Surrey v Lancashire (22nd-25th August) Match 10 County Championship

With no real cricket going on time to think of next weeks County Championship return.

Our Championship credentials will be tested against a team tipped to be our likely rivals for the title at the start of the season.

With 4 players missing to the Sri Lanka Test match we could have a very makeshift side, especially as we have no contracted overseas player(s)

Our Last County Championship XI v Essex: (8 players are available)

Rory Burns (c)
Dom Sibley
Ben Foakes (wk)
Ryan Patel
Jordan Clark
Tom Lawes
James Taylor
Dan Worrall

Other squad players available:
Cam Steel
Ben Geddes
Ollie Sykes
Josh Blake
Jamie Overton (possibly can/can't bowl?)
Conor McKerr
Yousef Majid

Returning England Work World Cup players (with Surrey red ball contracts)
Will Jacks
Sam Curran
Reece Topley (don't know if he's renogiated like Tom Curran to a white ball only contract)

Will we be able to convince Jacks and Curran to play or will they be having their workload managed?

With 3 batsman missing would we risk selecting Ollie Sykes after being the one bright spark in a poor One Day cup showing?

Best case scenario in my mind, we field this XI:

Rory Burns (c)
Dom Sibley
Will Jacks
Ben Foakes (wk)
Sam Curran
Ryan Patel
Cam Steel
Jordan Clark
Jamie Overton
Tom Lawes
Dan Worrall

Divison One Fixtures:

Durham v Notts
Hampshire v Essex
Surrey v Lancashire
Warwickshire v Somerset
Worcestershire v Kent

Returning England Work Cup players - great misspelling

If that is the XI we put out, I would have Patel in the top 4 above Foakes.

If Overton cant bowl then Taylor comes into the XI

If Jacks and or Curran dont play we are a bit screwed

Coatesy wrote:Returning England Work Cup players - great misspelling

Coatesy wrote:If that is the XI we put out, I would have Patel in the top 4 above Foakes.

If Overton cant bowl then Taylor comes into the XI

If Jacks and or Curran dont play we are a bit screwed

The problem we have with the options coming in, its like our One Day Cup team, all too similar, we've been blessed with so many players in last seasons who can up the tempo (Jacks, Smith, Abbott etc..) but we'll be likely bringing in Geddes or Steel to replace Smith and Lawrence.

That is why Jacks and Curran are so important to the balance of the side.

If Overton can bowl that brings in 3 experienced solid pace bowlers (with Worrall and Clark) alongside Lawes.

If Overton isn't ready, has Taylor shown enough to keep his place or would you try McKerr? (unavailable last match as he was on loan at Yorkshire I believe)

Even assuming the unlikely best-case scenario (ie Jacks and Curran both playing) the side doesn't look great, with Taylor and a non-bowling Overton included.

I'd say without one of Jacks and Curran we need to recruit an overseas player, and without both of them we need to recruit two. I thought we had seen the last of Kemar Roach, but I notice that he recovered sufficiently from injury to play in the first test against South Africa last week. The second and final one finishes on Monday 19 August so if he comes through unscathed he could be with us in time for the Lancashire game at the end of that week.  I would imagine Sai Sudharsan is also in our thinking, unless he has any other plans of which I am not aware.

Jackers wrote: I would imagine Sai Sudharsan is also in our thinking, unless he has any other plans of which I am not aware.

Looks like he's been playing in the Tamil Nadu Premier League, his team Kovai losing in the Final on 4th August, played in Chennai. (Man of match Ravi Ashwin) So unless there is an even more meaningfull tournament looks like he may be available.

India have just finished a one day series with Sri Lanka where he wasn't selected, next up is Test Series v Bangladesh mid September.

I thought Lawes was in the England A squad playing Sri Lanka A.

Not according to this hes not

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/e-219281

(unless he wasnt selected)

Coatesy wrote:Not according to this hes not

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/e-219281

(unless he wasnt selected)

They couldn't select any players playing in the Hundred, so its basically players who've been playing One Day Cup cricket last month.

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The score so far bodes about as well as that West Indies tour match in Beckenham a very young inexperienced team that have never played together well on top against a Test side.

Peter.M.Gardens wrote:

Coatesy wrote:Not according to this hes not

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cricket/scorecard/e-219281

(unless he wasnt selected)

They couldn't select any players playing in the Hundred, so its basically players who've been playing One Day Cup cricket last month.

---

The score so far bodes about as well as that West Indies tour match in Beckenham a very young inexperienced team that have never played together well on top against a Test side.

That's one way of looking at it; the other is that it bodes ill for the quality of the Sri Lankan touring side.

Return to the 4 Day stuff could well see a few upsets and strange Results.It looks to me Surrey have devilish run of matches to come and will do well to retain the CC this season.

Hopefully Sudharasan can come in for the Lancs game onwards and Roach for the last 4.

The XI I would be picking:

R Burns
D Sibley
R Patel
B Geddes
B Foakes
W Jacks
S Curran
J Clark
T Lawes
D Worrall
R Topley

If Jacks, SCurran, and Topley are "rested" by England before the white ball series vs Australia (given what happened to Stokes this is eminently possible) Blake, Steel, and Taylor should come in.

RB wrote:The XI I would be picking:

R Burns
D Sibley
R Patel
B Geddes
B Foakes
W Jacks
S Curran
J Clark
T Lawes
D Worrall
R Topley

If Jacks, SCurran, and Topley are "rested" by England before the white ball series vs Australia (given what happened to Stokes this is eminently possible) Blake, Steel, and Taylor should come in.

I doubt Topley will play. He can barely get through one T20 a week. Curran unlikely so probably 2 of the above, unless of course Roach is available?

RB wrote:The XI I would be picking:

R Burns
D Sibley
R Patel
B Geddes
B Foakes
W Jacks
S Curran
J Clark
T Lawes
D Worrall
R Topley

If Jacks, SCurran, and Topley are "rested" by England before the white ball series vs Australia (given what happened to Stokes this is eminently possible) Blake, Steel, and Taylor should come in.

if he is available I would be tempted to bat Sam Curran at 4 to give him more responsibility.

The Nightwatchman wrote:

I doubt Topley will play. He can barely get through one T20 a week. Curran unlikely so probably 2 of the above, unless of course Roach is available?

Considering many of our bowling options seem to be playing for Northern Superchargers or Oval Invincibles lets hope neither team qualifies for the Eliminator, playing 2 matches this weekend. Dont want any exuses for needing a weeks rest afterwards.

Oval Invincibles: S Curran, T Curran, W Jacks, G Atkinson
Northern Superchargers: R Topley, J Clark, T Lawes

Northern Superchargers will be out if Birmingham Phoenix win today; if they win narrowly Oval Invincibles will go straight through to the final.

Roach will not be available as the Windies vs South Africa 2nd Test finishes on 19 August and that won’t realistically be an option to get him over here that quickly.

Do we honestly believe Sam Curran would lower himself to play in something as uncool as the County Championship?

I suspect he'd curl up and die of embarrassment!

The weather has been unusually lovely for August. I haven't yet looked at the long-range forecast (I don't trust it more than five days out) but I am a great believer in Laura Averages, so I have a bad feeling about it.

Jackers wrote:The weather has been unusually lovely for August. I haven't yet looked at the long-range forecast (I don't trust it more than five days out) but I am a great believer in Laura Averages, so I have a bad feeling about it.

I agree with the 5 days, probably 3. But just for interest the forecast for the Lancs game as I write, is sun/cloud and showers for next Thursday/Friday. Which just about covers everything!

Hopefully the 20 balls Saqib Mahmood bowls in the final on Sunday exhaust him so much he can't play for Lancashire on Thursday.

Amazingly Kemar Roach has been dropped by the West Indies for a second spinner, so I can't see why we can't get him back for September now.

Birmingham vs Manchester is likely to be a washout, meaning we need not be concerned about the availability of our Northern Superchargers players (Roy, Clark, Lawes, Topley).

Now Spencer Johnson or Abbott next week,can’t understand why the management haven’t seen this coming and planned a replacement.

dougieginn wrote:Now Spencer Johnson or Abbott next week,can’t understand why the management haven’t seen this coming and planned a replacement.

Maybe the management was expecting great things of the One Day Cup side and presuming 2 or 3 would have shown such great promise they'd demand being picked for the County Championship side?

I think the management have made a conscious decision not to have an overseas player, but the club needed to have communicated that with the reasoning, like Middlesex have done.

If the plan was for Roach to come back like last season after playing for the West Indies, we have had a long time to plan a replacement since he picked up an injury.

Worth to note we have been (fingers crossed) extremely lucky with injuries during the Hundred so should have a strong nucleus of players to restart the defence of our Championship.

It wouldnt surprise me if Roach came back for the last 4 CC games and maybe Abbott could stay on and play Thursday and maybe one more before the Aussies play England in the white ball stuff.

With a 23 point cushion we have effectively a win over our rivals with 5 games to go.

Hampshire (37 points behind us) v Essex (29 points behind us) will potentially knock someone out of contention if there is a result. the former have shown that they can be very good in home conditions (less said about that the better). Essex after talking a good game for first 4 or 5 games have gone seriously off the boil, thrashed by Durham and minus Jordan Cox beaten by us last time out.

Warwicks v Somerset (2nd 23 points behind us), we have to hope the relegation threatened team step it up at home. Both teams had good One-day Cup campaigns, both currently playing in Semi-Finals.
Personally I think Somerset are a big threat, looking strong, and the only player Somerset they are losing to the Test team these next 3 County Championship matches is Shoaib Bashir, and Jack Leach has had the One Day Cup to keep match fitness and be ready for next round of matches.

9th-12th September (Match 12) Somerset v Surrey could be title decider! (when we'll be missing Pope, Smith, Lawrence, Atkinson)

Ironically same week with us both in Semi-Finals of T20 Blast the 14th September (Edgbaston) could be title decider Somerset v Surrey too!

Hopefully Somerset win the One Day Cup so they win something this season.