Rain denies flying Surrey

The inclement weather in Derbyshire won out this evening as persistent rain brought an early end to proceedings with Surrey cut off in their prime. Shortly before the rain arrived Steven Davies and Jason Roy were racing along at better than 12 an over.

Earlier in the evening Gareth Batty lost a toss for a change and was asked to bat by his opposite number. In a pleasant turn of events Tom Jewell was retained in the side, a positive show of confidence in the young man. With six frontline batsmen, two allrounders, two bowlers who can bat plenty and Jade Dernbach, it felt a much more traditionally balanced side. It was perhaps surprising that Chris Tremlett was left out but that could have been done with tomorrow's Championship match in mind.

The opening pair turned on the style in front of the television cameras as they tucked into the Derbyshire bowling. Davies was as strong as he ever is square of the wicket but also showed his skill in picking the gaps on the drive. Roy was less silken but played with no little skill. A classical straight drive followed by a Pietersen-esque flamingo flick for six encapsulated what a sublime talent he is.

Davies went to a second consecutive YB40 fifty from just 21 balls but the very next ball he tried to loft Peter Burgoyne's off spin only to be caught by Madsen in the deep. Azhar Mahmood came out to bat ahead of Ricky Ponting to maintain the rapid scoring rate but only faced four balls before the umpires took the players off.

It was an unfortunate end for Surrey who were looking good to secure an important two points. The weather robbed us of a couple of points last year as well and in such a tight group it could be decisive. We have to hope the weather gods dish out some similar treatment to our opponents.