Surrey T20 side

What would your 11 be? Subject to some guessing around availability I would go with something like this.

Roy
Jacks
Amla
Evans
Pope
Overton
Clark
Tom Curran
Batty
Moriarty
Dernbach

Feels a batsman light do possibly could drop Batty for Smith depending on how they intent to use Jacks bowling. Sam for Overton/Clark if available but I doubt it. An overseas quick bowling all rounder would be ideal! I fear Rikki's days in T20 are over.

Looking forward to having Roy for the whole competition (and even maybe some champ cricket later in the season) ge can really win a game single handed! That top 4 is as good as any in the blast. Though perhaps not quite on the level of Finch, Roy, Sanga, KP!

Foakes to come in when fit but not sure for who!

Have I missed anyone?

England have white ball cricket from 23 June until 20 July so while we may see some of J Roy at the beginning of the Blast, he is going to miss a huge chunk. I presume he’ll then be playing in the Hundred during the one day cup.

I don't think Foakes will be back until September. If he is he's due to play in the ODC, not the T20. And do we really need Roy in the CC side? He doesn't play red ball and he probably wouldn't add anything. Tom Curran hasn't played red ball for about two years so again what will he add?

I dont think the original side will be too far from the 1st few sides, though as has been said I assume Roy & Sam Curran will be in the white ball England set up so we wont see them for too long, and Tom & Topley might be the same. Not sure if Pope can come straight back in, again because of the bubble, and of course he will miss the 1st few as he will still be with England

If Topley is available I would have in the XI, and would also have Smith in as keeper

Abbott missing is a big loss, and I assume he was primarily in for the T20

in short, due to England, there will be a lot of chopping and changing of the squad during the Blast

I forgot about Topley and clearly forgot that Pope was playing in the current game for England!

Smith in for Pope then and Topley has to play for me. Trouble is if you bring him in for one of Overton or Clarke then you have 4 number 11s. So he has to be fighting it out with Batty or Dernbach?

for me it would be Topley for Dernbach, who can then come in IF Topley gets selected in the England white ball squad

I would hope that the team for the 1st game would be close to this

Roy, Jacks, Amla, Evans, Smith, Sam Curran, Overton, Clark, Tom Curran, Batty, Topley

Once the England boys leave I assume Clarke, Moriarty, Pope (if allowed back in) will cover for Sam, Topley & possibly Tom. No idea who will cover for Roy though. I notice Geddes has been opening in the 2nd XI games, and did well in the last 1. If not I guess it will be 1 of Stoneman, Burns (if allowed) or Patel

England play ODI/T20 games from 23rd June all the way through to the end of July, so we may see the England boys for the 1st 3 games if we are lucky, 3rd one being Glamorgan on 14th June.

If we are going to replace Abbott with anyone then I would suggest a batsmen might be needed. Conway looks useful and has a decent T20 record I believe

Moriarty and Batty have to be the first two bowlers on the team sheet and we figure the rest out from there.

leaving Moriarty out of the initial XI was a tough decision, but I couldnt see who he would come in for

The XI i picked gives us 6 bowling options (plus Jacks is needed), and 3 of those I would call genuine all rounders (4 if you included TC). Adding Moriarty for 1 of those would also lengthen the tail.

To me, we are short in the batting department, esp when Roy isnt available, more than the bowling area

Coatesy wrote:for me it would be Topley for Dernbach, who can then come in IF Topley gets selected in the England white ball squad

I would hope that the team for the 1st game would be close to this

Roy, Jacks, Amla, Evans, Smith, Sam Curran, Overton, Clark, Tom Curran, Batty, Topley

Once the England boys leave I assume Clarke, Moriarty, Pope (if allowed back in) will cover for Sam, Topley & possibly Tom. No idea who will cover for Roy though. I notice Geddes has been opening in the 2nd XI games, and did well in the last 1. If not I guess it will be 1 of Stoneman, Burns (if allowed) or Patel

England play ODI/T20 games from 23rd June all the way through to the end of July, so we may see the England boys for the 1st 3 games  if we are lucky, 3rd one being Glamorgan on 14th June.

If we are going to replace Abbott with anyone then I would suggest a batsmen might be needed. Conway looks useful and has a decent T20 record I believe

Which is why Somerset, who always seem to be ahead of the curve, snapped him up for their next set of championship and T20 games before most of us had heard of him.

Of the remaining options, I would kill for Kane but I understand he is involved with the Birmingham Bullshitters or whatever they call themselves. Next cab off the rank as a T20 specialist is Glenn Phillips - oh wait, Gloucestershire have nabbed him. Jimmy Neesham is more than useful - oh hang on, Essex have got him.

I fear that we will be left playing catch-up, not for the first time, because whether by wretched luck or poor due diligence our overseas pick has fallen through #Smith #Kohli #MitchellMarsh

wasnt aware of that.

it does seem that we are either unlucky or its poor on our side with our overseas players, esp with the last 3 choices.

Topley played in a strong-looking Surrey second-eleven T20 side against a scratch Essex side a couple of days ago.

I wonder if we will take a punt on Ben Geddes, who scored 65 not out from 35 balls and shared an opening stand of 123 with Will Jacks?

Topley is injured and will miss the entire Blast with a side strain according to the club.

Coatesy wrote:leaving Moriarty out of the initial XI was a tough decision, but I couldnt see who he would come in for

The XI i picked gives us 6 bowling options (plus Jacks is needed), and 3 of those I would call genuine all rounders (4 if you included TC). Adding Moriarty for 1 of those would also lengthen the tail.

To me, we are short in the batting department, esp when Roy isnt available, more than the bowling area

Hi Coatesy - I understand your concerns about the batting. However, I would reckon that few sides whether batting first or second win a t20 game when they lose 7 or more wickets. Lose that many and the game is normally gone regardless of whom you have coming in at 9, 10, Jack.

Easier said than done but the top half of the order need to fire. If they don't, I fear we'll probably be stuffed and even more likely to be if we leave out Moriarty in an attempt to make up for their shortcomings.

Plunkett. No one has mentioned him. Is he still alive?

Atkinson impressed in T20s last year

I will totally honest, I forgot about Plunkett (as it seems others did as well)

He would work in the XI, and gives good cover for others

2nd XI game vs Sussex was shaping up for a good finish between two strong sides before Sam bowls 4 wides & concedes 21 runs in the penultimate over....

https://live.nvplay.com/ecb/?fbclid=IwAR1bdn3mHJ7kPGZfmqHA5OgnD1q8qYbjkFgAA2zJv1F6XT_0WCh0ritUKkw#m84f6ac8a-c2ac-44a0-87ad-bdb595f1275d

Roy
Jacks
Amla
Evans
Smith
Clark
Overton
Plunkett
Batty
Moriarty
Dernbach

RB wrote:Roy
Jacks
Amla
Evans
Smith
Clark
Overton
Plunkett
Batty
Moriarty
Dernbach

According to the cricinfo south group preview, Plunkett is injured.

Dunno why you wouldn't play both Curran's either. Was worried that we might be a bit screwed without Abbott, but at the moment we've some pretty good depth

https://www.kiaoval.com/main-news/smith-makes-132-in-second-xi-t20-v-kent/

https://www.kiaoval.com/main-news/roy-fires-68-for-second-xi-v-sussex/

some strong performances from these two games played this week, and another game today apparently

https://twitter.com/surreycricket/status/1402656741054107659?s=20

As far as the batting goes we're spoilt

Batty is captain, then. I am not sure whether we will see much more of Jade Dernbach.

My team from the squad named:

Roy, Jacks, Amla, Geddes, Evans, Smith, S Curran, Clark, J Overton, T Curran, Batty

Very close call between Clark and Moriarty, who I think will be a better bet at the Oval with the longer square boundaries to provide a degree of protection.

Jackers wrote:Batty is captain, then. I am not sure whether we will see much more of Jade Dernbach.

My team from the squad named:

Roy, Jacks, Amla, Geddes, Evans, Smith, S Curran, Clark, J Overton, T Curran, Batty

Very close call between Clark and Moriarty, who I think will be a better bet at the Oval with the longer square boundaries to provide a degree of protection.

I think there’s more than enough batting with Clark, Overton and the Curran’s to mean we won’t need to play Geddes. Moriarty has shown more than enough in his short career already to earn a start. Even on a complete road we should still be looking to play two frontline spinners in T20.

Cee Gee wrote:

Jackers wrote:Batty is captain, then. I am not sure whether we will see much more of Jade Dernbach.

My team from the squad named:

Roy, Jacks, Amla, Geddes, Evans, Smith, S Curran, Clark, J Overton, T Curran, Batty

Very close call between Clark and Moriarty, who I think will be a better bet at the Oval with the longer square boundaries to provide a degree of protection.

I think there’s more than enough batting with Clark, Overton and the Curran’s to mean we won’t need to play Geddes. Moriarty has shown more than enough in his short career already to earn a start. Even on a complete road we should still be looking to play two frontline spinners in T20.

I side with Cee Gee and think Geddes, Clarke, Dunn and Patel will be the four carrying drinks.

Just to add - Dunn has been doing consistently well for the seconds but I just can't see how to squeeze him in.

I believe that Chris Green, in the Middlesex squad for tonight, used to play for Surrey Seconds. He is subbing until (or perhaps unless) Mujeeb makes it. Batting very dependent on Stiriing and Morgan. Bowling very thin (or should I say Finn?) as TRJ injured, Helm has Covid and in the slow bowling department Murtagh is injured. I am not optimistic!

Will we see the Geddes Axe?