Time to make it four in a row

Surrey's 12 man squad for tomorrow's CB40 game against Leicestershire, their 5th game in 12 days, has been named and while there's no room for Gareth Batty, Ramps or Tremlett, Stuart Meaker is named. I suspect Ramps' limited overs workload will be reduced this season, certainly while he gets back to peak fitness after his injury layoff.

The squad, and team that I expect to be named tomorrow is as follows:

Rory Hamilton-Brown
Steven Davies
Jason Roy
Zander de Bruyn
Tom Maynard
Gary Wilson
Matthew Spriegel
Chris Schofield
Yasir Arafat
Jade Dernbach
Stuart Meaker

12th man: Tim Linley

After the performance in the Championship game this week in which we blasted Leicestershire away with four frontline seamers, there may be a temptation to drop one of Schofield or Spriegel and pick Linley as well. I wouldn't be against that, in fact I like that kind of attacking approach, but given Adams' selections in one day cricket over the last couple of years I don't think he'll go that route. If he does, I hope it isn't Spriegel who is left out, he's made a really good start in this competition.

Hamilton-Brown will be desperate for some runs, since his 74 against Northants in his first innings of the season he hasn't passed 50 once, and managed just two runs in last weekend's two CB40 games. After such an outstanding CB40 campaign last year he'll be disappointed with his start this year. Him aside the top six is looking in good form, although Wilson hasn't had much time at the crease lately, and with Schofield's good form with the bat Adams may elect to go with him instead. I'm actually surprised an additional out-and-out batsman wasn't named, a Harinath or Lancefield perhaps, as an insurance policy.

Leicestershire have only won one of their first four CB40 games, against Scotland, and they've been guilty of allowing sides to get a hold of their bowlers. Only Hoggard and Henderson have maintained run rates below 6. On the batting front again it has been largely about James Taylor who already has one excellent hundred against Warwickshire to go alongside two fifties, but Josh Cobb has also chipped in with useful runs. They are a decent side but the defeat inside three days may have hit their confidence and Surrey need to try and exploit that.

Surrey have all the momentum and all the confidence, there's no reason why we can't make it three CB40 wins out of three and four wins on the bounce - ten days is a long time in cricket! Much will depend on the wicket, if the same wicket is used as for the Championship game it may have lost some of its spice but should still have some life, but whatever the surface we should have enough about us to come out on top.

Exceptional

Never let it be said that I am backward in coming forward when it comes to praising our team, over the last three days we have comprehensively beaten Leicestershire and in doing so have played some outstanding cricket.

The spotlight will fall today on Stuart Meaker and Jade Dernbach, with some considerable justification. I managed to hot-foot it to the Oval this evening to see the two quick bowlers share the final four wickets between them, Meaker with three and Dernbach with one. Meaker's victims were largely tail-enders but he gave them nothing whatsoever, he bowled fast and straight and the stumps were shattered. Dernbach did the damage earlier in the day and deservedly ended the innings to complete his five-for, having James Taylor caught at deep square leg. Taylor for his part played exceptionally for the 15 or so overs I saw him and I understand he was top class throughout. I think he's probably the best young batsman in England.

Earlier in the day Ramps missed out on his first hundred of the season, he was dismissed for 91 in the pursuit of quick runs ahead of a declaration - ever the team man! Good hands were also played by de Bruyn and Davies.

The result is a vindication for Adams who gambled on a five man attack. It turned out not to be a gamble at all as the groundsman did his part in preparing a green pitch and Surrey's pace bowlers did the rest. Its also something of a vindication for Hamilton-Brown who has now enjoyed three really good games on the trot as captain.

Surrey now have a day off to prepare for the CB40 game on Sunday and they will want to keep this winning habit going. I said at the start of the season that the nature of our side will make consistency tricky to attain, but they will nonetheless be striving hard for it. Morale will be back up and I hope they carry this momentum forward for the next few games. Well played boys!

Long may this continue

Today was comfortably Surrey's best day in the County Championship so far in 2011, here's hoping the two CB40 wins at the weekend have instilled that much needed x-factor, otherwise known as confidence.

I worried yesterday that James Taylor was almost single handedly capable of hauling Leicestershire up to and beyond Surrey's total, but that danger was snuffed out in the over before lunch when Gareth Batty clean bowled him. Surrey sensed an opening and for the first time this season they rammed home the advantage.

Once Taylor had been dealt with the other 7 wickets subsided for just 109, including a spell of 3 wickets for just 3 runs, only Wayne White and Claude Henderson offering any real resistance. Surrey's four man pace battery was too hot for the Leicestershire batting on a still-green pitch and with a bit more cloud around. Stuart Meaker was the pick with 4-43, taking his season's tally to 15, but he was very ably backed up by Tremlett and Dernbach who both collected two wickets.

A first innings lead was established and the openers set about their task of consolidating that lead, Jason Roy raced out of the blocks and although Hamilton-Brown departed for 14 in the 10th over, Surrey had already added 57 to the lead. Roy and Ramprakash added another 49 in 11 overs before the former was caught behind off Henderson - his 76 runs had come in just 68 balls.

Zander de Bruyn joined Ramps, and while the opening pair had a combined age of 43, the partnership that saw us to the end of play had a combined age closer to 80. Ramprakash looked, as ever, in fine form for the five overs I managed to catch at the end of the day, he ended on 53*.

We are well on top in this game and with such a fine bowling attack waiting in the wings, the captain ought not need anything more than a 400 run lead in his pocket. With 277 already in the bank he could have Leicestershire back in not long after lunch. Well played gentlemen!

An improvement, definitely an improvement

Had James Taylor got anything on the final ball of the day from Jade Dernbach which beat his outside edge, Surrey would've been in a mighty fine position, but as long as Taylor is still at the crease Leicestershire will have Surrey's total of 294 in their sights, they were 56-2 at stumps.

On a pitch that was, according to Lawrence Booth of the Mail 'surprisingly green' Hamilton-Brown lost his first championship toss of the season and was sent in to bat by his opposite number, Matthew Hoggard. From then on, Jason Roy aside who departed early for 5, it was a story of Surrey batsmen getting in, and then getting out. That though is a notch up on last week, when they were skipping the first bit and making a beeline for 'getting out'.

The wickets were evenly shared around the Leicestershire bowlers, the evergreen Claude Henderson the pick in returning 3-41. Mark Ramprakash on return made a rapid 37, Hamilton-Brown a rapid 41 and de Bruyn a slightly more sedate 40. It was Tom Maynard who rescued the innings for the second time in as many weeks though with 70 at almost a run a ball. He was left to bat largely with the tail so he had to make most of the running, and he did received fine support from Yasir Arafat who finally bagged some runs.

Leicestershire then had 20 evening-session overs to face before close and though Boyce and Cobb were sent back early, a wicket a piece for Trem and Arafat, Jefferson should have joined them but he was dropped at slip by Tom Maynard who usually has a pretty reliable pair of hands.

This is a crucial game for Adams and Hamilton-Brown, not because they face the sack if they lose (they wouldn't) but because morale must have been pretty low after the Lord's game. I am heartened to hear of a tinge of green to the pitch, which with a five man bowling attack plays to our strengths, but that doesn't mean we won't still have to bowl well. Tomorrow morning is forecast to be more humid and cloudy, Tremlett, Dernbach and Co. will want Taylor back in the dressing room pronto, and if he is, Surrey will hopefully move in for the kill. What we absolutely cannot allow is Leicestershire to build a big partnership, a la Dexter and Simpson. Jefferson and Taylor are two of Leicestershire's in form batsman and you'd think they hold the key. As Boycott always says, add two wickets to their score and its looking pretty dicey for them, but add 200 runs to it and it looks pretty dicey for us.

Ramps and Tremlett ride to the rescue...plus Roy

Given Chris Adams' interview (here) I'm not sure how much this is going to add, the coach more or less picks his side for tomorrow's game, but for what its worth, here are my thoughts.

The headlines have to be the earlier-than-expected return for Ramprakash and the right-on-cue return for Chris Tremlett, as well as the inclusion, at long last, of Jason Roy in a four day squad in 2011. A 13 man squad has been named, and Adams seemingly confirms his order in the interview above, which leaves us with:

Hamilton-Brown
Roy
Ramprakash
De Bruyn
Davies
Maynard
Batty
Arafat
Meaker
Tremlett
Dernbach

12th men: Linley, Schofield.

In parts that is harsh on Linley who bowled excellently over the weekend (though poorly at Lord's) and Schofield who is in great form with the bat, but you can't look at those five bowlers and leave one of them out. Batty at seven is probably a spot higher than ideal but he is in good form and Arafat can give us a few runs as well if the mood takes him. Arafat's form with the ball has been a bit of a mystery but after the CB40 games he's hopefully on the up. The question of who takes the new ball is an interesting one, I would be tempted by Dernbach and Arafat first up with Tremlett and Meaker to play that 'enforcer' role that we've lacked for the most part so far. To be faced with 25-odd overs of those four first up is not a pleasant prospect for any side, and you aren't going to get much off Gareth Batty either.

As for the openers, I had anticipated one of Brown or Wilson may be dropped but not both. Having said that, neither have looked in especially good nick in their last few innings. Some time in the 2nd XI will hopefully see them come back stronger. The captain and Roy to open is a huge gamble, as Adams candidly confesses in the interview "we could be 50-0 off five or 10-2, we know that", so they are obviously going to be given license to attack (though hopefully not recklessly) and that's as it should be. Credit should go to Hamilton-Brown who apparently volunteered to open the innings when he knew the side was in a fix.

Leicestershire are not a side to be taken lightly, they absolutely clobbered us at the Oval last year by an innings and plenty. This year they've drawn with and lost to Derbyshire, and comfortably beaten Glamorgan. Will Jefferson at the top of the order is in great form and James Taylor is just absurdly talented for 21 years old. Claude Henderson keeps churning out the overs and the wickets (he got six-for against us last year), Jigar Naik is a good bowler and in Hoggard and Buck they have two excellent seamers.

On paper, and on form, this is probably the 11 best cricketers at Surrey, but it will come down to how they blend as a side once they cross the line. There looks to be a good mix of youth and experience, if this side can't get a sniff of beating Leicestershire, I don't know what I'll do.

Two in a row

An up and down day for Surrey which saw an outstanding bowling performance, followed by a dreadful start with the bat, followed by a sterling rescue job by two of Surrey's younger batsmen to see them home with 39 balls to spare.

There didn't seem to be any devil in the pitch, a typically placid Rose Bowl surface encouraged Dominic Cork to bat first when he won the toss. However two more wickets for Arafat and one for Dernbach in the first five overs undermined him fatally. Arafat was again a touch expensive in his six overs but if he returns 2-39 every game I'll be happy. Dernbach too was a bit expensive in the early overs but came back expertly at the end to mop up the tail and finish with 4-33, Hampshire left fully 10 overs un-batted. A nod to another handy effort from Linley with the ball as well, the key wickets of the in-form Dawson and Nic Pothas in his 2-21.

141 seemed woefully short of par and Surrey could've afforded to be circumspect in chasing such a low total, but that didn't seem to be part of the game plan. After Rory Hamilton-Brown mirrored his effort yesterday precisely, getting out to the seventh ball of the innings, Davies, de Bruyn, Maynard and Wilson followed him in quick succession with a smattering of not particularly good shots. At 45-5 Hampshire had all the momentum and were favourites with pressure heaping on, memories of Lord's were probably flooding back. However, Roy had other ideas.

He set down a marker with a trademark straight six off Chris Wood and while he rode his luck throughout he was always looking to stamp authority on the innings. At just 20 years old, you have to think he's going to be as big a part of Surrey's future as any player at the club right now. Today was his best innings for us, he's not all crash-bang-whallop, he can play the situation. He simply has to have a run in the four day side now in my view. Credit should go to Matt Spriegel as well, the man with probably the coolest head at the club can hopefully cement a place in the side, he's a smart player and I reckon he's a future captain.

Today wasn't the most certain of performances, there was a chance to put in a thumping win but it didn't quite go to plan. However we shouldn't dwell too much on that, Hampshire are a good side and to have beaten them at the Rose Bowl is a fine achievement. Two wins out of two and some momentum to carry into the Leicestershire game starting Wednesday.

Davies and Dernbach impress in simple win

Well, winning is never that simple, but you know what I mean. Surrey were expected to deliver two points today and they did so, in reality with the minimum of fuss.

Dernbach - frugal

It was by no means a faultless performance. Arafat, despite picking up three wickets was obscenely expensive in doing so, never should a bowler of his calibre be disappearing for 7.5 an over against Scotland. Arafat aside though, the bowling was generally very good. Spriegel and Schofield returned 2-73 between them from 16 overs and Spriegel in particular, bowling with nice loop, was impressive and deserved more than a single wicket. Dernbach was the standout performer for the bowlers though, 2-13 from 8 overs at this level is impressive regardless of the opposition. Tim Linley could've expected more than his initial four overs having returned 1-16, but the captain saw fit to bowl himself instead, perhaps there was an injury lurking.

Spriegel was impressive, returning 1-35

Chasing just 197 to win Surrey could afford to start circumspectly and the first over was indeed quiet. However Hamilton-Brown fell off the first ball of the second over and the nerves might have started to jangle if Davies hadn't settled in nice and quickly. He really is a fabulous player to watch with the field up, he just makes batting look so easy. His partner in crime for the bulk of the chase, Jason Roy, is more violent, but no less entertaining.

Roy's demise was firmly against the run of play when it did eventually come but his 60 from 62 balls, including one very big six over long off, alongside Davies took Surrey to 134 and within sight of victory. Zander de Bruyn batted sensibly, seemingly shepherding Davies to his hundred. Davies made it to within four runs of an impressive hundred (two dismissals in the nineties in three days, and two run outs this season, its been an eventful start for Davies!) before a leading edge off Goudie saw him back to the dressing room.

Davies and Roy took Surrey to within sight of Scotland's total

De Bruyn and Maynard finished the job in double quick time, four-four-six, to round off a pleasing performance, perhaps drawing something of a line under last week's demoralising defeat. Starting the campaign with a win against the weakest team in the group was a must, and today they delivered, well played.