Rain the spoiler again

Only 26 overs were possible on day one of Surrey's match with Worcestershire, but that won't stop me from having my say.

Chris Adams, channelling the Surrey Cricket Blog, picked exactly the team I predicted. George Edwards made his Championship debut and Kevin Pietersen made his first appearance since last May. Jason Roy and Chris Jordan were the men who had to sit out, but I'm sure the former will be back in the side for the very next game.

Conditions were described as "dry and bright" by Surrey's own Mark Church, but Worcestershire's decision to bat first on winning the toss was still something of a surprise. Half the ground was under water but a few days ago and the clouds seemed almost guaranteed to roll in before long.

However, captain Daryl Mitchell was proved right as he and opening partner Michael Klinger made it to a rain-enforced early lunch with 58 runs on the board and no batsmen back in the hutch. It was far from easy going though thanks to a slow pitch and good spells of bowling from Edwards and Lewis in particular. It is encouraging that Edwards, whose main weapon is pace was also able to restrict the opposition and his radar remained intact.

All the bowlers went at significantly less than three runs an over and the slow nature of the pitch, combined with the rain (which meant the players never returned from their early lunch) make a result in this game look a million miles away.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is ever-so-slightly better than today and provided there is no heavy overnight rain there should be a fair amount of cricket played. With so few results around the county circuit at the moment first innings bonus points are at a premium so Surrey's bowlers will be on the hunt in the morning.

We need to talk about Kevin

The return of the prodigal son. Well, he's not really prodigal, and he's not a son of Surrey, but he is returning. Kevin Pietersen is in Chris Adams' 13 man squad for the game against Worcestershire this week. I've a sneaking suspicion he might make it into the side as well.

If it feels like we only just played Worcestershire, that's because we have only just played them. In fact the last session of First Class cricket Surrey played was against their opposition this week, what with the washout against Durham.

The 13 man squad and possible XI is as follows:

Jacques Rudolph
Steven Davies
Mark Ramprakash
Kevin Pietersen
Zander de Bruyn
Rory Hamilton-Brown
Tom Maynard
Gareth Batty
Jon Lewis
Tim Linley
George Edwards

12th men: Chris Jordan, Jason Roy

Allowing room for an England player such as Pietersen is always a contentious issue, all the more so when he edges out a player such as Jason Roy. I think it unlikely that Adams will leave out Ramprakash, despite his wretched form this season, likewise de Bruyn who offers a viable bowling option. Rudolph, Davies, Maynard and especially Hamilton-Brown have done little to suggest they should be for the chop so Roy is probably the most vulnerable. For the record, as it is a one-off game for KP, I would probably bench Ramprakash for this game.

It'd be too easy to whinge about Pietersen being shoe-horned into the side at the behest of the ECB. That's our lot, he's England's best batsman and he needs a game to acclimatise himself to English conditions. There's no question that his presence in the side is a good thing, to my mind, and the last time he played for us he scored a run-a-ball 58 in a partnership of 118 in 18 overs with Hamilton-Brown. He is pure class.

An unfamiliar name in the squad is that of George Edwards who would be in line to make his Championship debut if selected. He has a solitary first class appearance to his name, for Surrey against Cambridgeshire (so he's played with Pietersen before!) last year in which he didn't take a wicket and went for 82 runs. Not stellar credentials you might think, but there's more to it than that. He's a tall, wiry bloke capable of propelling the ball down pretty rapidly. I don't know if he's ever been clocked but when I saw him for the Second XI last year he was very sharp, if a little wayward. He took nine wickets for the Seconds last week, so he's in good form.

Whether he plays or not will come down to whether Adams plays it (relatively) safe with Jordan, the known quantity, or takes a gamble on Edwards. I'd go for the latter, Pietersen in the top order and potentially having Maynard at 7 makes for a very strong batting lineup. The insurance of Jordan's batting isn't needed and Edwards deserves a break.  Meaker and Dernbach are of course absent on Lions duty, so Lewis and Linley will have plenty of bowling to do.

The weather forecast, for the first two days at least, isn't dissimilar to that for the Durham game so a result might be asking a bit much. The conditions for Friday and Saturday look somewhat better though so a couple of days play is a definite possibility.

Worcestershire are a good side, that much we know from their fighting performance at the Oval, but they've not had the best time of it since then. They were second best in a rain affected match against Nottinghamshire and lost heavily to Middlesex in another rain affected game last week (though that was largely down to a very enterprising declaration). Alan Richardson continued to take wickets, he recorded 5-89 in Middlesex's first innings, but their batsmen have made heavy weather of the early season period.

You have to fear the weather will have the final say in this game as well which is hugely disappointing. If they do manage to get out for a good period of time, we have a good chance of beating Worcestershire. Without Meaker and Dernbach we may struggle for penetration, but Tim Linley is an able deputy and George Edwards is an unknown quantity for the opposition. Rain or no rain, the players will be looking to kick start the second month of the season with some quality performances.

Surrey grind out Scottish victory

They always say the best teams learn how to "win ugly". Well, on a rainy day in Edinburgh, Surrey managed to overcome a spirited Scottish side and it certainly wasn't the prettiest performance.

Surrey named Gary Wilson in place of Zafar Ansari and Jacques Rudolph came in as Tom Maynard was withdrawn for family reasons. It's always sad to see a player's name off the team sheet in those circumstances and I hope Tom is back in no time.

The threat of rain didn't really recede throughout the day and after winning the toss the Scotland captain, Gordon Drummond, asked Surrey to have a bat. Rory Hamilton-Brown fell LBW to Parker in the second over and thereafter wickets fell at regular intervals, never did a partnership last for longer than 11 overs or bring more than 50 runs.

One man who did supply more than 50 runs though was Rudolph whose gritty 69 from 89 balls with just a solitary four exemplified the slow nature of the pitch. Rudolph's first 50 for Surrey came at just the right time, no one else in the innings passed 22. It was hard for batsmen to get in and time the ball sweetly. Some lower-order biffing from Lewis and Batty dragged the total to 187. Scotland's target was reduced slightly to 183 as two overs were lost to rain.

Gone are the days that Stuart Meaker and Jade Dernbach couldn't be trusted with the new ball and defending a small total. They both bowled well but their first victim didn't come until the sixth over, Dernbach having Macleod caught behind looking to run the ball to third man.

Having ridden out a good early period Scotland then subsided to a stifling spell of 3-21 from ten Jon Lewis and Matthew Spriegel overs, Davey, Symes and Watts all succumbed thanks to accurate and persistent bowling. Gareth Batty also chipped in as he caught Mommsen off his own bowling. Scotland were 66-5 and teetering on the edge.

Then came the resurgence. Richie Berrington, who has recently agreed a loan deal with Leicestershire and Majid Haq put on a rapid 50 partnership in just nine overs to give Scotland hope. However as the rain started to fall again Gareth Batty's golden arm did the trick again as Haq lofted the ball to Hamilton-Brown. It was an exceptionally well timed contribution from Batty as the Duckworth-Lewis par score shot up and off the players went with rain and hail coming down.

The players didn't emerge again and Surrey recorded a second successive CB40 win by 21 runs. A perfect start to the 2012 competition, as in 2011, and long may it continue.

Momentum key for Scotland game

Yesterday's win against last year's beaten finalists was a great way to get the CB40 underway and Surrey will be looking to carry that winning momentum to Edinburgh tomorrow.

Zafar Ansari is not available for this game due to university commitments so Tim Linley comes in, the squad and possible XI is as follows:

Rory Hamilton-Brown
Steven Davies

Jason Roy

Jacques Rudolph

Tom Maynard

Zander de Bruyn

Matthew Spriegel

Gareth Batty

Jon Lewis

Stuart Meaker

Jade Dernbach

Bench: Tim Linley, Gary Wilson

Yes, you guessed it, I'm going for the same team I wanted to see yesterday. In hindsight, Adams got the selection right yesterday but without the extra spinning option in the squad now, I hope he'll go for the extra bat in Jacques Rudolph. De Bruyn and Hamilton-Brown will probably have a few overs to bowl between them.

Batty was excellent last night, he gave the batsmen very little and it was just one six from Craig Meschede where anyone looked to have the best of him. Even then, Batty promptly bowled him next ball. Spriegel though was a touch disappointing, going for 35 from his 4 overs and only scratching 11 from 16 deliveries. Everyone's allowed an off night though, and last year's game at Edinburgh was the scene of one of his best limited overs knocks to lift us to a decent total. He also picked up 2-29 in that match.

Jon Lewis, sharp caught and bowled aside, was also a bit below par and I would expect him to come back strongly. Dernbach and Meaker were excellent and for that reason I think Linley might find it hard to squeeze in.

We beat Scotland twice pretty comfortably last season and we should be looking to again tomorrow, but they aren't without threat. Last season they notched two wins in rain affected matches against Northamptonshire and Warwickshire, clearly they are no pushovers. The dangermen are probably Josh Davey, who scored an accomplished 50 against us at the Oval, and the allrounders Mommsen and Symes. Majid Haq's off-spin is also very tidy, indeed we could be facing 24 overs of spin tomorrow so the batsmen will need to get their feet moving.

With Meaker looking in supreme form and Dernbach to complement him with the new ball, followed by Batty and Lewis to keep it quiet in the middle overs we should have too much about us for Scotland to compete with.

Clinical Surrey trump Somerset

Surrey's defence of their CB40 title began in fine style tonight with an impressively efficient 105 run win over Somerset.

Somerset won the toss and under leaden skies chose to bowl first. Surrey, who selected a middle order spin trio of Spriegel, Ansari and Batty, omitted Jacques Rudolph who was relegated to twelfth man duties. Character building I'm sure.

Somerset didn't bowl especially badly but neither did their bowling carry much of a threat. Hamilton-Brown and Davies played good, sensible cricket but scored at a very healthy rate. Their partnership reached 163 in just the 22nd over before Trego bowled Davies for 72. The 2010 vintage RHB-Davies partnership was well and truly back.

Hamilton-Brown carried on his merry way but Jason Roy, looking to continue to force the pace was LBW to legspinner Max Waller for 12, looking to reverse sweep. The skipper went to an excellent hundred from just 87 balls before he tried one big shot too many and was caught on the long off boundary. It was another impressive innings of substance from our standout performer of 2012.

De Bruyn and Maynard called the powerplay and kept the rate ticking over nicely before both got out when well set. Ansari, Spriegel and Batty all contributed to a spritely end to the innings and Somerset's target was a steep-looking 296 runs.

The pitch was good but timing the ball wasn't as easy as Hamilton-Brown and Davies made it appear. Kieswetter and Compton opened the Somerset innings and while the latter looked a man in supreme form, Kieswetter was beaten for pace by a super Stuart Meaker yorker in the second over. It marked the beginning of a superb spell from the young fast bowler, he was very difficult to score off.

Trego and Compton looked to rebuild but Trego was soon Jon Lewis' first and only victim of the night, a sharp caught and bowled. Hildreth came to the crease and played well until he walked past a Gareth Batty off-break and was easily stumped by Davies. That marked a good period of spin bowling, Ansari and Batty bowling in tandem and the pair ended with six wickets for 65 runs, the genius of Adams' spinner-heavy selection laid bare for all to see.

Wickets fell all too regularly for Somerset and they never got going, Meaker clean-bowled Dockrell to win the game and finished with 3-24, easily the best bowler on show for either side. A nod to Ansari and Batty as well, the former is a supremely exciting cricketer and I for one cannot wait until he finishes his studies in order to play for us more regularly in 2012.

Somerset's bowling was weak and towards the end of the game they did bowl poorly, but make no mistake, this was an impressive Surrey performance. We've got our title defence off to the best possible start, and the game against Scotland on Sunday is a great chance to keep that winning habit up.

Depleted Somerset still a threat

Judging by the interview with Chris Adams on the Surrey website the Oval outfield seems to have stood up remarkably well to the persistent rain of the last couple of weeks. Everything looks set for the beginning of our CB40 title defence against Somerset tomorrow.

The 13 man squad and possible XI is as follows:

Rory Hamilton-Brown

Steven Davies
Jason Roy
Jacques Rudolph
Tom Maynard
Zander de Bruyn
Matthew Spriegel
Zafar Ansari
Jon Lewis
Stuart Meaker
Jade Dernbach

Bench: Gareth Batty, Gary Wilson

The only surprise is Zafar Ansari who is available earlier than expected. It's a mark of how highly he is regarded that Adams is calling him into the squad before he's finished his studies for this year. He's another, along with Roy, who I think should be in the team whenever possible so Gareth Batty may miss out. Ansari has not played a huge amount of competitive cricket lately, but against a Lancashire attack featuring Saj Mahmood, Simon Kerrigan and Kyle Hogg back in April he scored an unbeaten 50 in the second innings and top-scored in the first. He will be replaced by Tim Linley for Sunday's game with Scotland though, as he returns to Cambridge.

The presence of Jacques Rudolph puts something of a spanner in the works. In four CB40 knocks for Yorkshire last season he was a standout performer with 282 runs at 94, including a sparkling 132 against a Sussex bowling attack featuring Wayne Parnell and Monty Panesar. He opened the batting and if he is to do the same this year, Adams will have to split his preferred 40 over openers, Hamilton-Brown and Davies. If it was down to me I would bat him at number four, keeping Roy in the crucial number three slot but splitting him and Maynard. A three-four-five-six of Roy, Rudolph, Maynard and de Bruyn is a good mix of power and experience.

I wonder if Adams will be nervous of going into a game against a powerful Somerset batting lineup with only three front line seamers (although admittedly three very good ones), which might mean Batty is ultimately preferred to one of Ansari or Spriegel.

Somerset, even without injured captain Trescothick are a formidable batting side. Nick Compton is one of the form batsmen in English cricket having racked up 715 first class runs already in 2012. Jos Buttler has a frankly absurd List A record - averaging 67 at a strike rate of almost 130. It's easy to forget his impressive 86 from 72 balls in the Lord's final where only one other player passed 26 as it was in a losing cause, but it was a top class knock. Kieswetter, Trego, Suppiah and Hildreth make for a powerful top order.

Their bowling however looks far less healthy. Gemaal Hussain and Steve Kirby are injured and Alfonso Thomas is in India, leaving them with no experienced bowlers whatsoever. What they lack in experience though, they make up for in potential. Craig Meschede and Lewis Gregory are very highly thought of and George Dockrell, the young Irish left arm spinner will always be a threat.

Somerset will be out for revenge after losing last year's final and they are a dangerous side. However I think the addition of Rudolph to our middle order makes us a stronger, more balanced side than 2011. Our seamers should look to exploit the conditions, and our batsmen should look to exploit the inexperience of the opposition.

CB40 Preview

How you might have scoffed at my assertion last year that 2011's CB40 represented Surrey's best chance of honours. Even Chris Adams was least confident about the one day competition. But so it came to pass and thus we begin this week the defence of our title won so magnificently at the Home of Cricket six months ago. What hope do we have of retaining it in 2012?

While the turnover of players in the winter was minimal there are two deceptively important parts of last year's side missing. Chris Schofield and Yasir Arafat, either absent or ineffective in other forms, were quietly effective in the CB40 matches. Is there enough talent in this squad to account for that? I think so.

The Batting

That we won last year with relatively few contributions from 2010's star performers with the bat - Hamilton-Brown and Davies - is testament to how the rest of the side stood up. Jason Roy was peerless for the most part in amassing 585 runs at 45, his consecutive hundreds against Warwickshire and Leicestershire were pre-final highlights.

The other gem was Matthew Spriegel who racked up 424 runs at 53, largely from the number six slot. Alright the average is inflated somewhat by four unbeaten scores, but the volume of runs cannot be denied. His contributions were vital. His batting was so vastly improved from previous limited overs seasons as to be almost unrecognisable. If he can continue his 2011 form with the bat, and add a few more wickets into the mix, he could (and should in my view) be pushing Gareth Batty for a place in the Championship side. Tom Maynard was also impressive, cracking 481 runs at 40, he'll want to continue that good form as he looks to press for limited overs recognition with England.

If Hamilton-Brown and Davies can rediscover the magic of two years ago where between them they scored 963 runs, whether that be at the top of the order or elsewhere, we will be very tough to beat. Zander de Bruyn, disappointing in 2011, will want to bounce back and he should bowl more than he did last year, just 28 overs in 13 games does not reflect how useful a containing option he can be.

The Bowling

Adams won't be able to field quite the same ultra spin-heavy sides he did in 2011 because of Schofield's departure, but he still has Spriegel, Batty and Hamilton-Brown to call on. As well as Zafar Ansari and possibly Freddie van den Bergh later in the season.

He does though have a wealth of quick bowling talent to call on so we should expect more overs of pace this year. Dernbach, Meaker, Lewis and Linley can all play a key role, even if the Viscount was short of his best in the CB40 last year. Tremlett will also come back into the equation before too long.

How Chris Jordan is employed will be interesting to see, Adams previously employed him as an opening batsman with license to attack late in the 2009 Twenty20 Cup. Given the under-performing Hamilton-Brown/Davies opening partnership last year, he may look again at that option as he will probably feel he needs an allrounder in the side to replace Schofield. I would personally stick with the skipper and Davies at the top of the order, in either case Jordan's bowling in this format needs to improve drastically, he was shockingly disappointing last season.

We should be right in amongst the best again this season but it will be a concern to Adams that he cannot replicate precisely the recipe that took us to victory in 2011. I think we should look to play six batsmen plus Spriegel, with Rudolph (or perhaps Lancefield or Burns, if Adams wants to look to the long term) coming in to the middle order as the additional batsman. Batty, Lewis, Meaker at eight, nine and ten, with Dernbach to follow, would make a well balanced side. There is also insurance on the bowling front if either of the five main bowlers is targeted, with de Bruyn and Hamilton-Brown ready to come in.

Surrey will rightly be confident of more success in this format and retaining the trophy is a realistic proposition.