Spriegel finally called to Championship action

After being roundly trounced by Nottinghamshire in the CB40 on Sunday we now face the prospect of the same opposition in the Championship. As with all the remaining games, this is a pretty crucial fixture, not to mention a demanding one.

Chris Adams has named a 13 man squad, the names and a possible XI are as follows:

Zafar Ansari

Rory Burns

Zander de Bruyn

Steven Davies

Jason Roy

Matthew Spriegel

Gareth Batty

Jon Lewis

Murali Kartik

Stuart Meaker

Chris Tremlett

12th men: Tim Linley, Chris Jordan

Broadly the same side then that faced Lancashire last week, the one big (huge) omission being Kevin Pietersen who will be with England for the first test starting on Thursday. This is an especially big game for the man chosen to replace Pietersen, Matthew Spriegel, who last played Championship cricket in August 2010. In the meantime he has performed excellently in the limited overs games, and for the Second XI, now it is time for him to show his ability against the best. Gary Wilson also misses out thanks to some more Ireland duty.

I think the batting looks very frail, notwithstanding de Bruyn's tentative return to form last week. Rory Hamilton-Brown's indefinite compassionate leave continues, with the expectation now edging towards him not playing again this season. Against a strong Nottinghamshire bowling outfit Adams may yet elect to start with Jordan ahead of Murali Kartik to bolster the batting somewhat, and also offer a fourth seam bowling option at a ground where spin bowlers often take a back seat.

The opening partnership will continue to be a source of debate. Presumably Arun Harinath is still suffering with his thumb injury so the question is, will Ansari and Burns continue, or will Spriegel step up? Spriegel seems to me the most natural choice, but if they wanted him to open why not select him in the Lancashire squad? I suspect Ansari and Burns will be persisted with. Ansari showed a good deal of application and although Burns shouldered arms to a good delivery, it was simply a mis-judgement and it would be harsh to discount him as a possible opener on the basis of that one ball.

Meaker, Tremlett and Lewis toiled away on a flat wicket at a small ground in Guildford so it is tough to say whether they bowled especially well or badly. Meaker was apparently struggling a touch with a sore back and Tremlett is still feeling his way back in from injury. Trent Bridge is historically good to seamers so our threesome should be licking their lips. Jade Dernbach is still absent with a side injury.

Nottinghamshire have the significant psychological advantage of having brushed us aside, albeit in a different format, just a couple of days ago. They are unbeaten at Trent Bridge this season and although they have only won one of four fixtures there, they've been unlucky with the weather on occasion. Indeed the weather will probably play a role over the next four days as well as showers are forecast for much of that period.

Their bowling is strong, led by the evergreen Andre Adams who has a remarkable 46 wickets at 15 apiece this season (though only 15 of those have come at home, at a slightly worse average of 20). Equally they are not found wanting in the batting, Voges, Wessels, Read and Lumb (who was absent from the CB40 game this evening with a back problem) have all stood up this season, and worryingly Hales and Taylor have yet to really fire in the Championship. Across the last five years they have probably been the best county in terms of results, that doesn't happen by accident.

Make no mistake, tests this season won't come much bigger. Our depleted batting should look at this as an opportunity to put down a marker and show Chris Adams that they deserve a run in the side. Before the last game Adams said he wanted to win four from the last eight matches. Presumably that calculation is now four from seven, including this trip to Trent Bridge, and trips to Old Trafford, Edgbaston and Taunton. This isn't going to be a walk in the park.

Poor batting costs Surrey dear

Surrey suffered their first CB40 defeat of 2012 at Guildford today as Nottinghamshire ran out comfortable winners by five wickets with 57 balls remaining. It was Surrey's first defeat in this format since losing to Durham in August 2011.

In truth it could have been an awful lot worse. You know those five specialist batsmen Adams named in the squad? After 19 balls of the Surrey innings they'd all been dismissed and we were floundering at 8-5. Not unfamiliar territory given that just last month we were 9-4 at the Rose Bowl, but still another shockingly poor effort from the top order. There was a bit of bounce generated by the Nottinghamshire opening bowlers but equally there was some very poor shot selection.

Surrey's record low 40 over total of 63 looked in serious danger, and the record low 40 over total in history (Middlesex's 23 in 1974) wasn't out of the question. However there was a mini recovery from Spriegel and Ansari who put on 38 until the latter got a leading edge off Jake Ball. He'll be disappointed at getting out when he did, having ground out 16 runs from 48 balls.

Ansari's dismissal brought captain Batty to the crease and he and Spriegel continued the recovery putting on 43, the highest partnership of the innings. They were threatening a total around the 150 mark before Batty succumbed, caught behind of Gurney. Jon Lewis characteristically hammered a few boundaries in a quickfire 16 but Surrey could only struggle to 123 all out, failing to see out 34 overs of their innings.

Murali Kartik was the last man out, tamely flicking to short fine leg four balls into the batting powerplay which was called bizarrely late with the final pair at the crease. Only Spriegel, who top scored with 39 can claim any credit. Nottinghamshire's opening seam bowlers Gurney and Pattinson ended the day with combined figures of 7-49 off 13 overs.

For a side with their batting talents to call on a target of 124 was never going to be terribly threatening for Notts, especially on a small ground. Spriegel, opening the bowling, continued his sterling work as he reeled off 8 overs for just 20 runs and didn't give up a boundary until the 47th ball he bowled. It would've taken four similar efforts to give Notts anything like a scare, but there just wasn't the kind of scoreboard pressure that can start the nerves jangling.

When Hales hooked Meaker to Rory Burns it was 39-2, but with James Taylor at the crease the result never really looked in doubt. The required rate didn't dip below three an over, the bowling (one Stuart Meaker over which went for 20 runs) was dogged and a flurry of wickets fell late in the day as Notts stumbled from 96-2 to 105-5, but there were simply nowhere near enough runs on the board.

The shortage of batting, in the absence of Pietersen, has been badly exposed today. Adams yesterday signalled his intent to begin a recruitment drive, and on the evidence of today you'd have to say he's not wrong to do so.

Back in CB40 action for Notts visit

A brief sojourn back into the world of Championship cricket makes way for a return to limited overs cricket, but in the place of Twenty20 we're now back to forty over cricket as Nottinghamshire visit Guildford tomorrow.

Chris Adams has named a 13 man squad for the game, the players named and a possible XI is as follows:

Jason Roy
Steven Davies
Zander de Bruyn

Zafar Ansari 

Gary Wilson
Rory Burns
Matthew Spriegel
Gareth Batty
Murali Kartik
Stuart Meaker
Jon Lewis

Bench: Chris Jordan, Tim Linley

Even bearing in mind Adams' penchant for bowler heavy lineups the squad above, with just five specialist batsmen, looks very light in the batting. Kevin Pietersen returns to the England fold so Zander de Bruyn's tentative steps back into form could prove crucial, and Jason Roy will hopefully respond well to the pressure of being one of the senior batsmen in the squad.

Again the bowling looks strong, although Chris Tremlett is given a break after his exploits against Lancashire. The side above has just two frontline seam bowling options, so de Bruyn may be called upon to turn his arm over. In this competition so far Adams has liked to rely on Jon Lewis for some of the middle overs so Spriegel might be asked to bowl in the powerplay overs with Meaker.

Nottinghamshire meanwhile have named a horribly strong looking batting lineup with six internationals in the top seven. The bowling isn't bad either with Pattinson, Gurney and Mullaney to call on, plus Samit Patel doing the spinning. They have a record of two wins and two defeats from their four CB40 games this year and lie six points behind us in the table, though with two games in hand a win over us tomorrow would make them strongly placed to qualify.

We have shown time and again in this format that we can beat the odds in defending low totals or scraping over the line chasing. Such is the strength of the opposition tomorrow that if we come out on top we'll be firm favourites to win this competition again. 

Pietersen masterclass floors Lancashire

Surrey wrested control on their latest Championship match at Guildford back from their Northern opposition today thanks to a stunning exhibition of cricket from Kevin Pietersen. They closed the day just 55 runs behind on 430-5.

The England batsman, playing perhaps his last championship game of the season, clobbered his way to 234 off just 190 balls. With 30 fours and 8 sixes, an impressive 72% of his runs came in boundaries. Lancashire's left arm spinner Simon Kerrigan, a talented young bowler with 92 first class wickets at 27 apiece under his belt, was dealt with particularly harshly. From the 63 balls he bowled to Pietersen, KP swatted 115 runs. In fact of the Lancashire bowlers only Glen Chapple was able to exert anything resembling control over Pietersen.

It was an innings out of the top drawer, a knock that few cricketers anywhere in the world could play. He went to lunch on four from six balls, and in the 19th over he was on 8 from 12, but that was the last time his strike rate dipped below 100. He thrashed 106 runs in the afternoon session and 124 more in the evening. He might just have half an eye on bettering his current first class best, a 254 not out he scored for Nottinghamshire.

KP's innings might have stolen the show, but of equal importance in a wider context was Zander de Bruyn's 94. Although he fell short of his first hundred of the year, it hopefully signals a return to something like the magnificent form he showed in 2011. He struggled to get strike and turn his score over after lunch, but as tea approached he seized the initiative, only to get out just before the break. He will be a key player as the Championship reaches its climax. 

There was a period about an hour after the lunch break where the pitch began to misbehave a touch, the odd one bouncing sharply off a good length, others scuttling through at shin-height, but Pietersen and de Bruyn rode it out well. All told Surrey scored 188 runs between lunch and tea for the loss of just one wicket.

The other innings of the day pale into if not insignificance, then certainly less significance. Jason Roy was a touch more reserved than usual in making 38 off 51 balls. Steven Davies played second fiddle (who didn't?) to KP in scoring 22 back in the middle order. Chris Adams made another left-field call in asking Zafar Ansari to open with Rory Burns. Burns, in a not unfamiliar role that he has fulfilled at lower levels, shouldered arms to the first ball of the innings from Chapple and was comprehensively bowled. Ansari though was unruffled, as we have come to expect from him. He may have only scored 21 but such is his cool demeanour, not to mention talent, that I think he most certainly has a place in Surrey's future top order.

Worryingly though it did continue Adams' merry go round openers policy. That is the seventh opening pair he's tried in ten first class matches this year. Presumably this will become eight when Harinath is fit again. My point about a settled batting order from earlier in the season may have been torpedoed by events outside of anyone's control, but the openers nonetheless remain a real concern.

Earlier in the day Lancashire chose not to declare overnight, batting on for half an hour or so this morning, and managed to do some damage in that time. 60 runs came off the nine overs they batted for this morning with yesterday's centurion Croft scoring 50 of them, 37 of which came in boundaries. With 485 runs on the board Lancashire held all the cards. Now Surrey are in the ascendancy and though anything other than a draw is most unlikely now, remarkably Surrey look the only side who could force anything.

I would expect Pietersen will be given license to compile as high a score as possible tomorrow morning and Surrey will look to assess the situation once his innings is over. Clearly the pitch still poses little in the way of a challenge to the batsmen, and again the weather may disrupt matters, but today will go down as one of Surrey's better with the bat in 2012.

Surrey under pressure as Lancashire consolidate

Surrey could be left looking to the weather to help rescue them from a perilous position in this latest Championship game as Lancashire used day two (or the 50-odd overs that were playable) to bat and bat some more, ending the day on well placed on 425-7.

The day began on time again and Surrey had the better of the first hour, in terms of wickets at least. None of the three batsmen which fell in that time were down to Surrey's plans being executed especially well, but wickets are wickets. Ashwell Prince was first to go, plonking Murali Kartik right to Zander de Bruyn. Tom Smith was then run out by the same fielder and Gareth Cross whipped Stuart Meaker straight to Zafar Ansari to give Meaker his 30th wicket this season and leave Lancashire at 298-6 and in danger of squandering a great position.

But although three wickets fell in the first hour or so but Surrey were then made to wait again by Croft and captain Chapple who put together the second 120+ run partnership of the innings. Kartik and Lewis were accurate but Tremlett and Meaker struggled to find another breakthrough. Bizarrely Batty tossed the ball to de Bruyn immediately after the lunch break and he proceeded to bowl a spell of 3-0-25-0 to really get Lancashire back into the groove. All told Lancashire added 32 runs in the four overs post-lunch and our bowlers really were creating very little, admittedly on a slow pitch.

Eventually Jon Lewis' relentless wicket to wicket bowling brought about Chapple's downfall, lbw for a well made 46 runs. He and Croft had arrested the slide from 233-2 to 298-6 and had put Lancashire well ahead in the game. Soon after the Chapple wicket fell the rain arrived as forecast and the players didn't make it back out.

The forecast for tomorrow is much the same as today so provided there is no heavy rain overnight it should be an on-time start with showers coming later in the day. I would hope, in the interests of pursuing a result, that Lancashire will declare overnight and try and bowl us out twice inside what they manage to get out of the last two days. They must surely be aware of our recent troubles with the bat, but perhaps the Kevin Pietersen factor has them spooked.

The innings of Horton and Croft show that although this pitch isn't one made for the strokemakers, you can prosper if you bed in and get yourself settled. Today was another disappointing day but this pitch seems to be offering progressively less for the bowlers. Of course there is now significant scoreboard pressure, and you never play the weather, but it would be hugely disappointing if from here we managed to manufacture a losing position. This is a chance for the batsmen to nudge themselves back towards some form and salvage the draw.

Lancashire take charge on day one

Woodbridge Road somehow managed to dodge the worst of the showers today as miraculously 81 overs were playable. Surrey's return to Championship cricket didn't quite go to plan though as Lancashire ended the day in the driving seat at 245-3.

Chris Adams sprung no surprises with team selection as Tim Linley and Chris Jordan were left on the sidelines. Lancashire's position at the end of the day will be ever more a source of frustration to Adams and his skipper Batty as he won the toss and sent them in to bat. On the face of it that didn't seem the worst decision, Guildford is an out-ground which has been under covers for much of the last few weeks. It was also likely to be an on-off day, which is always tough on the batting team.

However, Lancashire played their hand very well. There was not a huge amount in the pitch by all accounts, but neither did Surrey bowl especially well. Chris Tremlett, playing his first Championship game for Surrey in almost exactly a year, opened the bowling with Jon Lewis but neither was able to force a breakthrough.

Lancashire progressed well to 47 without loss and once again it was left to Stuart Meaker to make the first inroads, which he did in the 14th over having Moore LBW for his 28th wicket of the season. The next wicket, also in Meaker's column, didn't come until the 50th over though as Horton and Brown forged a 122 run partnership to seize the initiative.

Another 50+ partnership between Ashwell Prince and Horton, who in the process went to an excellent hundred. Days when the players are on and off a number of times are very difficult for batsmen to find fluency, but Horton played the situation well to post his second hundred of 2012. He finally fell to Tremlett just nine overs before the close but Steven Croft played out the remainder of the day with Prince to leave Lancashire in the box seats.

This was not the barnstorming return to Championship cricket we'd hoped for. Perhaps the bowlers struggled to adapt from a month of playing the shortest format and in hindsight electing to bowl was perhaps not the right call. However, we dropped a couple of catches and there is bounce in the pitch though so with 17 overs in his legs today Tremlett should be looking to make good use of that tomorrow (and cut out the no balls). His final spell of 5-2-9-1, as opposed to 12-4-35-0 for the rest of the day, suggests he improved as the overs ticked by. 

Our batsmen should look to their Lancashire counterparts, who accumulated rather than flashed their way to scores of substance. With the weather and a pitch that doesn't hold too many devils, we should not be entertaining thoughts of losing this game.

Championship cricket returns at Guildford

After a month of crash bang wallop Twenty20 cricket Championship cricket is back on the agenda. So much has happened in the intervening period that it feels like an awful lot longer than a month since the players last ventured out in whites.

Chris Adams has named a very different looking squad to that which faced Sussex, unsurprisingly. The 13 names and a possible XI are as follows:

Steven Davies

Jason Roy

Kevin Pietersen

Zander de Bruyn

Rory Burns

Zafar Ansari

Gareth Batty

Murali Kartik

Jon Lewis

Stuart Meaker

Chris Tremlett

12th men: Tim Linley, Chris Jordan

Kevin Pietersen remains with the squad to get some four day cricket before the South Africa series starts and his experience (not to mention his talent) will be invaluable. Rory Burns and Zafar Ansari are the men chosen to replace the irreplaceable Ramprakash and Maynard. Who opens the batting will again be interesting to see, with Ramprakash having done the job at Horsham. Arun Harinath was set to partner Steven Davies in this game before he suffered a thumb injury at the weekend, so I would expect one of Roy or possibly Burns to step into the breach.

The bowling attack looks very strong, Tremlett looks set to make his Championship bow in 2012 and in Jon Lewis and Stuart Meaker he has two well rested and willing allies. Kartik and Batty will tie down batsmen, and Ansari is there on standby should the skipper need to change things round. Such a strong bowling attack does not come without risks though. The batting, with Ansari at six, looks on the thin side. I don't doubt Zafar has it in him to bat in the top six one day but it is possibly a bit early for him. His head is so firmly screwed on though that I don't expect him to disappoint.

Lancashire, the reigning County Champions, have disappointed so far this season. They have, like us, registered just a single victory in the Championship and indeed lie only eight points ahead of us in the table. They are dangerous though. They have three players with over 400 runs this season in Prince, Horton and Croft and their bowling covers all bases with Chapple and Shahzad spearheading the seam attack and Keedy and Kerrigan doing the spinning.

The bottom four sides in the Championship are playing each other this week and both games may well fall victim to the weather, which will leave us back where we started, but with one fewer fixture in which to rescue matters. Our batsmen are, by and large, searching for form and our bowlers don't have many miles in their legs at the moment. This will be a real challenge for Surrey to get back in business, if they can dodge the showers and get some runs under their belt it will go a long way to setting them on their way.