Rainy Championship debut likely for KP

Chris Adams has named the squad for the inevitable draw (if it even gets that far!) with Glamorgan starting at a soaking wet Oval tomorrow morning, its a game that is all about salvaging some kind of pride from another poor County Championship season for Surrey, and pushing for promotion for their opponents.

The 13 players named in the squad and my preferred team is as follows:

Jason Roy
Tom Lancefield
Mark Ramprakash
Kevin Pietersen

Arun Harinath

Rory Hamilton-Brown
Gary Wilson
Gareth Batty
Chris Tremlett
Stuart Meaker
Jade Dernbach

Bench:  Tim Linley, Chris Schofield

I don't think Adams and Hamilton-Brown will have the confidence to go with Jason Roy as an opener in the Championship but they have to face facts that Harinath has not passed 25 in his last 8 innings - he may just not be suited to the openers slot.  Tom Lancefield has fared only slightly better but will probably end the season at the top of the order.  It is clear that Roy has bags of talent and like to play his shots, we've really struggled this season with slow starts in the Championship so maybe he can inject some impetus that while Lancefield anchors.

Unless Bill Gordon has prepared a raging turner for tomorrow, I see no reason why Schofield should play, and I'm a bit surprised he's made it into the squad over Matthew Dunn who has been preferred for the Second XI this week.  Tim Linley or Stuart Meaker is consistency or potency, its a tight call but I'd probably go for Meaker for his extra pace.

The continued absence of Stewart Walters and Andre Nel doesn't bode well for the players themselves, particularly for the former.  I presume Nel is still suffering with his hamstring injury but there's been little news on that front from the club but I wonder if Walters might have played his last first team game for the club.

I've managed to get this far without mentioning KP (well, except in the headline), for England's sake Pietersen needs some time in the middle and I hope he gets plenty.  I would expect him to come in after Ramprakash at number four and some runs in the longer form of the game would supplement his delightful hundred at Hove on Sunday.

Glamorgan have named a pretty strong squad for an important game from their perspective: GP Rees, MJ Cosgrove, WD Bragg, TL Maynard, BJ Wright, JWM Dalrymple, J Allenby, MA Wallace, JAR Harris, RDB Croft, DA Cosker, DS Harrison, HT Waters and WT Owen.  Cosgrove offers precisely the sort of quick-scoring threat at the top of the order that we lack, and Allenby, Dalrymple and Maynard are solid bats in the middle.  James Harris is a quality seam bowler and has bags of wickets already, and Croft and Cosker offer a well documented threat if there's any turn (and sometimes if their isn't!).

This game, if there's any play at all, might turn out to be about the batsmen.  Pietersen needs runs, as does Hamilton-Brown if his season with the bat is to be considered anything better than mediocre.  Its also a good chance for Wilson to stake a claim for a spot after his hundred against Leicestershire, and for Jason Roy to continue his recent good form.  I just hope there are some good performances, particularly from our younger players, to brighten up the gloom.