up the gloves was a wise choice. He has proven me very wrong on both counts through sheer volume of runs and scoring big when it mattered.

Dernbach returning to one day form. The end of his England career reportedly left his confidence in taters and could have led his county career down the same path. He may not have delivered in CC cricket but he has been a very reliable leader of our attack in one day cricket. Bowling at the sharp ends of the innings he has played a key role in us reaching the semis and hopefully going even further on Monday.

[guildfordbat]

Two excellent posts above.

Particular congratulations as well to Stewie & Ford. Many elsewhere were doubtful about last season's stated aim of ''improvement'' and considered it too woolly and lacking in ambition but a year on it's been shown to have worked wonderfully.

Just a small one for me, Corporal. I want to remember today.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

One of my "highlights" - albeit stretching the term a bit - was the way that, in turn, pretty much every Surrey player who had a few games in the first team made major, often matching winning contributions:

Currans x 2, Davies, Ansari, Burns, Foakes, KP, Burke, Batty, Roy, KP, Harinath, (and not forgetting Harold in that excellent cc run chase against Essex ) ... that's more than a complete first XI of players who all did it.  Could also add Jade in limited overs as well.

We have indeed also got to give plaudits to the management and support staff for helping so many players to perform to their potential, and for the team as a whole to really gel.  

[chichestersurryfan]

What excellent posts above..... I am commenting very much from a distance and only saw my first Surrey day of cricket yesterday....but what has struck me is the number of excellent young English cricketers we have who all play so well as a unit...when someone has failed someone else steps up to the plate... My gut feeling from our promotion last time around was that we were depending on a large number of expensive imports...some of whom may have been more shall we say financially motivated than their particular love of Surrey..that is just a hunch and I have no evidence per se....
Of course some of our youngster may struggle a bit to acclimatise to Div 1 cricket....but I remain confident that sufficient will cope well. I really hope we allow these players the time they need next season...who knows we may lose a few to England call ups...! congratulations to all at Surrey. Both in front of camera and behind the scenes....it hasn't always been easy following Surrey...some of the leadership, management and player imports have quite rightly imho led to criticism of the club and the way it has been run...not criticism warranted this season.... A fantastic effort!

[king_carlos]

With regards to coping in division one I feel will need to sign an experienced batsmen over the summer to bolster the young talent.

Sanga is obviously proven at all levels and Interesting has shown himself adept against Div 1 bowling. Beyond this it will be a fresh step up for almost all the top and middle order. You only need to look at how James Vince struggled early in this season to see it's a step up.

Openers - Burns, Ansari, Harinath, Sibley

Middle order - Sanga, Davies, Roy, Solanki

Wicket keepers - Foakes and Wilson

All rounders - Burke, Kapil

In terms of versatilty - Ansari can bat in the middle order well, Sibley and Harinath have been used at 3. Plus Foakes and Wilson can bat a bit higher up than many keepers often do, though I wouldn't ideally want either above 5 in Div 1.

Solanki could likely be on his way this summer though I imagine - guildford, you are probably our best informant here?

In my opinion we will need at least one strong signing up the order, preferably to bat behind Sanga at 4. When you add in international call ups for Harold or le Roi we could likely need another middle order bat as well.

[guildfordbat]

Another good post, Carlos.

I certainly don't have any inside info on Solanki but reckon his playing days must be nearly over. His contract is up this year and he's had just the one Championship game this season plus not much involvement in the limited overs stuff either. Furthermore, he's a sensible bloke who must be aware of the writing on the wall - I wouldn't be surprised if he announced his (playing) retirement.

That said, Stewie & Ford won't be desperate to kick him out through the Oval gates. I know they regard him highly. They were quite open about having their batting plans thrown into confusion as recently as the start of last season when he was unavailable for family reasons. Just possibly he could be offered a coaching role with Surrey. I know Simon raised the possibility of second team skipper a short time ago - a possibility (not least, it would allow the option of the first XI calling on him and his experience if needed) but I suspect he'll now want to move on to a more different part of his career, albeit still in cricket. He's also been heavily involved with the Professional Cricketers Association.

Sorry not to give a categoric answer but best I can do and hopefully food for thought.

[king_carlos]

Thanks guildford.

I was aware that he was very well considered at the club. He has always seemed a very astute cricketer throughout his career.

At his best he was a wonderful batsmen to watch and I often felt he could have achieved much more in ODIs.

Hopefully he stays involved in some respect even if not as a player.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Worth mentioning that in the cc div 2 batting averages Surrey players currently fill eight out of the top 16 places.

[guildfordbat]

Surrey's official supporters' club (I think I'm the only member who posts on this site) are voting over the next week on the following categories:

1. Surrey Player of the Season,
2. Most Improved Surrey Player of the Season,
3. Young Surrey Player of the Season, and
4. Surrey Moment of the Season.
[Words like ''young'' and ''moment'' have loose interpretations for these categories and are left to the discretion of each voter.]

I'm pretty much decided but would be interested in the thoughts of you guys.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Hi Guildford.  Massive difference compared to some other seasons where it's been a bit difficult to identify worthy candidates for several categories.

My selection would be:

Player of the season: Tom Curran for his weight of wicket taking and leading the attack at such a young age - we've really missed having someone like that for a good many years.
Most improved player:  I would say Zafar Ansari for his emergence as a genuine front line bowler.  Makes a massive difference that spin is a strength for us (at least in Div 2) rather than the weakness it had often been.
Young player: Sam Curran.  For his startling breakthrough into the first team, and some excellent performances with both ball and bat. (Obviously the award could well go to Tom Curran who would be a first rate candidate for this award, but given that I would favour him for the main award it would seem a pity not to give the young player award to another player who is both very young and very exceptional.)
Surrey moment of the season:  There's a hatful to chose from.  Clearly KP triple century ranks very highly, and there's the excellent Le Roi/Davies run chase, Sam Curran's exploits, Harinath's double.  But I would go for the hattrick with which promotion was secured.  A fantastic moment for the team and for the captain.

[king_carlos]

Hi all,

As Corp alludes to they are nicer question to answer than perhaps in previous seasons.

Player of the season - Steve Davies. He may have tailed off in CC cricket and injury curtailed his chance to make a deserved 1000 div 2 runs. However he still averaged 65 in FC cricket but on top of that he has led the way in our run to the one day cup semis by averaging 70 with two centuries and two nineties. Tom Curran has also performed excellently but just falls a touch behind - perhaps a decision mad easier by being able to select him in another category!

Most improved player - James Burke. Zaf has been excellent with 40 wickets at 30 but at the same time his batting hasn't been as good as we would have hoped. In the category of most improved I often like to go for a player who has surprised and impressed me in equal measure, for that Burke deserves it. Signed as an unknown he has filled that vital bridge between batting and bowling at number 7 that we have struggled a lot to fill. He tops our one day cup bowling averages with 16 wickets at 18.81. Add to that a knack for taking wickets at vital times and an average of 22 in CC cricket and he has been a real find.

Young player of the season - Tom Curran. If he isn't player of the season he has to be really. 60 CC wickets at a good rate to go with 15 more in the one day cup, plus his talent with the bat being seen a bit more regularly. A fantastic cricketer.

Surrey moment of the season - As Corp says there are many to choose from. I personally would go for the Le Roi and Interesting led chase against Leicstershire. So often in those situations with declarations we ponder such things as 'they could still open with their one day hitters' or 'it's wouldn't be that high a run rate in a 50 over game. 99 times out of a 100 nothing comes of it however. Well here it did in spectacular fashion with 218 being made at over 10 runs per over.

[guildfordbat]

Excellent posts from the Corporal and Carlos that have got me thinking again. Hopefully one or two others will also comment. I'll keep my powder dry in the meantime.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

That's impressive - all four nominations from King Carlos are different from mine. The challenge now will be for someone to produce four nominations that are different from both of our selections.

[SimonofSurrey]

Player of the season - so many to choose from but my (partly symbolic) award in a season of some much success for so many players goes to Gareth Batty. Brilliant, loyal leader who has led us by example out of some dreadful adversity on and off the pitch in recent years and now has moulded a team of outstanding young talent and one or two senior pros into a firercely competitive unit in all forms of the game. Has made telling contributions with bat and ball in CC2 - never more so than in our most recent game v Derbys - and picked up useful wickets in 50 overs games at under 5 runs an over.
Most improved player - Zaf quite simply developed this year from a player Surrey fans hoped would play for England one day soon into a player whose selection only the most Surreyphobic now would question
Young player of the season - Tom Curran: a wafer thin call over J Burke, his brother only just behind with a late dash to secure bronze
Surrey moment of the season - subject to further possible successes yet to come (...), B Cotton b G Batty 0: G Batty finishes the match with a hat trick as Surrey win by an innings and 98 and secure promotion to CC1.

[guildfordbat]

Another excellent post, this time from Simon. I'm very glad I put this out there but you guys aren't half making my voting difficult!

[alfie]

Just popping in to congratulate all you Surrey supporters on your well deserved promotion

Enjoy

[guildfordbat]

Many thanks, Alfie. Coming from a giant of the world game such as yourself that is very much appreciated.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Guildford will post my moments later when home from work - need to give it good thought!

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Just popping in to congratulate all you Surrey supporters on your well deserved promotion

Enjoy

Thanks Alfie -

[guildfordbat]

Surrey's official supporters' club (I think I'm the only member who posts on this site) are voting over the next week on the following categories:

1. Surrey Player of the Season,
2. Most Improved Surrey Player of the Season,
3. Young Surrey Player of the Season, and
4. Surrey Moment of the Season.
[Words like ''young'' and ''moment'' have loose interpretations for these categories and are left to the discretion of each voter.]

I'm pretty much decided but would be interested in the thoughts of you guys.

Just to say I'll submit my votes to the supporters' club late tomorrow afternoon and explain my reasoning here after that.

Olly and anyone else - last chance to influence me.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Player of the season - #ansariforengland
Improved player of the season - Mr Burke
Young player of the season - Sam Curran
Moment of the season - Burns and Henriques being ok in hospital and Sanga's 166


Reasoning to follow

[guildfordbat]

Player of the season - #ansariforengland
Improved player of the season - Mr Burke
Young player of the season - Sam Curran
Moment of the season - Burns and Henriques being ok in hospital and Sanga's 166


Reasoning to follow

Cheers, Olly. Particularly liked your first moment - puts everything else into context. I'll be interested in your reasoning on the categories - no mad rush. Thanks again.

[chichestersurryfan]

rising to the Corporal's challenge to come up with different nominations and also some encouragement from Guildfordbat to submit my nominations, notwithstanding these are based on 1 day's cricket this season and listening to a few sessions of commentary from Churchy....here we go....

player of the season...Zaf Ansari
improved player of the season...Zaf Ansari
Young player of the season...Zaf Ansari
Moment of the season...Zaf Ansari's magnificent century against Derbyshire that laid the foundations for our stunning victory to claim promotion!

chichestersurryfan....aka Olly #ansariforengland

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Player of the season - #ansariforengland
Improved player of the season - Mr Burke
Young player of the season - Sam Curran
Moment of the season - Burns and Henriques being ok in hospital and Sanga's 166


Reasoning to follow

Ok reasoning is as follows

Zaf is my player of the season purely because he has been quietly brilliant with the ball, and although average with the bat, he often got us through the new ball which is an underrated skill. He has also been good in the one day stuff. He's also awesome and gonna play for england, you may have picked this up from me

James Burke is my most improved - guy was a nobody, an outsider when we signed him. Could barely play for Somerset 2nd's right? Well he has been excellent for us...dare I say it a missing cog has been filled by him this year as the 3rd/4th seamer who can bat. Averaging 23 with the ball in FC, 18 in List A and 20 in T20 is exceptional stuff it really is. Hopefully he continues his progression next season

Sam Curran is young player of the year because he is a freak. The kid is a freak of nature. How is it fair that he looks like he's just come out of pre school and here he is bowling 85mph tearing through sides and he's barely allowed to leave his house without mum's permission. AND the kid can bat like a middle order bat!! When people say the sky is the limit they're underestimating this kids talent. Think Mohammed Amir type talent, once in a generation type stuff. 

Moment is split - the tweet of Burns/Henriques together in hospital holding hands being ok was just awesome, so heartwarming to see a good outcome. And then the Sanga 166 in the one day semi final because that may well be the best one day innings we see from a Surrey player for a long long time. The moment, the magnitude of the innings, the sheer audaciousness of the strokes...I've got that innings on my Sky plus and have watched it 3 times already and it hasn't stopped being awe inspiring yet. One for the ages.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

rising to the Corporal's challenge to come up with different nominations and also some encouragement from Guildfordbat to submit my nominations, notwithstanding these are based on 1 day's cricket this season and listening to a few sessions of commentary from Churchy....here we go....

player of the season...Zaf Ansari
improved player of the season...Zaf Ansari
Young player of the season...Zaf Ansari
Moment of the season...Zaf Ansari's magnificent century against Derbyshire that laid the foundations for our stunning victory to claim promotion!

chichestersurryfan....aka Olly #ansariforengland

I think Chichester has overdone the

[guildfordbat]

Thanks, Chichester and Olly.

Olly - extremely fine reasoning. Strongly suspect earlier posts from you influenced Chichester!

You'll have to wait until tomorrow for my votes and explanations. I'm still going to sleep on them but one threatens to be a left field choice (young generation term ok, Olly? ) which no one else has mentioned!

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Guildford - I was wondering whether anyone might make the case for Rory Burns as player of the season.  Very solid opening record, supplemented by several very useful innings since he became a regular in the one day side.

For a really left field choice maybe we are looking at Tremlett, Viscount or Meaker....

[guildfordbat]

Corporal - there's left field and then there's left of Corbyn!

Burns has had a good season and it's surprising he hasn't attracted more attention.

[guildfordbat]

Righty ho - a bit of attempted reasoning/waffle and my votes.

One. For me, the 4 day game is what it's most about. I don't ignore the white ball but it doesn't have such a high priority.

Two. This has turned out to be a really enjoyable season with many contributing to our success (particularly as per Simon's post). Unlike Chichester , I'm therefore keen to share the awards out as much as I can.

Three. I genuinely have no real disagreement with those - even Chichester - who have posted with different views. I'll at times try to explain why my final decision wasn't the same but be assured I found some of the calls incredibly tight!

Player of the Season: Tom Curran. Sheer volume of Championship wickets taking us back to Division One. 60 so far and unsurpassed since the Viscount's 73 in 2011. A tremendous achievement from a 20 year old in his first full season of county cricket (he played 6 CC matches last year). With injuries and/or loss of form too often affecting other seamers, I don't believe anyone else would have been capable of coming in and adequately replacing him. As something of a positive aside, impressive fitness and determination for him to be the only Surrey player to have played every CC game (Stewie said as far back as June that ''Tom Curran needs a rest but I've told him he can't have one!'').
If there were a silver medal here, it would definitely go to Zafar Ansari. Vastly improved as a bowler and a very valuable all rounder. A harsh comment but I would have liked a few more CC runs and - occasionally - him batting less in bottom gear (thinking of the Glamorgan game at Guildford).
I have to confess that a bowler has an advantage in this category for me as it's wickets that most win matches. That doesn't mean that a batsman couldn't have got my vote but he would have needed to do something pretty special. Consequently, I'm happy to give honourable mentions to Rory Burns and, especially, Steve Davies but can't go further than that.

Most Improved Player of the Season: time for my left field choice - Arun Harinath. I'll hide a bit here behind the excuse that you really need to have seen him bat this year and in previous seasons. So regularly in the past, a limpet like batsman on all occasions but now one far more conscious of the team's needs and looking to keep the scoreboard ticking over with the introduction of sweep and scoop shots. A good foil as well at times for sheet anchor Ansari. Impressively averaging over 48 but his strike rate is even more noticeable - 58. Whilst the latter will never place him in the Roy class, it nonetheless demonstrates a sea-change.
My runner up here was Tom Curran. From 16 CC wickets in 2014 to this year's triumphs. Unlucky not to take this award but I hope he's content with the top prize.
Honourable mentions to Zaf (again his batting raises a slight doubt), James Burke and Sam Curran; the last two being very unfortunate in that I didn't know anything of their earlier form and so couldn't assess ''improvement'' - mighty mean, I accept. I would add that if Burke can add more consistency to his game, he'll be a strong contender for this or another gong next year; as Carlos does, I like what Burke is bringing to the table.

Young Player of the Season: Sam Curran. Olly pretty much says it all. I picked up Sanga this week praising his (Sam Curran's, not Olly's ) ''presence of mind''. I think that's very significant. We have several good young players. However, none are as young as Sam. I'm stunned that a 17 year old can display such ability and maturity. Currently keeping Meaker, Dunn and Linley out of the side and deservedly so.

Moment of the Season: Gareth Batty's hat trick. As the Corporal posted, so many highlights to choose from which makes a welcome change. In previous years I would often be in a cynical mood at this time - had that been the case now, I would have been tempted to plump for the Viscount's fivefer on loan to Sussex! However, that would be petty and churlish this year. My aim all season was promotion - I therefore am delighted to choose the Moment that finally delivered it.

Sorry I couldn't give a vote to Zaf but trust the England selectors will more than make things up for him.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Case for all four well made, Guildford. Good to see a strong degree of overlap in our nominations....

[chichestersurryfan]

I think Chichester has overdone the [/quote]

Moi?     Nominations were made following serious reflection and analysis....  but admittedly under some influence of............OLLY!

Great post GB... I like your left field choice for most improved player! will there be a similar left field choice tomorrow morning for the Labour Party I wonder

exciting news from the Corporal..... We have  a date up in St John's Wood  for next Saturday
great to see Le Roi doing so well for England this week.....hopeful just warming up for next saturday

really..lwhatever. Happens next Saturday, what a great Cricketing Summer this has been for Surrey and England cricket fans

[king_carlos]

Most Improved Player of the Season: time for my left field choice - Arun Harinath. I'll hide a bit here behind the excuse that you really need to have seen him bat this year and in previous seasons. So regularly in the past, a limpet like batsman on all occasions but now one far more conscious of the team's needs and looking to keep the scoreboard ticking over with the introduction of sweep and scoop shots. A good foil as well at times for sheet anchor Ansari. Impressively averaging over 48 but his strike rate is even more noticeable - 58. Whilst the latter will never place him in the Roy class, it nonetheless demonstrates a sea-change.

Cases well made for all players guildford!

Highlighting what you referred to as your left field choice however I think it is a very interesting one and bodes well for how the Baron may be able to further develop over coming seasons.

Especially for an opening or top order English batsmen the old core skills of knowing where your off stump is and leaving well in order to occupy the crease will always be most important. In the modern game the ability to 'go through the gears' and put pressure on bowlers is becoming more important however.

If Arun can continue to progress these skills whilst maintaining his strong defence then he could develop into a very useful CC players for a fair few years to come. Let's just hope he is a div 1 player however!

It is a skill that Zaf and Sibley need to keep progressing as well so if the coaches have helped the Baron with that it is a very promising sign for the squad as a whole too.

[king_carlos]

With Solanki, the Viscout and Tremlett retired and KP unlikely to return to the Oval, and only for t20 if he does, our current squad for next season looks like below:

Opening batsmen - Burns, Ansari, Harinath, Sibley

Middle order batsmen - Sangakarra, Davies, Roy

Wicket keepers - Wilson, Foakes

All rounders - Burke, Kapil

Seamers - Tom Curran, Sam Curran, Dunn, Meaker?, Balcombe?

Spinners - Batty, van den Bergh

Azhar Mahmood and Moses Henriques* were also with us for t20s but I have no idea whether they will be for the next season.

Looking at that I feel we will need at least an experienced top order batsmen and experienced seamer brought in to complement the rest of the squad. I'm delighted with those there but in order to compete consistently in div 1 we will need to recruit well over the winter.

* I was delighted to read that Moses returned to cricket the other week following his and Third Degrees nasty collision earlier in the season.

[guildfordbat]

Very good and interesting posts, Carlos. I'll try to return to them tonight.

[guildfordbat]

Hi again Carlos,

On the seamer front, I think you've missed out Dernbach. Even with him though, we still need some re-enforcement. Luke Fletcher impressed with the ball when on loan earlier in the season and still seems to be struggling to get a regular place in the Notts side. Provided there are no medical issues (he was crocked some of the time with us), we could do worse than give him a permanent deal. That wouldn't surprise me.

I've heard that Leics are interested in Meaker. Not a great club for him to join being frank but it would get him game time.

I don't know the details about Balcombe but he seems mentally shot. A shame as he came across as a decent and intelligent guy when he attended a pre-season forum with Stewie at Guildford. Furthermore, I know Jimbohammers quite rated his bowling when he was at Hants.

As to the batting, feel we're going to need Davies to reproduce his very good early season form in Division One.

We also need Burns to continue his solid contribution. There's a strong feeling at the Oval that his form this year has been too overlooked by the cricket media as well as the Lions selectors.

Thanks for your comments btw in response to mine about Harinath. Too often he's appeared to progress and then fallen back. Hopefully he can continue his upward path in 2016.

An important season for Sibley. If he doesn't make the eleven (and it'll be difficult), I hope we try and sort out a loan deal for him to a Division Two county. He needs to be playing Championship cricket of some sort to improve. [Similar comment for van den Bergh and his bowling.]

An extra experienced batsman would be useful (although not so essential as a seamer imo). Who that could be though I don't know. For all Adams' (many) failings, his signing of Solanki was a good one. Just a shame he wasn't two or three years younger.

[king_carlos]

Ah yes I have forgotten Dernbach. Thinking more of the CC side, I fear that his bowling in the longer form has been lacking for several seasons now. He adds some experience but and I wouldn't bemoan him playing several CC throughout a season but I would prefer him to be down the pecking order.

Fletcher would be an excellent acquisition. On top of being a much underrated first class bowler he is also one of the best white ball bowlers in the country. He can waft a bat around when needed as well!

My fear with the batting is the number of players who will be making the step up at once. Sanga and Davies have proven themselves against against top class opposition. After that all of Burns, Zaf, Roy, Foakes, Wilson, Harinath and Sibley have not been tested with regularity against div 1 bowling.

Some may settle quickly but I fear others may not, hence why I hope to see a strong top order signing. I agree that a bowler is the first priority however.

Meaker to Leics would be disappointing but understandable. Given his recent struggles he may want a change of scenery. I would really like him for the squad to offer that bit of extra pace as variety however. If we have a battery of pacers such as Tom Curran, Sam Curran, Dunn, Meaker, Dernbach and another (Fletcher or Footit for instance) then we would be well set to rotate guys well and allow certain players to focus more on favoured formats.

Leics have made a few good signings already with Horton, Dexter and Wayne White returning. Meaker would be a real statement of intent from them.

For Burger Van especially, he needs to play. We don't want to see another situation such as Jewell where he is kept on the books but not given a real opportunity. If it means going out on loan then so be it but if the coaches feel he is good enough for CC cricket then they need to find him CC cricket.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

I think Sam Curran misses a lot of next season due to school folks

[guildfordbat]

I think Sam Curran misses a lot of next season due to school folks

He'll certainly miss some games although big bro Tom and Dominic Sibley were more available than we expected in 2014 when they were both in their final school year.

[Corporalhumblebucket]

I think Sam Curran misses a lot of next season due to school folks

He'll certainly miss some games although big bro Tom and Dominic Sibley were more available than we expected in 2014 when they were both in their final school year.

I was certainly surprised by some of the games Sibley played in the days immediately running up to A levels - in my day this time would have been designated as "revision leave".

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Interesting to note that Tom Curran is right near the top of overs bowled in the cc this season (both Divisions). By my reckoning he is fourth.  All the others at the top of the list are seasoned professionals and two are aged 29 and the other two are considerably older:

Chris Rushworth (Durham):      585.4
Steve Magoffin (Sussex):          535.1
Charlie Shreck (Leicestershire):  512.4
Tom Curran (Surrey):               500.5
Mark Footitt (Derby):               495.3

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

It's interesting because I'm not sure at any point the club have indicated he's severely fatigued. I suppose he does have a very repetitive action that is easy on the body it seems, so it isn't too bad for him.

Also have to remember a lot of our CC games have finished early, so he's been getting extra days rest because he's been so good!

[Corporalhumblebucket]

Olly - I'm sure it helps being part of a successful team. I do, however, recall at some point in mid season Alec Stewart saying that Tom Curran needed a rest, but adding that he was not allowed one! (I imagine that was a slightly flippant comment as no doubt Curran would have been rested if he was severely fatigued)

[guildfordbat]

Hi folks - yes, the Corporal's absolutely right. Stewie said exactly that at the members' forum meeting at the Oval on 1 June. As often with him, it was a good humoured remark but still came across as sincerely meant.

I think TC has subsequently been rested for only one t20 game. His stamina and determination to lead the attack have been impressive and have attracted positive comments from Stewie and Norah this week in interviews with Churchy on the club website.

PS In case not seen - possibly hidden by Simon's appreciation of Chichester's guidance about pms - there's the latest from Spills on the RL 50 Final thread. Interesting imo.

[guildfordbat]

Surrey's official supporters' club (I think I'm the only member who posts on this site) are voting over the next week on the following categories:

1. Surrey Player of the Season,
2. Most Improved Surrey Player of the Season,
3. Young Surrey Player of the Season, and
4. Surrey Moment of the Season.
[Words like ''young'' and ''moment'' have loose interpretations for these categories and are left to the discretion of each voter.]

I'm pretty much decided but would be interested in the thoughts of you guys.

I couldn't make it along to Friday night's awards bash but understand the winners for the respective categories above were:
1. Tom Curran
2. Tom Curran again
3. Sam Curran
4. What is now referred to as The Bat-trick.

In less cheerful news, rumours are circulating that Foakes is unhappy at not (regularly) keeping and wants away.

[Good Golly I'm Olly]

Hopefully we will see sense and assure him of the gloves next season. He is after all the best keeper at the club

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