2012 review: the allrounders

Surrey hardly had a proliferation of allrounders this season but I still thought I'd give this hardy bunch of four lads, two of whom are no longer Surrey players, their own post.

Zafar Ansari
CC: 234 runs @ 19 and no wickets. CB40: 160 runs @ 40 and 6 wkts @ 24. T20: 144 runs @ 24 and 6 wkts @ 28.
After making his Championship debut last year batting at number seven it was perhaps a surprise to see him thrust into the openers' slot for the final eight games of the season. I was however impressed with the consistency of selection, Adams should be praised for resisting the temptation to chop and change such a promising young player (quite out of character needless to say!). He only registered a single 50 and was out in single figures six times in 13 innings but I don't think that's an accurate representation of this man's talents. I do think an alternative should be sought to partner Burns at the top of the order for now, apart from anything else Ansari still has to complete his studies at Cambridge so will miss the early part of 2013. Ansari has what it takes to succeed in all formats at this level, its only a matter of time before he proves that.

Matthew Spriegel
CC: 35 runs @ 11 and no wickets. CB40: 220 runs @ 27 and 9 wkts @ 21. T20: 130 runs @ 21 and 2 wkts @ 44.
I won't bore you all again by saying how disappointed I was to see Spriegel depart for pastures new, but suffice it to say my position remains the same. He didn't score as heavily in the CB40 this year as he did last but his bowling, often opening the innings, was crucial. Why he wasn't used more, and more intelligently, in Championship cricket I'll never know. Two seven-fors in Second XI cricket suggested he was well on his way to becoming a viable Batty successor. He should have been tried in the openers slot in my view so that Ansari could be saved for the lower order at this stage. I hope he has every success at Northants.

Chris Jordan
CC: 141 runs @ 13 and 10 wkts @ 51. T20: no runs and no wickets
Those aren't really the numbers of a bona fide allrounder. Despite possessing all the natural necessaries, Jordan just never quite nailed down the consistency needed to be a real allround success in the Championship, or in any other format for that matter. The decision to have him open the batting was one of the more confusing ones this season and to his credit he grafted hard at it, though with little success. Although it feels like he played an awful lot, he in fact only played more than two successive games on three occasions in 2011 and 2012. Still, I think his time was up at Surrey and moving to pastures new might just see him get back to the Chris Jordan of the early days.

Tom Jewell
CC: 70 runs @ 70 and 1 wkt @ 24.
One game in 2011 and one game in 2012 might suggest that Tom Jewell was going to be shown the door at the end of this season, but his performance in the final fixture of 2012 hints at an emerging talent. I've always thought he was a good, steady option with both bat and ball and given the chance might just flourish in county cricket. He could develop into the genuine allrounder we've been crying out for. And his middle name is Melvin.