Surrey frustrated as Middlesex fight back

Any hope of Surrey bringing a rapid end to the London derby was gradually extinguished by a battling Middlesex performance on day three. A third successive draw looms for Graeme Smith's side as Middlesex lead by 111 runs with eight second innings wickets in hand.

The day began perfectly for Surrey as only five runs were added to the Middlesex total before de Bruyn picked up his third wicket of the innings, Collymore plumb lbw to bring a close to proceedings on 166 - 172 runs in arrears. There was some debate as to whether Smith should enforce the follow-on. Middlesex were on the back foot, there was heavy cloud over the ground and the few overs in the morning had seen some movement for the bowlers.

In the end that was enough to persuade the skipper as he sent the opposition back out to bat. What ensued thereafter was a quite extraordinary fight back from a side not short on character and guts. Early on there were a couple of edges that fell short and during the course of the innings there were some dicey run out chances, but all in all Sam Robson and Chris Rogers played superbly to lead Middlesex to safety. The pair saw off the good balls and put away the bad ones, it was intelligent cricket and it was impressive. Rogers was first to his hundred, his 59th in First Class cricket, and his eighth score of fifty or more in nine games against Surrey, and shortly after Robson went to his sixth hundred.

The heavy roller seemed to have sapped any life from the wicket. Surrey's bowlers ran in gamely throughout the entire day but they had very little to work with. Again it was de Bruyn who made the breakthrough eventually, having Robson caught down the leg side, but by that point the partnership had reached a record-breaking 259.  Jade Dernbach tested both Rogers and Robson with the short delivery but had to wait until his fourth delivery with the second new ball before he found any success - having Joe Denly caught at slip. Nightwatchman Steven Finn and Rogers took Middlesex to the close on 283-2 comfortably.

A day that promised so much delivered very little in the end, and it seems the rare chance to win at Lord's has again passed us by. Its hard to fault the effort from Surrey today despite the disappointment. You can look back at the decision to enforce the follow on but in reality the wicket has flattened out so it is likely that we would have found it difficult to force a result anyway. At the time enforcing the follow on was, in my opinion, the right call. We need a win, the overhead conditions were good for bowling and there was some evidence of variable bounce - evidence which later evaporated.

Middlesex now have all the momentum. That said I would be surprised, given the flatness of the pitch, if they are thinking about declaration any time soon. What seemed to be boiling up into a very intriguing battle now looks likely to peter out into another bore draw. It would take a considerable deterioration of the surface to make this game even remotely interesting. Well, that or some very brainless batting - from either side.

Rampant Surrey on top at Lord's

The funereal pace of the first 9 and a half days of Surrey's Championship season was all but forgotten in the evening session today as Surrey snatched control of the London derby. The visitors had Middlesex 161-9 at close, still 177 runs behind and Surrey are firmly in control of the tie.

Surrey had begun the day looking to consolidate their advantage. With the score at 267 for 4 and three batsmen still with hands to play they looked to be in a great position. However Steven Davies fell without adding to his overnight score, lbw to Murtagh in the third over of the day. Surrey secured a third batting point with three ball to spare but then the wheels came off. Surrey's nemesis Toby Roland-Jones produced a brute of a bouncer which accounted for Zander de Bruyn and the tail didn't stick around to add to Gary Wilson's valiant 30.

All in all the morning session saw Surrey lose six wickets for the addition of just 71 runs and it looked as though they were ceding the momentum to Middlesex. Paul Stirling, very definitely a part time spinner, recorded figures of 10-2-20-2 this morning, although he hardly had to work for the wicket of Jade Dernbach. Surrey were 338 all out and although we'd batted a lot of overs, the slow rate of scoring meant that Middlesex were still in with a shout.

Jade Dernbach and Chris Tremlett shared the new ball and though there were some testing deliveries Tremlett could have made the batsman play more and Dernbach produced too many loose balls. The Middlesex openers stood their ground.

It took the introduction into the attack of Zander de Bruyn (again before Linley) for Surrey to get among the wickets. He pushed a ball across Chris Rogers whose thick inside edge cannoned into the stumps. In truth it was a poor ball, but a wicket is a wicket. Dernbach returned for a second spell and picked up the wicket of Joe Denly leg before. The ball appeared to be going down leg side and even the bowler's appeal was half hearted, but the umpire was convinced. When Gareth Batty's off spin sent Dawid Malan back for 13 just before tea Surrey were well on top.

Zander de Bruyn opened the bowling after tea, as he did after the luch break on the final day against Somerset, only this time he produced a wicket. Sam Robson edged a very good ball behind to leave Middlesex 92 for 4. Credit to Smith for opening with his fellow South African, I personally thought it was a bonkers decision but he delivered for his captain.

That left Neil Dexter and John Simpson with a recovery job. Linley was causing Dexter no shortage of problems but it was Dernbach who sparked the evening collapse. Inside the final hour he took two wickets in two deliveries, Dexter was caught behind off a rapid delivery before Stirling was trapped lbw without scoring on his debut.

Middlesex were in trouble, six down and requiring another 67 runs to avoid the follow on. Surrey ensured the pain didn't end there though, Simpson became Batty's second victim before first Tremlett and then Linley got in on the act. At the close the home side were left struggling nine wickets down and still needing to find 27 runs to avoid the follow on. In Tim Murtagh they have a man at the crease more than capable of scoring those runs. Unfortunately for Middlesex he'll be joined tomorrow morning by Corey Collymore.

I said yesterday that the pitch may become tougher to bat on but in truth it was probably more a good bowling effort by Surrey than a serious deterioration in the surface. At the half way point in the match I would expect the follow-on to be enforced if Murtagh is sent back early. Although any further deterioration in the pitch may temper the enthusiasm to send Middlesex back to the crease so soon.

Yesterday was a good day but today was a really good day. In the past we've been guilty of letting the opportunities pass us by in situations like this, Smith needs to ensure the opposition are not let off the hook. The chance to put one over on our local rivals is too good to pass up.

Surrey on top despite late wickets

Surrey completed easily their best day one of the 2013 campaign as they reached stumps on 267 for the loss of four wickets at Lord's. Were it not for the loss of two quick wickets to the second new ball in the evening session the day would've been even better for Surrey.

A perfect blue sky greeted the players at the Home of Cricket and Graeme Smith's day got off to the best possible start as he won the toss and chose to bat. That was as good as it got for Smith though as he was out for the first duck (but third score of less than ten) in his Surrey career, edging Tim Murtagh to slip. His tendency to get out to sub-80mph seamers may be cause for concern, though I have no doubt that the runs will soon begin to flow. Interestingly after four innings he has precisely the same number of runs as Jacques Rudolph had at the same point last season.

That left Surrey 5-1 and memories of Lord's first innings past were in danger of flooding back. However Rory Burns and Arun Harinath, they of the match-winning 217 run partnership against the same opposition last year, put together a fine recovery.

As in games one and two it was steady rather than speedy progress to begin with. The average first innings run rate in the first 20 overs this season has been 1.76. Over the same period last year the rate was closer to three an over. Still, Burns and Harinath took Surrey to lunch on 45-1 without further loss.

It was a platform on which to build and where the more cavalier Surrey of 2011 and 2012 might have thrown their wickets away, this more restrained partnership continued to accumulate. They had their fair share of luck after lunch, Harinath was caught behind off a Corey Collymore no ball and Burns was dropped on 65 by John Simpson up to the stumps. Steven Finn also induced a couple of genuine edges from the bat of Burns but nonetheless they stood firm. The session between lunch and tea saw 99 runs and no wickets. A promising platform at lunch had been turned into the significant platform of 144-1 at tea.

However in the second over after tea Harinath was late on a cut shot to a Finn delivery and he was caught behind. In truth it was a poor stroke but he had shown why he deserves his place at number three. Vikram Solanki, playing his 300th first class match was next man in and while he took some time to get off the mark he was soon timing the ball expertly.

Burns meanwhile continued on his merry way and went to his second hundred of the season, and fourth of his career, off the 251st ball he'd faced. It wasn't his most fluid innings but he'd stuck at it and had given the side a superb start. In making his hundred he also passed 1,000 first class runs in just his 23rd innings at an average of almost precisely 50. At 22 years old he continues to look a special talent.

The Solanki-Burns partnership reached 64 at a good rate before the former was caught behind fiddling at a Corey Collymore delivery. Burns then fell facing the seventh over of the new ball, bowled by Tim Murtagh off an inside edge.

The late wickets took the shine off an otherwise excellent day for Surrey. They remain the better placed of the two sides and you'll remember that in this match last season, and in fact in Middlesex's game with Derbyshire in April where Derbyshire's second innings collapsed for just 60, the pitch became significantly tougher to bat on as the match went on. A 350+ total may well prove above par.

With de Bruyn and Davies at the crease tomorrow, and the in-form Gary Wilson to come, Surrey are well placed to post a good total. Middlesex will have a few overs of new ball shine left in the morning but once any early movement has been weathered it should be another good day for batting, and for Surrey.

Squad named for visit to table-toppers

Gallingly Middlesex sit proudly atop the County Championship having played a game less than their nearest challenger. Surrey meanwhile are propping up Division One, albeit with two games in hand over Derbyshire.

Clearly though it isn't the mismatch a cursory glance at the table would suggest, we are after all still only in May. Chris Adams has named a 13 man squad for this clash:

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

12th men: Gary Keedy, Jon Lewis

The only real question is over whether Batty or Lewis will play. Middlesex have not named a spinner in their squad so we can expect a pitch for the quick bowlers. On the evidence of last season Lewis offers at least the same stability with the bat as Batty, if not more. Lewis also took seven wickets at Lord's last year so may be preferred. From two spinners in game one to no spinners in game three? Don't rule it out.

Meaker has yet to recover from his thigh injury so the excellent Tim Linley will continue to lead the attack. Dernbach and Tremlett will surely enjoy the surface this week more than last. I expect Harinath to continue at three despite Wilson's huge success there against Sussex. Not only does Harinath deserve a run in the slot, he may also be a more appropriate choice given the likelihood of some seam movement. Wilson in his current form is also very nice to have coming in lower down the order.

It will surprise no one to read that I'm disappointed at the omission of Jason Roy. He might have registered a first innings duck on the flattest of flat pitches last time out, but his second innings cameo of 16 from 22 balls was bristling with potential (if such a short innings can "bristle"). Needless to say I would also have opted for Jewell over de Bruyn.

Few fans of either side will have forgotten the last couple of encounters between these two. Both fixtures in 2012 were absolute humdingers. The combined difference between the two sides was the grand total of 11 runs - three runs at Lord's, eight runs at the Oval and a win apiece. The two games however were vastly different, while the North London bout was played out on a very tricky seamer's pitch, the return game saw a veritable dust bowl. I think I know which we're more likely to see over the next four days.

There were some grumblings after the Lord's fixture last year, notably from Chris Adams who described it as the worst pitch he'd ever seen. I suspect if Jade Dernbach hadn't tried to launch the second ball of what turned out to be Murtagh's final over down the ground, only to be caught at cover, Adams may have grumbled slightly less. 

Middlesex are not top of the Championship by accident. They were tipped as dark horses by some of the more informed watchers of county cricket and justifiably so. A seam attack containing Finn, Murtagh and Surrey bogeyman Toby Roland-Jones (he averages 10 runs per wicket against us) will challenge any side. Their batting is definitely their weaker suit, with only Chris Rogers having scored Championship runs with any real regularity lately. Nonetheless they have quality in the batting order, Denly, Malan, Robson, Simpson...all are capable batsmen.

After encountering two turgid surfaces at the Oval to kick off the season the bowlers will doubtless be straining at the leash to get going. The batsmen probably less so, but at least all but de Bruyn and Harinath (largely down to injury) have some significant time at the crease under their belts. Batsman or bowler, they'll all want to get one over on the local rivals, who we haven't beaten at Lord's since 1997. A fine place to get our first win of the season.

Oval pitches - what's the story?

There has been much written over the past few days (and not just by me) about the state of pitches at the Oval in light of the two championship matches so far. We have yet to see a game reach the fourth innings and of a possible 80 wickets, just 53 have fallen across eight days of cricket.

To say its been a batsman's paradise doesn't quite do it justice. There have been five hundreds already, including Luke Wells' double last week, not to mention three scores in the nineties. All in all both games have seen over a thousand runs scored despite overs being lost to rain. Bowlers have had to toil through, on average, almost 13 overs for each wicket and those have come at a cost of 41 runs apiece. That said, it's hardly been one for the stroke-makers, the run rate across both games has only just nudged over three an over.

It's almost been the worst of both worlds. The bowlers have struggled to get anything out of an unresponsive surface but meanwhile the batsmen have hardly been clattering the ball to all parts, its been a slow grind rather than free-flowing.

There have been an unusually high number of comings and goings in the post of head groundsman at the Oval since 2010, when Bill Gordon retired. He was a tough act to follow, having been on the staff in some capacity since 1964 and head groundsman since 2003. He has remained at the club in an advisory capacity but is no longer the main man where pitch preparation is concerned. He was replaced in 2011 by Scott Patterson, who then departed a year later. In April 2012 Lee Fortis, an assistant head groundsman under Bill Gordon, was appointed and he's still in post today.

Under Patterson's tenure the pitches were pretty sporting, especially for seamers. One match that sticks in the mind is the game against Leicestershire in May 2011 when we fielded four frontline seamers (yes, I'm afraid I do count Yasir Arafat as a frontline seamer) and Dernbach and Meaker shared 15 wickets between them. We won that match at a canter by 215 runs. Over the course of the 2011 season Surrey seamers took their wickets at a cost of 26.9 runs apiece. Of course the opposition was weaker given that we were then in Division Two, but nonetheless the pitches seemed better for the quick bowler.

Since then things have got slightly tougher for the seamers, but only slightly. In 2012 their wickets came at 27.5 but actually at a fractionally better strike rate than in 2011. What is notable in late 2011 and 2012 is how much more spin friendly the Oval became. Pragyan Ojha's scintillating 10-90 against Derbyshire in September 2011 seems to have precipitated a move to much dryer pitches.

Murali Kartik was duly signed for the latter part of 2012 and twice we saw both he and Gareth Batty deployed at home. And to good effect to as in those two matches they took 25 wickets between them. Across 2012 spinners took 40 wickets at the Oval at the impressive average of just 20. That compares to a 2010 average of just under 40 and in 2011 it was 29.

When Gary Keedy was signed at the end of last season Chris Adams said that two spinners at home was likely more often than not. In fact he said Keedy would've struggled to find a county more committed to a two spinner policy than Surrey. And yet that policy has been abandoned after just one fixture, what gives?

The exceptionally cold early spring weather will likely have made pitch preparation tough, but having said that in Middlesex's fixture at Lord's in mid-April all but one wicket fell to seamers as Toby Roland-Jones and Co. made hay. Meanwhile at the Oval both seamers and spinners alike have found little assistance. As I said yesterday we are always going to struggle to challenge the best teams come September if we cannot force the issue at home.

Given our attack, strong in seam and strong in spin, I would be satisfied with a pitch prepared to suit either. Though I must confess a slight personal preference for fast bowling attacks - and we are blessed with some mighty fine examples of those at Surrey - but that's by the by. What we have at the moment is a pitch prepared for the batsman, and some pretty gritty cricket to boot. Perhaps the square needs to be relaid, or perhaps we just need a bit more luck with the weather, but one way or the other we need to do something a bit different if we want to make our way up the Championship table.

Two draws in two

Well at least we're unbeaten. Some unpredictable weather and a turgid pitch contributed to a largely unsatisfactory day's cricket at the Oval. As expected the game ended in a draw.

We've now had two games at the Oval, neither game has reached the fourth innings and there have been two declarations. We simply cannot hope to get near winning the County Championship preparing pitches like this. Relying on being unbeatable at home and getting wins away is a very strange approach indeed.

The day began with captain Smith and Gary Wilson at the crease. Smith moved on to 67 before he was bowled by Panesar. It will have been a relief for him to get in the runs at the third attempt. His dismissal brought Solanki to the crease and he and Wilson calmed any nerves with a solid partnership. Solanki didn't always look his fluent best but neither did he offer up any chances.

Wilson meanwhile continued on his merry way before he was out shortly after reaching his second 50+ score of the match, patting a simple caught and bowled back to Nash. Before that mistake he looked especially good against the spinners, cutting and sweeping sweetly. He was an emergency solution at number three but boy has he taken his chance. I think Harinath should remain in that spot when he recovers from injury but Wilson has shown he is comfortable in the top order.

Zander de Bruyn played something of a nothing innings. He made his way to 26 without alarm before he was lbw to Luke Wells' part time spin. I struggle to see why we shouldn't take a bit of a gamble and select Tom Jewell ahead of de Bruyn, especially given Gary Wilson's form. Jewell is a promising young player but we'll never know if he's got what it takes until we try. De Bruyn is a fine player who's served us well, but Jewell could be the future.

Part time bowlers have made hay in this game with wickets for Nash, Solanki and Wells. In fact Wells picked up his second wicket not long after his first as Solanki inexplicably pulled a horrible long hop straight to Jordan at deep mid wicket. He won't be satisfied with the manner in which he got out, but 130+ runs in the match is a decent return.

Roy and Davies saw Surrey to tea without further damage. The lead was approaching 100, and with five wickets in hand and only 30 overs left in the day it would've taken a feat of super human stupidity to lose the match from there. In any case the rain intervened and six overs were lost. Roy and Davies returned after the break and forged a 50 partnership at almost 7 an over against the new ball, playing some lovely shots in the process. Shortly thereafter though spin was brought on and hands were shaken on the draw shortly before 5pm

Its hard not to feel cheated by the placid nature of the pitch, but we have faced two strong sides and looked at least their equal for the most part. Middlesex at Lord's is next up, given how that went last year, it ought to be quite a test.

Tense final day ahead as Sussex move into command

Surrey will enter the final day 109 runs behind their opponents with nine second innings wickets still intact but the South London weather may play more of a role towards the end of this game than Sussex would like.

England fans have become accustomed to big second innings knocks from Graeme Smith and another tomorrow would come in very handy indeed. He survived the 17 overs before the close with ease and will resume on 43. If the rain doesn't arrive, as it is forecast to do in patches, Surrey and Smith will have to endure a tense couple of sessions. The wicket still held few worries for the batsmen so it ought to be only pressure that will tell on Surrey.

Sussex resumed on 204-2 this morning in pursuit of a big first innings score. Having progressed slowly yesterday they knew they'd have to up the pace on the third day, and they did just that from the word go. 27 runs were scored in the first seven overs of the day as the new ball raced off the bat as it often does. Interestingly it was Tim Linley rather than Chris Tremlett that Graeme Smith tossed the new ball to. It was just reward for the pick of the bowlers and hopefully he's now done enough to earn himself a regular place in the side.

There was however no breakthrough for the bowlers as Wells and Joyce continued to accumulate runs at a good pace. Joyce was dropped on 69, offering a very tough chance to Gary Wilson but that aside there were few alarms. Joyce had moved serenely on to 98 when Gareth Batty broke through almost out of nowhere - as he had done last week with the wicket of Alviro Petersen in the 90s.

After a short spell of rain Sussex again looked to pick up the pace. They couldn't have hoped for a better man to do so than Matt Prior. He duly delivered a 36 ball 50 (having been dropped on 18 by Solanki) and by the time he was out to the bowling of Dernbach Sussex had established a lead of 40. Luke Wells had meanwhile moved to a quite superb double hundred, he's now scored 28% of his first class runs against Surrey.

Although Hamilton-Brown, Ben Brown and Chris Jordan kept the score moving Sussex may feel slightly disappointed that they didn't force their lead to the 200 mark, rather than the 175 they eventually reached. Nonetheless they were well ahead in the match with a day and half a session to play. On a side note, Chris Tremlett's solitary wicket (that of Monty Panesar) in 28 overs was not the dramatic return to first class cricket many had hoped for. The Surrey seamers will be wondering when the wickets at the Oval might start to offer them a bit more assistance.

When Rory Burns was caught behind off the bowling of Steve Magoffin Surrey fans could have been forgiven for fearing the worst. However first innings hero Gary Wilson and captain Smith saw the side safely to close on 66 for 1.

If a full day's play is possible tomorrow could be a fascinating day. There's no hope of anything other than a draw or a Sussex win, but there's still a lot of cricket to be played.