Monday 3 May 2010

Surrey win...but I'm confused

I'm in the strange position of being very pleased with a second consecutive CB40 win and yet a little bemused by the team selection.

It hardly needs saying that Tremlett didn't play, but staggeringly six other bowlers did.  Rao, Linley, Dernbach, Meaker, Batty and Schofield were all crammed in to the same side and while we restricted Worcestershire more effectively than we did Lancashire last week, we were still left chasing 236 to win.  In the end Surrey came out on top comfortably on the D/L method after a very special knock from Davies (how many times have I said that already this season?) with good support from Afzaal (how many times have I wished I could say that?!).

However, my confusion remains.  Meaker was selected but bowled a solitary over, which disappeared for 11 runs.  He is certainly not ready yet to be selected on his batting alone, and yet RHB doesn't seem to trust him with the ball?  It will do nothing for his confidence to keep him almost entirely out of the game.

At present, a top four of RHB, Davies, Ramps and Afzaal is fantastic, but with Spriegel coming in at five (he batted well today to be fair), it cannot be said that we bat deep!  We have plenty of bowlers who can bat, but I would like to see Spriegel at least one place lower, ideally two, and Laurie Evans or another of the youngsters given a go.

In other news, the following squad has been selected for the LVCC game against Gloucester tomorrow:

Rory Hamilton-Brown
Arun Harinath
Mark Ramprakash
Usman Afzaal
Steven Davies
Chris Schofield
Gareth Batty
Stuart Meaker
Andre Nel
Rao Iftikhar Anjum
Jade Dernbach
Chris Tremlett

I've highlighted one name in bold, Tremlett is in the squad, and according to the website "could" play, I think that's a very crucial qualification, and I'd still be surprised to see him walk out tomorrow!

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