Kent v Surrey

I have rarely been more pleased with a win, ok the pitch was a road and a couple of umpiring decisions may have gone our way, but still to chase 501 is some achievement. Sibley turned into Amla. When did the Horrid Hundred come up with a match to compare?

Jedrich wrote:Could Nottinghamshire hold on and deny Warwickshire victory or is that asking for too much on what has already been a remarkable day ???!

YES!!!

The remarkable day gets even better.

Superb Sibley. Fabulous Foakes. Smart Smith. Canny Clark. A magnificent win. I'm a little concerned about Jacks; is he becoming another Jason Roy? A cameo of a quick 30 or so is not what you need in a CC match. Thanks also to Notts for thwarting dem Bears.

Unreal chase . Sibley supreme , Smith sublime and Foakes serene at the crease. A vital win in such difficult circumstances. A real team effort showing battling qualities and such a deep
desire to retain our title . Up the Rey !

As Del boy says to Rodney when they become millionaires, We've had worse days!

I got the impression we could have chased 600 if necessary.....

Also Feel for Kent tough one to take for players and supporters alike.In the driving seat for virtually 3 Days.

Fantastic win, one of the best in our distinguished history.

Greatest run chase ever. Echoes of 2002, not as tense, but a classic to be treasured.
England really are a bunch of tossers not to pick Foakes. Our gain. I do hope they get thrashed.

Chinaman wrote:Greatest run chase ever. Echoes of 2002, not as tense, but a classic to be treasured.
England really are a bunch of tossers not to pick Foakes. Our gain. I do hope they get thrashed.

Foakes batted incredibly well today and certainly has masses of credit in my bank for his keeping but it shouldn't be overlooked, as Dougie pointed out at the time, that he spilled a very straightforward chance to dismiss Cox on day one from which he went on to score a hundred more.

Does that miss mean Foakes is rubbish? No, not at all. However, if Bairstow makes a similar error in the Ashes, I suspect this forum will go mental. Just maybe a bit more restraint might be appropriate.

Chinaman wrote:Greatest run chase ever. Echoes of 2002, not as tense, but a classic to be treasured.
England really are a bunch of tossers not to pick Foakes. Our gain. I do hope they get thrashed.

The trouble is, if England come badly unstuck, all the pundits and ex-players in the media will start blaming the County Championship for failing to produce the right players, then we'll have all the predictable hysteria that everything has to change again.

That was incredible! 501-5, what a ridiculous fourth innings score - completely beyond my comprehension that it was possible, and after sitting tensely in front of the livestream all day they made it look straightforward in the end.

Sibley all gritty and stoic; Foakes sublime and classy, and as mentioned, what a lovely twist of irony at Rob Key's home ground.

Pink Panther wrote:

Chinaman wrote:Greatest run chase ever. Echoes of 2002, not as tense, but a classic to be treasured.
England really are a bunch of tossers not to pick Foakes. Our gain. I do hope they get thrashed.

The trouble is, if England come badly unstuck, all the pundits and ex-players in the media will start blaming the County Championship for failing to produce the right players, then we'll have all the predictable hysteria that everything has to change again.

Sadly, that's probably true although I believe Sibley showed today everything that is right about the County Championship.

The County Championship is a jewel, totally undervalued and unsupported by the media and the ECB. The Kent game was a classic example of how good it can be with fortunes swaying back and forth and both sides in the game till about tea time. I bet Batty has a huge grin on his face having seen that his players will not give in, could be a seminal moment in our chase for the title.

As mentioned already I think this game and result will be seen as critical in our push to retain the title. It had a lot of similarities to last year's victory at Scarborough. The team should be so confident now but hopefully not over-confident. When you remember that the win was achieved without "The Little Master" (Pope), Curran, Overton & Lawes. I am sure the players were in full voice with the Surrey team song this afternoon in the dressing room afterwards.

David Waghorn wrote:As mentioned already I think this game and result will be seen as critical in our push to retain the title. It had a lot of similarities to last year's victory at Scarborough. The team should be so confident now but hopefully not over-confident. When you remember that the win was achieved without "The Little Master" (Pope), Curran, Overton & Lawes. I am sure the players were in full voice with the Surrey team song this afternoon in the dressing room afterwards.

What is our song, David? I shall download!

Great win out of the Blue from what had earlier gone on in the Match.Some warning signs on performance Roach a massive miss and our Batting did look fragile first dig Burns 2 failures highlighted that we are reliant on him.Lancashire next up will be a great test for us they are a Excellent team and maybe our biggest rivals this season for the title.

Pink Panther wrote:

Chinaman wrote:Greatest run chase ever. Echoes of 2002, not as tense, but a classic to be treasured.
England really are a bunch of tossers not to pick Foakes. Our gain. I do hope they get thrashed.

The trouble is, if England come badly unstuck, all the pundits and ex-players in the media will start blaming the County Championship for failing to produce the right players, then we'll have all the predictable hysteria that everything has to change again.

Well maybe, but they can't really blame the CC because England don't pick the right players, or indeed the inform players such as Foakes over Bairstow.

It was great to be at Canterbury for all 4 days to witness the highs lows and highs again of this historic performance. Can't believe I will witness anything like this again. It just goes to show that the county championship is still the top competition and long may it carry on.it was quite unbelievable

I’m wondering will our future opponents on the Road. Revert to dry pitches particularly with the weather like it is. If we have a weakness I would suggest the spin department especially the lack of First Class Cricket they’re playing at the moment.Not sure of all our away matches to come But I Reckon Teams will be given it plenty of thought.

Well that was the best £52 i ever spent on a rail fare. Absolute privilege to be there yesterday. Never, ever in doubt we would do it. To call it a 'walk in the park' would be unfair on Sibley and Foakes but it was very rare to see the ball beat the bat, get above shoulder height or keep low. Basically it was a road which just required mindful application which those two delivered expertly. The Kent heads never went down because they were never up! From ball 1 there was barely a chirp from them and chatting to a few locals around the ground the pessimism was shared. Don't forget we ground them into the dust twice last season with 670s, that has to leave a scar. Our 1st innings was an aberration, yes no doubt the early shower helped their 'attack' but there were some woeful shots amongst the carnage. Being the professional Batts is he will hopefully study those first two and a half days where we did a lot of things badly, not least the ludicrous 'Bodyline' tactice employed by Sean Abbott as you can guarantee we won't be so fortunate with the conditions and opposition next time. I'm risking sounding rather churlish now so will simply say I hope they've learned from some of those questionable passages of play. Notwithstanding all of the above you have to give huge credit to the mindests of these guys, particularly Sibley, because they never ever thought of anything else but winning the game. Batts did say they were going to attack rather than defend the title, and although it was achieved in a very calm almost somnolent way, the way they went about their work reminded me of our last great side of 20 years ago. You can score how many you like, but we'll still chase it down. Simply brilliant.

We cannot expect sides in the future to set any achievable targets,unfortunately. It’s still a price well worth paying for a result like this!!

I was there for days 1 3 and 4 and a privilege to watch a county match and delighted with the historic win.
But it does cover over some cracks. The bowling particularly in Kents second innings
and the persistence with that middle and leg field for Abbot and Atkins by which kents tail put on a 160 runs or so. Also I would suggest the gung hoe batting in our fist innings as shown by Burns and Atkins the night watchman on the first evening and carried on the 2nd day which why we were out for 145.
It would seem we lack the ability to change tack during an innings when things do not go to plan.
Also team selection seemed odd. For example Moriarty over Verdi when Verdi has got more wickets in the 2nds playing red ball cricket than Moriarty if my memory service.

optimistnot wrote:I was there for days 1 3 and 4 and a privilege to watch a county match and delighted with the historic win.
But it does cover over some cracks. The bowling particularly in Kents second innings
and the persistence with that middle and leg field for Abbot and Atkins by which kents tail put on a 160 runs or so. Also I would suggest the gung hoe batting in our fist innings as shown by Burns and Atkins the night watchman on the first evening and carried on the 2nd day which why we were out for 145.
It would seem we lack the ability to change tack during an innings when things do not go to plan.
Also team selection seemed odd. For example Moriarty over Verdi when Verdi has got more wickets in the 2nds playing red ball cricket than Moriarty if my memory service.

Undoubtedly a monumental second innings batting performance and a result which is helpful to my lot!

As I said on another thread, chasing down huge (though not THAT huge) totals in the fourth innings, or not-so-huge ones in very few overs, is becoming almost commonplace. Mayb e it reflects the positive attitude that is epitomised by Bazball. I think that some of this is due to lack of decent spinners in the county game but maybe there are few decent spinners because fourth day pitches are giving them no help. Spinners who did look decent or better, such as Virdi and Moriarty, are generally not being selected unless (shades of the wicketkeeper debate) they are good enough batsmen to be considered all rounders. I'll now channel my inner RB - I do find the way we are going depressing, with little or no spin in many matches. Even if it works!

You know one of crickets great assets is it's unpredictability. Chasing down 500 is hardly commonplace even in this day and age. Many people seem to over analyse a game that has so many interesting twists and turns, the long game that is. Often a perceived error of judgement can turn a game on its head  for the better, sometimes the worst. You can nit pick over tactics and Burns, like many, captains by numbers while relying on his players to deliver,  but this game was a classic in anyone's book. Criticise if you must, but I think your being a bit harsh.
To be honest do we really need a specialist spinner?  Not that we've got one anyway. We didn't last year and have not done so far this year. I'd love to see more spin, but for the last 18 months or so it really hasn't been required.

I spoke to Jamie Smith before play on day 3 and asked him how we were going to get out of it.His reply?

"We can win it!"