Back on the wagon

Apologies for the lack of blogging lately, I've been away with my real job which is most unfortunate as it coincided with probably the most comprehensive all round performance (and victory!) in three years from Surrey.

Surrey have now won consecutive Championship games for the first time since the end of 2007 when they won three on the bounce. We've also only lost one of the last five games, things are certainly on the up. Yet another hundred from Ramps, a sparkling hundred from the skipper and a second career ton for young Spriegel, combined with telling contributions with the ball from Batty and Tremlett contributed this week to a magnificent performance.

We now go into the weekend with a game on Sunday against Somerset in the CB40 and they'll be looking to continue their good form from earlier in the season in that format. Adams has named a 14 man squad, and I think the team should be:

Rory Hamilton-Brown
Steven Davies
Mark Ramprakash
Jason Roy
Tom Lancefield
Stewart Walters
Matthew Spriegel
Gareth Batty
Chris Tremlett
Andre Nel
Jade Dernbach

Bench: Gary Wilson, Stuart Meaker, Chris Schofield

I still worry about a 7 and 8 of Spriegel and Batty, there's absolutely no power there and should we need to biff a few in a couple of overs to win a game and we're 5 or 6 down, I don't think we'll win with that sort of batsman at the crease. That said, the pair of them are in good form and have earned the chance to play. Dernbach's inclusion is dependent on him making it through a club game, if he doesn't play I would stick Meaker in. He'll be on a high after four second innings wickets this week.

Gary Wilson showed signs of turning into a good little cricketer with those three quickfire boundaries at the end of the T20, so maybe he should get a go, but I think the side above has plenty of batting down to number six. With RHB, Roy, Lancefield and Davies, there's plenty of power in the top order.

Our limited overs form this season has been very good and now there are signs that the Championship form is going a similar way. I'll say again, you have to credit the skipper and the coach for much of that, but I suspect the senior players have played their part as well - the Battys, Ramprakashes and Tremletts have probably been a big influence too.

Its important to keep this form going and there's no reason why they shouldn't. Keep it up boys!

A valiant effort, but ultimately in vain

Surrey's best Twenty20 performance of the season was not enough to see them through to the quarter finals of the Twenty20 Cup today as Hampshire and Middlesex both won as well.

As has been the case almost throughout the entire tournament Surrey's bowlers, led by the simply brilliant Chris Tremlett, were top notch.  Each time it appeared that Gloucestershire were getting a handle on the game, Surrey dragged themselves back into it and while at one stage they looked like posting 170-180, Surrey in the end would have been disappointed to let them get to 147.

Tremlett was faultless in picking up 3-18 to take him to 24 wickets in 16 games, he's been by some distance Surrey's standout bowler, and probably player, of the tournament.

From the word go Davies and Hamilton-Brown made a mockery of the total and raced to 112 in the 9th over before Hamilton-Brown was out trying the reverse sweep.  The last time we played Gloucestershire the powerplay overs yielded 18 runs for the loss of 5 wickets, not this time!  Davies kept rattling along and by the time he was out for a stunning 73 from 30 balls the match was in the bag for Surrey.  When the side comes out and puts in a performance like that, one wonders how we hadn't qualified already.

Ultimately though the 196 Hampshire totted up on a postage-stamp sized ground was too much for Sussex, and Essex fell short in their chase of 173 against Middlesex (why did Scott Styris save his best for us?!). There was an enormous amount of fight and no little talent out there for Surrey today and they can be proud of the way they threw the kitchen sink at everything.  However, careless defeats against Essex away and particularly Glamorgan at the Oval, not to mention the dreadful efforts against Gloucester and Essex at home, really put us on the back foot and made it very difficult to return from.  It is nice to have beaten Middlesex to fifth place, but that counts for absolutely nothing!

Eight wins and eight defeats is a substantial improvement on four wins in the previous two years, but to have come so close will weigh particularly heavily on the captain and coach.  It is without question a massive disappointment, but we should try at all costs to look at the positives here.  We need to put the T20 behind us now and focus on showing that kind of improvement in the Championship, and sustaining the good form we've shown in the CB40.  Well played today lads, cracking effort.

The must win to end all must wins

Even though it is still just a Twenty20...

Surrey travel to Bristol today to play Gloucester in a game they absolutely have to win, and win healthily, to have any chance of progressing to the quarter finals of the Twenty20 Cup.  Middlesex, who play Essex in Chelmsford and Hampshire who play Sussex at the Rose Bowl, also have to win to guarantee progression, but their superior run rates make their jobs ever so slightly easier.

Adams has named a 12 man squad, which is as follows with my preference for a starting XI:

Rory Hamilton-Brown
Steven Davies
Jason Roy
Tom Lancefield
Stewart Walters
Andrew Symonds
Gary Wilson
Matthew Spriegel
Chris Schofield
Chris Tremlett
Andre Nel

12th man:  Stuart Meaker

Its a tough call to go with Schofield over Meaker, because as the Somerset game showed us Meaker is capable of coming up with that ball that can change a game, but he is also prone to spraying it around a bit because of his pace.  His time will come, of that I have no doubt, but it isn't today.

The rest of the team picks itself really.  I presume Ramps must be suffering with his shoulder injury still and I would question the value of picking Wilson ahead of someone like Laurie Evans, but that's the squad we have.  The fact that Wilson is in ahead of Afzaal too does not bode well for Usman's future at the club, which is very disappointing.

Gloucestershire haven't named a squad as yet but they've been in poor form, losing 3 of their last four T20 games, but they'll be keen to salvage some pride at this stage.  There's nothing more dangerous than a wounded 'Gladiator'....

Can we qualify?  Yes, obviously, and Hampshire and Middlesex both have tough games.  However they are also both playing sides who have already qualified for the quarter finals.  We have a very tough task on our hands and its not ideal that we're relying on the results of others to make it through, but such is life.  All Surrey can do is go out today and play to the best of their abilities - if they do that, we can win for sure, and that's how we give ourselves the best opportunity!

A captain's innings to beat Sussex

Whenever you go away to top-of-the-table and come away with an eight wicket win with 10 balls to spare you know you've done well, but Rory Hamilton-Brown can be particularly pleased with himself as the skipper saw the side to victory with 71% of the runs in the chase.

I still think we're the under dogs to qualify, we've played a game more than Hampshire and still have an inferior run rate, but if Hampshire were to lose to Middlesex on Friday and Glamorgan won against Somerset on Wednesday, the four side would go into their final games on 14 points.  Glamorgan then have to play Kent, Middlesex have a tough game against Essex and Hampshire play Sussex.  We meanwhile travel to Gloucestershire.  All to play for, but its not in our hands.

Back to today, we were in the box seats ever since Symonds (yes, Symonds) and Tremlett each took two wickets in their first two overs to leave Sussex 20-4.  Some lower order hitting dragged them up to 121 which was never going to be enough.

Rather than come out all guns blazing the skipper and Davies elected to go the cautious route, putting away the bad balls and accumulating the rest.  The strategy didn't pay off for Davies who was out for a subdued 9 but it paid off in spades for Hamilton-Brown.

Credit to Symonds today, his bowling has been dreadful in recent games but given the new ball today ahead of Andre Nel he did the damage.  An interesting move by Hamilton-Brown and boy did it pay off.  He can still justify his selection next weekend by helping us to a big win over Gloucestershire and sneaking us into the quarters.  Seven wins from 15 games isn't champion form, but it is a vast improvement and I don't think any Surrey fan would deny that this is a far superior side to last year's.

The game next weekend is absolutely huge, the lads could either crumble under the pressure or they could step up and put in a super performance.  I'm going to plump for the latter, but I still fear it might not be enough, nevertheless fingers crossed!

The dream dies

While I was enjoying a glorious evening at the Oval watching a thriller of a match involving Kent and Essex, Surrey were toiling in Cardiff and came up 10 runs short against Glamorgan - a second loss against the Welshmen inside a week and a third consecutive Twenty20 defeat.

We are still fifth in the table and one of four teams on 12 points but while Middlesex and Glamorgan are just hitting their straps now and Hampshire have a superior NRR, we are falling off the pace and have only two games to go.  Middlesex and Hampshire play a double header today and tomorrow and one of those two really has the chance to get a tight grip on the fourth spot.  The quarter finals don't look terribly likely right now for Surrey.

Last night wasn't a terrific performance, though after Glamorgan raced to nearly 80 in 8 overs our bowlers came back well to restrict them to 164.  Surrey's reply was on the rocks impressively before a legitimate ball had even been bowled, the returning Steve Davies was stumped off a Robert Croft wide first ball.  Thereafter only the impressive Stewart Walters made any impression with 53 off 36 balls.

The lower middle and lower order was again exposed for a lack of power, I see no reason why Spriegel who has hit just a single boundary in seven innings, is in ahead of Schofield, Meaker and even Nel.  Spriegel has the second lowest strike rate of any batsman who has faced 50 or more balls in all 18 counties (bizarrely the lowest is Michael Carberry!).  Spriegel has many talents and I rate him highly, but boundary hitting is not one of them.

That leaves us with six wins and eight defeats from 14 matches, and to be perfectly frank I'd have taken that at the start given the abysmal performances of the last two years.  Two games remain, on Sunday at Arundel against Sussex and then a week later (why the week delay?!) against Gloucester at Bristol.  I'm not doing the maths, but even two wins is very unlikely to leave us in with a chance.  Its a disappointing end to what had become quite a hopeful campaign, but Twenty20 is all about peaking at the right time, and we didn't.  Onwards and upwards!

Late homework

Apologies for the late post on this one, I was left drowning my sorrows yesterday evening after Middlesex returned the favour by giving us a comprehensive 7 wicket thrashing with a couple of overs to spare last night.

There was a moment early on, when Surrey were 9-2 after three overs when I thought we might even approach the performance of the Gloucestershire game, and if it wasn't for Spriegel and Wilson at the end picking up a few, we may well have been staring down the barrel of our lowest total ever.

It wasn't just that our best batsmen got out, it was the manner in which they got out. Ramps and Rory ran themselves out before the seventh over was out, on both occasions there was no run. Younus and Symonds were both tamely caught and bowled off the bowling of Smith and the most culpable of all was Stewart Walters, treading on his stumps while flicking a single to square leg. Jason Roy was out caught behind, I have to say I didn't hear a thing, but I was rather a long way away.

It was just utter stupidity and in complete contrast to the vast strides the team have made over recent weeks. I wish I could say it was down to inexperience but Hamilton-Brown aside, all of the above are experienced first class cricketers. They should not be popping up caught and bowled chances when the side is already deep in the mire.

The bowlers were again left with a thankless task. Nel bowled quickly and accurately, Tremlett was his usual self although a touch on the expensive side, Schofield was economical if rarely threatening and Spriegel picked up another couple of wickets. On the down side, Symonds' bowling seems to have regressed to the point where he can barely be termed an all rounder any longer, two four balls an over (at the very least) is not what you expect for a man of his considerable experience.

I imagine that now puts the kibosh on our hopes of reaching the quarter finals. It further reduces our net run rate and puts us well behind the curve. It goes without saying that a win tonight is a must, but even that might not be enough.

Tough game in prospect for Surrey

Surrey may well have battered Middlesex by nine wickets in the game at Lord's, but I don't think a similar result is in prospect tonight. Though Middlesex may have been marginally weakened in the opener's slot by the loss of Adam Gilchrist, they have in return the all round talents of Tyron Henderson.

Surrey on the other hand still have major injury concerns. Dernbach is still missing thanks to the injury sustained in that very game at Lord's, and Linley, Batty, Brown and Jordan are still out, though Schofield seems to have recovered from what looked like a sore knee on Sunday. The squad and my preference is as follows:

Tom Lancefield
Mark Ramprakash
Jason Roy
Rory Hamilton-Brown
Stewart Walters
Andrew Symonds
Gary Wilson
atthew Spriegel
Stuart Meaker
Andre Nel
Chris Tremlett

Bench: Younus Khan, Chris Schofield

Gary Wilson at number seven is not ideal, but I think the extra bowler is necessary given the performance of our bit-part bowlers of late. Younus is available but Walters has been performing far better with the bat lately so he's earned his place. I wonder if Andre Nel might be rested as he was on Sunday, in which case Schofield will almost certainly come in, and indeed may play in Meaker's place in any case depending on conditions.

Middlesex's 15 man squad has also been named, it is as follows: Neil Dexter, Gareth Berg, Pedro Collins, Josh Davey, Tyron Henderson, Dawid Malan, Tim Murtagh, Scott Newman, Iain O'Brien, Toby Roland-Jones, Ben Scott, Owais Shah, Tom Smith, Jackson Thompson, David Warner. A couple of relative unknowns in there, I'm thinking of Davey and Thompson in particular, but there's also some quality. Murtagh and O'Brien will make a very tricky seam pair to negotiate, Tom Smith has been in good form lately and Dexter, Berg and Henderson make for some very handy options too. On the batting front we all know how destructive Warner can be and there's the potential of Shah, Newman, Dexter, Henderson and Berg to consider too. All in all, that is a very nicely balanced and potent looking side.

I think we will struggle to win tonight, the result against Glamorgan probably knocked the players a bit and it could go one of two ways, they'll either want to hit back hard, or they could be rolled over easily. I obviously hope its the former and there's plenty of ability in that side, but Middlesex are a tough prospect.