SURREY vs NORTHAMPTONSHIRE LV=COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

For the final time this season
SURREY HAVE NAMED A THIRTEEN MAN SQUAD FOR THEIR FINAL LV=COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP GAME OF THE SEASON AGAINST NORTHAMPTONSHIRE AT THE KIA OVAL STARTING TOMORROW.
Zafar Ansari is unavailable for selection due to the thumb injury he sustained in the game against Lancashire. Left arm spinner Freddie van den Bergh is named a Championship squad for the first time this season. happy corporal
The Surrey squad to play Northamptonshire in the LV=County Championship at the Kia Oval on Tuesday 22nd September, Wednesday 23rd September, Thursday 24th September and Friday 25th September:
Gareth Batty (capt)
James Burke
Rory Burns
Sam Curran
Tom Curran
Steven Davies
Matthew Dunn
Ben Foakes
Arun Harinath
Jason Roy
Kumar Sangakkara
Freddie van den Bergh
Gary Wilson
harinath and burke to miss out again imo
over to you chaps it's been emotional

Jimbob - thanks for performing this final duty.

Well, I reckon that Freddie Van den Bergh (the Burger Van) will finally get an outing.

I agree with you that Dunn will play. (It's possible that Sam Curran might miss out so that he doesn't need another dispensation from his headteacher to bunk off school for a relatively unimportant match. But logic suggests that if that was going to be the case, there wouldn't have been much point in including him in the squad.) So maybe Burke will miss out.

One of Foakes, Wilson or Harinath could also miss out. I have just a hunch that both Foakes and Harinath will play.

JimBob - echoing the Corporal's comments, you've again performed brilliantly this season. Many thanks. It really is appreciated.

Having been called into the squad at long last, I'm sure Burgers will be on the menu.

Think Harinath will also play - imo he's more likely than anyone else to open with Burns in this match.

Who misses out then? Again difficult as we don't know about any minor injuries and niggles. I'm inclined to go along with the Corporal's hunch about Wilson not playing. Maybe Sam Curran to sit it out as well and return to school; if I'm wrong there, Burkey probably to carry the drinks.

Despite Dernbach's great work on Saturday (I still think he should have got MotM), I guess the Club don't want to risk him at this stage in a 4 dayer.

Thought Aneesh Kapil might just have made the squad. Admittedly, he hasn't done much this year but to be fair he's had little opportunity. His contract's up about now - reckon he'll get a new one year deal. Anything more would get the Oval's bean counters in a tiz, nothing would be very harsh.

I definitely think that Harinath should play...as Guildford said in another thread....one of our most improved players this season....just seen that Cook is in the Essex squad for the match against Lancx....definitely the right time for Cookie to step up to the mark with a double hundred.... I assume that as he is in the squad he is going to play rather than being on drinks duty

Inevitably after the drama of Saturday, there could be a bit of reaction...so personally I think it would be a good time to involve some of the players who were not playing on Saturday.... If they are going to be involved next season in Div 1 a good opportunity to involve them in a match that has a bit of pressure..so I would include Foakes and the Burger King! Or should it be the Burger Van...I have got Burger King on my mind as I had one at Victoria Station on my way home to Chi after the match.....first time in about 10 years plus...a big mistake!

continuing slightly off topic, when we met up with Simon on Saturday I remember saying to him that when Klinger was out in the first over on Saturday I was a bit worried that the match would in effect be over by lunchtime...hmmmmm ..maybe in hindsight last Saturday may turn out to be a bit of a reality check for Surrey and no bad thing really...great that we have these exciting youngsters...but if we end up simply stabilising in Div 1....and retaining that status and bring on the youngsters further...alongside the seasoned pro's... It will have been a good season....I can't help thinking that the loss of Ansari for the match on Saturday was an even bigger blow that I thought at the time ...Do you agree Olly?
Anyway back to to more..I will be at work so will just have to dip in and out occasionally to see what is going on....

cheers chaps

The loss of Ansari on Saturday ultimately unsettled the batting, and while Azhar did a great job with the ball, it left us a batter light...

Anyways that is the past now, and we have county championship title to wrap up!

Burger Van and Wilson to miss out I predict

Very, very wet overnight in W Kent and still raining on and off now. I'm not in the least surprised they are not starting on time at either the Oval or Chelmsford.

Corporal - thanks for the weather update in both areas of interest to us. Please continue to do the Suzanne Charlton role - she really should have had a comb over!

We'll obviously be happy enough if the weather wrecks both games and leads to two draws. I guess there's going to be little play today if any at either place. However, we shouldn't start celebrating yet. Far less time is normally needed for a positive result at Chelmsford than the Oval.

As Olly might post #anxious.

On a slightly different note, v interesting that Zaf and The Bun (CurranT) make the Beeb's County Championship team of the season. Stand by for some negative reaction from some saying they have only played in Div 2/are one season wonders etc.

SimonofSurrey wrote:On a slightly different note, v interesting that Zaf and The Bun (CurranT) make the Beeb's County Championship team of the season. Stand by for some negative reaction from some saying they have only played in Div 2/are one season wonders etc.

The number 11 should cheer Carlos up!

Simon, I saw that. Interestingly no Hampshire players were in the team when we won Div 2 last year.... Not even Vince who scored the most runs in the country!

I agree with Tom Curran's selection. He has taken a lot of wickets this year, vital for you guys. Even if I do hate his awful haircut

Hi Jiimbo, there's always a certain subconscious bias, I fear, towards those Counties who are traditionally 'big' names - eg Yorks, Surrey, Lancs - and that rankles understandably with others, especially when their team goes through a period of strength. I agree that the omission of Vince last year was not good.

I must admit I was very impressed by several Glos players last Saturday who, to my shame, I knew little about before. Roderick impressed greatly against the early moving ball, Fuller was a constant threat, and Taylor impressed with bat and ball at crucial times and took the final highly droppable catch with aplomb: a worthy Man of the Match all round. But I'm pleased you agree with the inclusion of our players in the Beeb's team of the season! I think they've both earned it, not got there because of who they play for - but I would say that, wouldn't I?!

Meanwhile, regarding the current games, by my calculations we'll be Champions if Lancs don't win (ie they get a maximum of 13 points from their last game) and we avoid defeat (ie minimum of 5 points from this game plus our eight point lead puts us no worse than level on points and we've won more games => Champions!).

Simon - that's spot on. A more negative spin though is that IF Lancs win and we don't, they're Champions of Division Two*.

* Probably important to make reference to Division Two as otherwise Yorks folk might be up in arms. Yorkies seem to hate Surrey folk even more than their own!

Simon, yep totally agree on that.

The umpires have confirmed there will be no play today at Chelmsford. Don't know if they consulted the Corporal first!

That's certainly no bad thing for us. However, hold your horses, JimBob! As warned earlier, there's still enough time to get a positive result there.

What's the Oval forecast please, Corporal?

BBC Weather:
forecast for Chelmsford - http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2653266
Forecast for The Oval - http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/6545174

So three decent days weather in prospect in both places suggests more twists and turns before Div 2 Title is decided. Rarely have I wished more for a long and drawn out A Cook batting masterclass. If it does happen and he frustrates Lancs, I'm pretty sure the on field exchanges between him and J Anderson would be worth eavesdropping in on!

Thanks for those forecasts, Simon. Very helpful although will obviously need to be signed off by our resident weather expert, the Corporal.

guildfordbat wrote:Thanks for those forecasts, Simon. Very helpful although will obviously need to be signed off by our resident weather expert, the Corporal.

 Yes - it does look like mainly dry for Weds to Fri daylight hours.  Though three caveats: (a) there will have been an awful lot rain so it remains to be seen whether pitch affected by rain today are playable from the start of scheduled play tomorrow. (b) there is some rain due overnight on Weds - so it's possible the timing of that might be change so as to affect play at Oval and/or Chelmsford; and (c) rain or no rain, if the weather is at all cloudy in late afternoons there has to be a real possibility of losing a certain amount of play to bad light.  Sunset for example today is just before 1900, and it starts getting gloomy way before then.

Brilliant stuff there, Corporal

Just too wet at the Oval. No great surprise, play abandoned for the day without a ball bowled.

Meanwhile, Freddie's still ready ....

Re. BBC's team of the year... How is Tim Bresnan not in it? Averaging over 45 with the bat. Brilliant effort

Corporal - you've got to wait another year for a bite of Burger!

Freddie and Burkey miss out. According to cricinfo, Wilson keeps.

Surrey win toss and bat. Today does look far more of a batting day so won't grumble about that. Ideally, we're going to look to bat once (yes, I do worry I'm producing a massive jinx here!!).

Burns need 11 runs for 1,000 in the Championship this season - that would be a very good acfhievement (particularly in view of 2 matches missed post Arundel) and more than justify his selection for Carlos' county side of the year on the other thread - do have a butchers at that, it's excellent.

Not a huge fan of that side, don't see why we need 7 batsmen and only 4 bowlers tbh

Olly wrote:Not a huge fan of that side, don't see why we need 7 batsmen and only 4 bowlers tbh

Understand that comment, Olly. Does look like a cop out in deciding between Wilson and Foakes. I would make the further point that both Burke and Burger Van have made runs this season (the latter in the stiffs obviously) and so wouldn't have dramatically altered the batting strength. The batting's pretty good anyway (on paper) with a useful tail.

Olly - another possible thought about the eleven.

Are we looking to bat out as much of the remaining 3 days as possible and make sure we don't lose?

Dangerous tactic imo if so. There is still a fair chance of Lancs winning at Chelmsford.

Meanwhile, Lancs win toss and bowl at Chelmsford. Essex 12/1 ... and, yes, Anderson got the wicket!!

Expect an appearance from King Dave before too long!

Back around lunchtime.

Hello!!!

To be honest, if Surrey acquit themselves well in this match I'm not too bothered if we happen to finish behind Lancs (other than if Essex make a silly declaration allowing Lancs an easy win).

Rory Burns has made the 11 runs he needed for 1000 in the season.

Well done to Burns - excellent season.

Meanwhile Lancs have already got a bowling point as Essex are 34-3.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:To be honest, if Surrey acquit themselves well in this match I'm not too bothered if we happen to finish behind Lancs (other than if Essex make a silly declaration allowing Lancs an easy win).

Rory Burns has made the 11 runs he needed for 1000 in the season.

Although promotion was the overriding aim this season for me, having achieved it early I would really like us to win Division Two. Probably influenced there by having sat through a part of every home game this season (think that's right).

That said, what we do next season and beyond is far more important than our placing at the end of this week.

As King Dave - hello back - posted, an excellent contribution by Burns. Tends to be overlooked (as most things done by Burns are) that this is only his second full season.

Meanwhile, both our openers now gone. 87/2 when I last looked - ok but could go either way from there.

Essex recovering a little and on 70/3. Adding to Jimmy's early wicket, a couple for the old war horse Chapple who bowled a dozen economical overs on the reel.

108 - 3 at lunch. The loss of Foakes in the last over before lunch means that the session probably goes Northants. Meanwhile Essex have recovered to 96 -3 so the two games are in a very comparable state.

Foakes gone last over - not a particularly good morning. Looks like we're going to need the 7 batsmen.

Going well after lunch. Sanga and Davies have taken it from 108/3 to 151/3. If these two can see 200 on the board, we'll be in a decent place ....

Enjoyable lunch hour listening to the Viscount....top man! churchie read out a message from Richard....was that GB or the Corporal I wonder....

Hi Chichester - nope, it wasn't me. Well, unless the Surrey Chairman passed a separate message from me on to Churchy. I've been pushing (unsuccessfully, I now have to concede) for the Viscount to receive a county cap.

Anything said by the Viscount about the future? If he does open a coffee shop as he's mentioned before, we really must all go!

A lot of starts only Sanga is pushing on so far

Again I'd have seen either Burke or burger van in for Wilson. We bat all the way down to Dunn anyways so why 7 bats is needed I dunno.

First time all year I really think we've selected very poorly

Yes indeed Olly, it's 224-5 with Le Roy just out and at around 4.5 an over. But more haste, less speed please. We need maximum batting points to put pressure on Lancs* and execute our own 'bat first -> big total -> scoreboard pressure' game plan.  

*Messrs Bopara & Ryder, meanwhile, doing an excellent Essex recovery job from 29-3

Century for Sanga Sounds like a superb innings, in contrast to all the batsmen at the other end who are getting starts but not making substantial contributions.

Sanga gone for 101. Everyone's got double figures so far but only he's gone past 40.

268/6 at tea. That seems sort of ok but nothing to be overjoyed about. Suspect we'll be bowling tonight.

Frustrating and annoying that so many have got out having got in.

Meanwhile, Essex doing a decent job for us - they're 225/4. Good if they can bat well into tomorrow morning.

not happy with that scorecard with us choosing the extra batsman

baby face hits a six if only it was saturday again

Bonus points aren't going to make any difference for the Div 2 title now but I'm sure JimBob will happily accept another one - 300 up!

jimbobgooner wrote:not happy with that scorecard with us choosing the extra batsman

I reckon the Baron will get a chance tomorrow to add to his 1 CC wicket this season!

guildfordbat wrote:Bonus points aren't going to make any difference for the Div 2 title now but I'm sure JimBob will happily accept another one - 300 up!

They might. If Chelmsford turns into a high scoring road, Lancs could get 13 points from a drawn game leaving us to get a minimum of 5, ie what we have now +2 more (having secured 3 batting points) even if we lose, to be comfirmed as Div 2 Champions. Indeed, assuming we hit 5points soon - one way (bat) or another (bowl), Lancs will know that only a win for them will do.

If, if, if. The simplest solution is come on Surrey, may the tail wag then the bowlers get to work and secure a nice win to round off the season in style!

50 partnership

guildfordbat wrote:Bonus points aren't going to make any difference for the Div 2 title now but I'm sure JimBob will happily accept another one - 300 up!

always guildford

63 needed 3 wkts left

Harold falls for 49 after an excellent partnership of 71 with Sam Curran. 337 - 7 - so we need another 13 for 4th batting point.

jimbobgooner wrote:63 needed 3 wkts left

For the second time in five days, our hopes and expectations rest on the broad shoulders of a 17 year old.