Season review – spinless wonders exceed all expectations

Six months ago to the day, I wrote: “Like many, I feared for the team’s prospects when it was confirmed that we would be reinstated to Division One this season. Perhaps it is the natural optimism of Spring before a ball has been bowled, but looking at the side we should be able to pick for the early part of the season at least I feel that while are unlikely to replicate 2018, we should be capable of at least a respectable mid-table finish”.

I am delighted that I underestimated what we were capable of.  It was certainly important to have all of our England players available for the April and May games: we hit the front with some impressive wins, none more so than by an innings against Hampshire. But ultimately, we were champions because of the depth of the squad, the unexpected improvement of the likes of Jacks and Overton, the unexpected impact of Worrall, and – not least – the emergence of Tom Lawes.

Our groundsman played a key role in preparing great cricket pitches which allowed our deep batting line-up to post at least 300 every time while at the same time offering assistance to whichever combination of our seam bowlers were fit and available. Six wins and just one draw from our seven matches at HQ tells its own story. We were not as dominant on the road: hard-fought wins at Taunton and Scarborough were balanced by frustrating draws against the likes of Gloucestershire, Kent and Northants. Sure, the groundsmen did us no favours at some of these venues, but on reflection we might have taken a punt on Moriarty at a couple of these games given the depth of our batting all season.

Will Jacks deserved to be player of the year. Not all of us are T20 fans, but you can’t overlook that he was the stand-out performer and has become one of the most feared power-play batsmen on the circuit. In the championship, he played a number of crucial innings when it really mattered (eg Taunton away and – especially – Essex at home). He showed that he could adapt his game, build an innings and still provide valuable impetus. I don’t agree that he is a front-line spinner, but he chipped in, as did Cameron Steel when selected.

Will this be the start of another golden era? Let’s wait and see. The three years which followed our last championship were profoundly depressing. But for now, savour the achievement.

The T20 campaign told us nothing we didn't know already. When we are at or near full strength, we are formidable. We were for a little longer this year, so we sailed through the group stages until the ECB started their usual nonsense by plundering our players for low-grade internationals such as tiptoeing through the tulips in the Netherlands. Nonetheless, we underachieved by throwing away a Quarter Final against a Yorkshire side who in fairness were also significantly under-strength.

RL50? Least said the better. Yes, we did as well as might have been expected, but I get little pleasure from watching a second-rate competition in the heart of summer. By the way, the so-called "festival of cricket" which is in the Strauss review would become the red-ball equivalent. Avoid at all costs.

Looking ahead to next season, what sort of changes can we expect? While it’s impossible to say for certain, there are a couple of biggies that can be filed under “probable” and one that can be filed under “possible”  The “probables” are that within the next few weeks Gareth Batty will deservedly be confirmed as permanent Head Coach, and that Alec Stewart will decide to go out on a high and accept the England Selector offer. The “possible” is that Rory Burns may, as rumoured, decide that coming off an England contract does not give him sufficient motivation to continue in the game. I hope that won’t be the case: being captain of Surrey is the biggest honour in cricket.

I usually take a sabbatical from the board between now and the start of the next season. I shall delay it this year, because the next few weeks are likely to be pivotal in holding our club’s feet to the fire over rejecting the contentious recommendations in the Strauss report.

Someone is complaining on the BBC live pages that the "best county players" XI selected by participants only includes one Surrey player - Ben Foakes. That seems to me to miss the point big time. Did other Surrey players do enough to achieve this (admittedly pointless) honour? Arguably not but everyone contributed enough to make the team greater than the sum of the parts and that is what you need.

It's all subjective, but having glanced at the selections I would seriously question Tom Abell ahead of Ollie Pope. Abell averaged 52, Pope 70. Yes, Abell played in 13 matches and Pope only in 8...but even so.

The difference this season to recent seasons has been the ability of the team to fight their corner, there were some stunning comebacks which made for an enjoyable season.  I put this fighting spirit down to the competitive Batty, though the availability of Captain Burns must have helped.   Batty should certainly be confirmed as full-time coach.   My only reservation would be the underemployment of the specialist spinners.   I fear Virdi is done, so very disappointing from a promising player, and Moriarty is out of contract.

I do hope we don't lose our Captain, but if he has lost motivation he should retire.    Amla has been great for us but given his age I think we should have a look at who else is available.   One advantage with Amla is that he played throughout the Championship.  Hopefully Roach will return in the other overseas slot.   Roy and T Curran should have to work their way back into the championship team through performances in the second team, both are capable of that.

We have a good deep squad which should be able to cope with the myriad of international calls, if we can maintain the spirit of this season then we could challenge again.   The emergence of Lawes and Geddes will help in this respect as will the return of Sibley.

Burns, Patel and Smith will need to find form too.

Where have these Burns rumours come from? Unless he has another career lined up then it would be a very strange decision. If this is something he’s actually considering then hopefully a winter to reflect and recharge, together with the return of Sibbers will see him back and refreshed next season.

A fine season but now the hardest test awaits . Retention of the title .

Oh dear.......................