Wells' touch of class puts Surrey in the shade

It was a day of gripping, attritional cricket at the Oval today as Sussex worked hard to grind out a good foundation. They ended the day on 204 for 2 and are in danger of making Surrey's 351 all out look decidedly below par.

The morning session began with Surrey on 301-7 and searching for a fourth batting point. The men at the crease, Batty and Tremlett began well, moving the score along at a good pace. However Batty was caught off the bowling of Jordan for another dogged 37 (his best score since 2011) and Linley was clean bowled by the former Surrey man. With just six deliveries left in which to secure that elusive batting point Tremlett hoiked Chris Jordan for an enormous six to take the score to 351. The next ball however Jordan cleaned up Tremlett and in the process collected his first ever five wicket haul at the Oval. Even before Sussex had batted the Surrey total only looked par at best.

The Sussex innings began cautiously against some disciplined bowling from Dernbach and Tremlett. They looked to be coasting to lunch without alarm when Tim Linley, bizarrely introduced into the attack after Zander de Bruyn, trapped Chris Nash lbw in the final over before the break.

After lunch Luke Wells, who just loves batting against Surrey, set about building the score with Mike Yardy. Their partnership had reached 78 before Gareth Batty's golden arm intervened. I've lost count of the number of times Batty has been the man to break a big partnership. Wells though stood firm and joined by his captain, Ed Joyce, he began to build again.

The pair accumulated slowly but surely and were both still at the crease at the end of the day's play. Wells unbeaten on a fine 108, recording his third hundred in three Championship matches against Surrey. Precisely 50% of all his first class hundreds have been against us. For Alviro Petersen last week, read Luke Wells this. The Surrey bowlers will be sick of the sight of him.

Sussex are still some way shy of Surrey's first innings total, but they have a heck of a platform to build on tomorrow. With a solid base under them the trio next to come in - Hamilton-Brown, Matt Prior and Ben Brown can afford to play with more freedom. Because of the pace of Sussex's innings their best chance to force a result is to ensure they only bat once and then chuck the ball to Monty. And with plenty of batting to come, that's not looking too far fetched at this stage.

Its possible of course that Sussex could replicate Surrey's middle order collapse of yesterday, where we lost four wickets for 30 runs. In fact the respective positions of the sides after 80 overs are broadly similar. With a new ball to come in the morning, and a day slightly less conducive to batting we can still drag ourselves back into contention. Our seamers bowled well today without much reward, particularly Tim Linley who makes the batsman play more often than not and deserved better figures than the 1-23 from 13 overs he ended up with. 

As ever the first session tomorrow will be crucial. If Wells and Joyce can see off the new ball Surrey will be under huge pressure, but if we can get among the wickets quickly Sussex may begin to feel the pressure.

Unchanged squad for Sussex but Meaker a doubt

Surrey have named an unchanged squad for this week's game with Sussex at the Oval. The team that takes the field is likely to look different though as Stuart Meaker's thigh strain makes him an unlikely starter.

The 13 names and a possible XI:

Graeme Smith
Rory Burns
Arun Harinath
Vikram Solanki
Zander de Bruyn
Steven Davies
Gary Wilson
Gareth Batty
Chris Tremlett
Tim Linley
Jade Dernbach

Twelfth men: Gary Keedy, Stuart Meaker

One question mark over the final XI remains - does Chris Adams persist with the twin-spin attack that faced Somerset last week or does he change tack and opt for the extra seamer. Much will depend on what kind of pitch is being prepared. Adams will probably have been disappointed with the extent to which the pitch deteriorated last week, or rather, didn't deteriorate. Even as the match drew to a close the spinners found little regular turn and Jos Buttler was still making hay at 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon. The sunshine over the weekend and at the start of this week may have persuaded him that two spinners could still work. Either way, it seems certain that Tim Linley will get a first start of the season since Chris Tremlett is only likely to play in place of Keedy, not as well as him.

I am disappointed that Jason Roy, batting today for the Second XI, still can't find space in the squad. Zander de Bruyn's ability with the ball seemingly keeping him in the side for another game. Graeme Smith will want to get off the mark for his new club with a score of note, and Harinath and Wilson will also want to make an impact.

Inevitably it will be hard to ignore the two players in the opposition squad making their returns to the Oval this week. Chris Jordan, who made such an impressive start to his Sussex career two weeks ago, and Rory Hamilton-Brown, our former captain, will draw much of the attention. Personally I hope both are given a good reception. Whatever you might think about how their careers at the Oval ended, they're talented young players deserving of their latest chance.

Sussex won their first game against a fancied Yorkshire side emphatically two weeks ago by an innings and 12 runs. Their batting, spearheaded by Ed Joyce and Chris Nash is solid rather than spectacular, but they will be boosted by the presence of England wicket-keeper Matt Prior. Similarly their bowling attack is low key but no less effective for it. Its hard to think of a more effective but less heralded opening bowling partnership than Steve Magoffin and James Anyon in county cricket, ably backed up by Jordan and the best spinner in England not called Graeme Swann. Monty's presence may also enter in to Adams' thinking about pitch-preparation.

Despite Buttler's near-hundred at the end of the Somerset game Surrey probably ended the contest in the ascendancy which should hopefully give the side some momentum this week. Two hundreds and two five fors in the first game is not to be sniffed at, and I hope they can build on the undoubted positives uncovered in the first fixture. Sussex remain a dangerous side capable of beating any side in Division One, so a strong performance is a must.

Azhar Mahmood - a welcome return?

Apologies for being a little bit slow off the mark on this one. I'm sure it escaped no one's attention that during the Somerset game the signing of Azhar Mahmood for this year's Twenty20 Cup was announced. Or should I say re-signing of Azhar Mahmood, since he played for us between 2002 and 2007.

My initial reaction to Azhar's signing was positive. He seems to tick all the boxes - he's a big hitting lower-middle order batsman, something that we've been missing for an awfully long time. He's a seam bowling allrounder who has a solid record of bowling in powerplays and at the death. He's also massively experienced - 171 matches puts him eighth on the all time list.

Furthermore, he's England-qualified, so he can take the field with Smith and Ponting. Azhar is undoubtedly one of those "x-factor" players capable of turning a single match in the space of an over or two with bat or ball, and I wouldn't be in the slightest bit surprised to see him do that for us. Finally, its prudent to have a bit of bowling cover should one or all of Meaker, Dernbach or Tremlett be called away on England duty.

So what's not to like about the return of a player who played such a big part in Surrey's early success in this format? I would just sound a note of caution on a few counts.

Firstly, he's 38. Now with age comes the aforementioned experience and experience is not something we'll be wanting for this season. It is feasible, if not perhaps all that likely, that all of Azhar (38), Ponting (39), Batty (35), Keedy (38), Solanki (36) and de Bruyn (37) could be considered for the T20 side. Certainly Mahmood, Ponting and Batty are all very likely to play a significant part in the campaign. The age profile of the Surrey squad is starting to look very odd indeed. Is so many creaking bodies such a good idea for the shortest format?

But so what, I hear you cry. We've fielded very young sides in the past and its got us nowhere near winning the thing, so this year's approach may well serve us better.

For argument's sake let's set aside the issue of age. This is, after all, the age of equality (or something like that). What about Azhar's recent T20 numbers? I thought I was going to find some very respectable figures but if we look at the current IPL, the South African T20 and last year's T20 Cup its not all that rosy. Including the game he's playing today, Azhar has snared eight IPL wickets in six games at a respectable run rate of 7. But his batting returns are poor, just 23 runs in five innings thus far. In last year's T20 Cup he took 10 wickets at 21 in eight games but again with the bat the numbers do not live up to the reputation - 110 runs at 13, and a strike rate below 100. His performance in South Africa was marginally better, 91 runs at 15 and a strike rate of 116, but still not what we've come to expect from him. Certainly some way below the average of 31 he managed for Surrey in his last stint at the club.

However even if you set aside his advancing years and his somewhat declining statistics there's the nagging feeling that he'll be taking the place of a younger man in the side. I'll always hold Azhar in very high regard for what he delivered for the club but given the players already on our books isn't it time we looked to the future again? What of Tom Jewell, given a contract extension at the end of 2012 but overlooked for the 37 year old Zander de Bruyn in the first Championship game, and now almost certainly squeezed out of the T20 side this year with Azhar's arrival. Dirk Nannes, all of 36 years old, played several games ahead of Stuart Meaker last season. I'd hate to see the same thing happen this time round.

Azhar may help us in progressing to the latter stages of this year's T20 but if we are genuinely looking to build a side to "dominate" English cricket in the future, are we going about it in the best way?

Creditable draw for Surrey on disappointing final day

Neither captain seemed overly keen to manufacture a result on the final day of Surrey's opening Championship fixture and they shook hands on the draw late in the day.

When four wickets went down before lunch there was hope that the home side could force an unlikely win. However a frustrating partnership between Petersen (who else?) and Buttler wrested back some of the initiative for Somerset. I thought that Smith's decision to open the bowling with de Bruyn after lunch was an odd one, given that a wicket at that point would've surely given the opposition some serious jitters.

As it was, Petersen and Buttler continued to accumulate. Batty eventually broke Petersen's resolve with a wicket almost out of nowhere. But it wasn't until Keedy was withdrawn from the attack in favour of Meaker that things really started to happen again. Having earlier taken the wickets of Compton and Trescothick he then added Trego, Thomas and Overton in quick succession in the afternoon session to complete his five-for. It was a drastic improvement on his day one bowling but nonetheless I've still seen Meaker bowl far better than he did today. Worryingly he didn't return to the field after the tea break so he must be a doubt for next week's game.

When Petersen fell there were still more than 40 overs left in the game and Somerset were 211 runs ahead. There was more than enough time to at least have a sighter at a result, but perhaps neither captain wanted to risk kicking off the season with a defeat. Or maybe Trescothick wanted Buttler to get his season off and running with a hundred. Either way it was disappointing to see the game fizzle out the way it did.

Given the position his side were in on Thursday evening Smith may be the happier of the two skippers today, but there are still issues to be ironed out. The feeble batting at the start of our first innings which necessitated a bit of a go-slow thereafter will be a concern.

The selection of two spinners didn't turn out to be the right one, but I'm not sure I'd place the blame squarely at Chris Adams' door for that. The pitch was pretty solid for batting even as the match drew to a close so two, three, four or more spinners probably wouldn't have made much difference. Indeed across the 300+ overs in the match only 5 wickets fell to spin at 64 runs apiece, while seamers took 23 at 27. Adams was doubtless expecting a dry surface that would bring the spinners into their own on days three and four. That didn't materialise and in any case we didn't win the toss so would not have been best placed to take advantage.

In addition, Gary Keedy had a pretty poor debut when you consider his pedigree, his bowling today was particularly disappointing and if I was Adams I'd be tempted to go with three seamers (one of whom should be Tremlett), Batty and Tom Jewell for the next game. Zander de Bruyn should make way, as well as Keedy and I'd give serious consideration to preferring Roy over Solanki. Apart from Roy's form with the bat we looked a little lethargic in the field and he'd certainly help in that department.

In light of Keedy's form I also think we should play more to our strengths and prepare a wicket for the seamers. To the outsider it might seem odd that a club who has the services of Meaker, Dernbach, Linley, Tremlett, Lewis, Dunn and Edwards to call on prefer to try and prepare a spinner's wicket in April. Our next game is against Sussex and good side though they are, we should be confident of out-gunning their seam bowling unit. Plus in Monty Panesar they have a very dangerous spinner.

So many changes would suggest panic but that's not the case, there are positives to be drawn from this game. We didn't lose after being in a precarious position, and against good quality opposition (though we will face stronger bowling units for sure). Rory Burns has picked up where he left off in 2012, Steven Davies looks to be back to his best and Jade Dernbach made a superb start to his Championship campaign against one of the strongest batting lineups in the country.

Oh and those Doric columns on the pavilion are looking very impressive. Roll on round two.

Dogged Surrey fight back well on day three

My assertion yesterday that Surrey's faltering batsmen would need to rely on the rain to survive in this match was not only overly pessimistic, but proven quite wrong by an impressive batting effort today. The day ended with Surrey having declared on 366, 18 runs behind in order to have a couple of overs at the opposition under the evening cloud cover.

The day began with the home team in a precarious position and with one eye on the follow on target. But once the wicket keeping pair of Rory Burns and Steven Davies had settled down in the face of some disciplined bowling the panic ebbed away. The pace was not electrifying from either player but while both are capable of aggressive strokeplay, that was not what the situation demanded. Both players played the situation expertly and gradually built a sizeable partnership.

The pair took the team to lunch safely still only two wickets down. Somerset continued to search for a wicket after lunch but it wasn't till the 92nd over that Burns and Davies were parted - and even then it was gifted somewhat as Burns strangled one down the leg side for a superb 115. He really is starting to look like a very special player. The partnership had reached 159 - the biggest of the match and Surrey were out of serious peril. There was work still to be done and although Gary Wilson didn't make the most of his chance at number seven today, Gareth Batty ensured that Surrey proceeded carefully towards first innings parity. He was eventually out for 36 off 86 balls to the bowling of Overton and the job was all but done. Steven Davies confirmed his return to form today with a expertly compiled 147 - he was last man out. I sense this year he'll be of enormous value to Surrey.

With time running out in the game and some very solid sunshine expected tomorrow, Smith elected to give the Somerset openers a test under the lights this evening. However neither Dernbach or Meaker were able to make a breakthrough in the 12 balls they had. Somerset will resume tomorrow on 6-0.

On a slow, flat pitch which has shown little sign of breaking up its hard to see anything other than a draw in this game, but stranger things have happened. A full 96 overs will be possible tomorrow and if the seamers get amongst the wickets early there could be life in the game yet. Its frustrating that on a pitch we deemed suitable to play two spinners, only two wickets have fallen to spin bowling in nearly 250 overs. We'll need to work on pitch preparation if that's our chosen modus operandi.

Today was a very stoical and characterful performance from Surrey. Where they could have wilted in the face of probing bowling they stood firm. It will stand them in good stead for a tough season to come.

Somerset put the squeeze on disappointing Surrey

Graeme Smith's tenure as captain of Surrey was in danger of getting off to an ignominious start as Surrey closed a rain-interrupted day two on 98 for 4, 286 runs behind.

In fact Surrey may have to look to the heavens for salvation from now on in this game, the forecast for tomorrow at least holds some hope for them in that respect. All is of course not yet lost but a match that looked hard to win yesterday now looks nigh on impossible. Saving the match is probably Surrey's only hope.

They began today needing two quick wickets and while they didn't come quick enough (it took an hour and the addition of 40 runs to Somerset's total) it was better than some of our recent efforts to finish of tail-ends. Dernbach continued his excellent work from yesterday and made Thomas his fifth victim with a patented slower ball. Meaker, who was yanked from the attack early on by Smith then returned to collect the final wicket.

Somerset's total, while not massive was still imposing and Surrey needed a solid 15 overs to take them to lunch unscathed. They didn't deliver. Smith's debut lasted just three deliveries as he edged a good Peter Trego delivery to Hildreth at slip and on the stroke of lunch Arun Harinath was out to Alfonso Thomas in the same fashion. 30 for 2 would not have made for an especially pleasant lunch time for the home team.

After lunch Rory Burns, who had stood firm in the pre-lunch melee, was joined by Vikram Solanki and they steadily built a 50 partnership. However on 30 Solanki was bowled by Jamie Overton and his replacement, Zander de Bruyn, didn't last long. Four balls in fact, for just one run. He got himself out to a shot that Cricinfo's George Dobell described as "so bad I thought he was Jade Dernbach". Encouraging. Perhaps selecting a man who hadn't faced a delivery since early February wasn't such a good idea after all.

Four wickets down with only 87 runs on the board Burns and Davies needed to see Surrey to the close without further damage. Mercifully they did and Surrey will resume on 98-4 tomorrow morning. With rain forecast from midday onwards tomorrow, their job may be made a little easier for them.

It's worth noting that Burns, just 22 years old, is now averaging north of 50 from his last 13 innings. Not half bad for an opening batsman in Division One. If all of the top order batsmen showed the application he did today we'd be in a far better position. Unless the rain does come, his fellow wicket keepers Davies and Gary Wilson will need to help him out if Surrey are to have any hope in this fixture.

Dernbach rescues Surrey from chastening day

Two performances stand out on day one of Surrey's County Championship campaign. Jade Dernbach, who returned figures of 4-42 on a generally unresponsive pitch and Alviro Petersen. Again.

Chris Adams opted for a four man attack with two spinners and no room for Chris Tremlett. It seems that the coach was, not unreasonably, unwilling to risk the England seamer as one of only two front line seamers. Dernbach was preferred to Linley despite the latter's superior returns in pre-season, and as expected Meaker joined him. Given the set up of the side it was an important toss to win...the toss was duly lost and Somerset elected to bat first.

Petersen, a winter recruit for Somerset, had a superb day and took his average against Surrey to 104, and his average at the Oval to 125 as he led his side to 344 for 8. Things had not looked so rosy for the West Country side when just 1 run was scored in the first five overs, and even that was a leg bye. Matters got worse for them as Compton was bowled for a duck by a rapid Dernbach yorker, and he had Petersen in real trouble first ball with a slower ball. This was part of an exceptional opening spell which gave him figures of 1-5 from five overs. His new ball partner Meaker had considerably less success on an unusually poor day for him despite a wicket late in the day. Meaker generally bowled too much on the batsman's legs and was punished.

After Compton's departure Hildreth and Trescothick set about building but the captain fell in Gareth Batty's first over to reduce Somerset to 58-2. By the 20th over it was spin at both ends, almost unheard of so early in the season. The placid nature of the day one pitch was laid bare once Dernbach's testing spell was done and Hildreth comfortably took the side to lunch with Petersen on 115-2.

Dernbach returned to bowl Hildreth in the first over after lunch, bringing Craig Kieswetter to the crease. He and Petersen formed an excellent partnership of 143, threatening to bat Surrey out of the match. It was a dogged bowling effort from Surrey and chiefly Dernbach to drag Somerset back from 260-3 to 344-8 by the close. It was however Batty, partnership breaker extraordinaire, who snared the wicket of Kieswetter just six overs before the new ball was due but when it arrived Dernbach re-entered the fray with the wickets of Buttler and Trego in consecutive balls. Zander de Bruyn,  Surrey's third seamer in this game, finally trapped Petersen lbw a couple of overs before the close and Meaker clean bowled Jamie Overton to end the day on a more positive note.

To have any chance of a positive result in this game Surrey really need the pitch to start taking turn - which given the selection of two spinners it surely will. Unfortunately for them Somerset now have almost 350 runs on the board, a couple of wickets still in hand and a decent spinner of their own. Besides the remaining Somerset wickets Surrey first need to knuckle down and grind out a big total. Such was Somerset's scoring rate that even if Surrey reach parity there's still time for a result.  Graeme Smith has a fight on his hands in his first match as captain.