Surrey news/articles

First topic message reminder :

Smith was back in this country today - and at Anfield to watch Liverpool beat Man City! That's nice for him. Now, I'm not suggesting he should spend his days off picking up litter in the Lock Stand at the Oval but it is important he starts to deliver for the club paying handsomely for his services.

Our 2016 fixtures (and obviously for all the other counties too) are expected to be announced on Wednesday morning.

http://www.thecricketmonthly.com/story/938759/to-hell-and-back

This is an excellent excellent article about Surrey's recent doings.

Really good stuff

Olly - yes, definitely good stuff. I saw it on the wallpaper site earlier today. Thanks for sharing here as well.

I was particularly pleased to see credit being given to the work started in 2014 and the role then played by Gary Wilson.

I know many Surrey supporters here and elsewhere are keen for Foakes to take over as keeper - I can understand that and am sure it will happen before too long but have a hunch that Wilson's loud vocal support from behind the stumps that has helped him hold onto that spot. That may sound odd but I feel there's a hint of that in the article.

Excellent article.

This might interest you guys...

http://www.skysports.com/live-scores/cricket/united-arab-emirates-v-england-lions/16994/10088767/article

Only a warm up game but Foakes top scored.

Real games start on Monday.

Good man, Jimbo. Thanks.

Regardless of this particular game, it does look as if Ben Foakes is on the up. That's All!

Good to see Tom Curran playing a crucial role in the Lions T20 series against Pakistan A. With the series tied at 2 each and the final match ending in a tie, Curran was entrusted with the bowling for the super over. He duly obliged - though fair to point out that Malan did excellent job to help Lions, batting first in the super over, to a competitive score of 12 runs.

Thanks for flagging that, Corporal. As well as celebrating his success, worth noting it was a big tribute to Tom Curran's bowling and even more his character to be entrusted with the super over.

guildfordbat wrote:Thanks for flagging that, Corporal. As well as celebrating his success, worth noting it was a big tribute to Tom Curran's bowling and even more his character to be entrusted with the super over.

Especially as he didn't even make the XI until late on in the series.

So Tom C has now successfully closed out a high scoring RLODC semi-final win by bowling the final over, and bowled the series-deciding 'super over' in his first international one day series. There's not many have done all that four months shy of their 21st birthday*. Boy, do I feel old...

(*...But I'm not betting against his younger brother doing it twice in the next 2-3 years )

Gareth Batty signs a new two year contract

LondonTiger wrote:Gareth Batty signs a new two year contract

Thanks LT. That may well see Batty through pretty much to the end of his playing career in first class cricket, as he will be just short of 40 at the end of the 2017 season.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:

LondonTiger wrote:Gareth Batty signs a new two year contract

Thanks LT.  That may well see Batty through pretty much to the end of his playing career in first class cricket, as he will be just short of 40 at the end of the 2017 season.

Corporal - yes, but not necessarily the end of his time at the Oval.

Delighted to see Curran Senior flagged up in today's 'i' by their cricket correspondent as one to watch in 2016, with a strong hint that continued form as last year could see him called up by England, probably the one day squad (...in place of C Jordan??). I was also relieved to hear he has got rid of the ponytail/topknot thing. Probably a very wise move before our CC1 game away at Yorks gave their supporters the chance to offer some hairdressing tips.

This could be a big year for several Surrey youngsters if they stay fit (Zafer) and make the step up to CC1/shine again in the one day formats.

A few useful snippets from my man Spills (Richard Spiller) in this week's Surrey Ad, based on a discussion with Alec Stewart:

* Ansari currently recuperating from the operation in November on his dislocated thumb. Op went well and Stewie ''confident'' he should be ready for the start of the season. However, there has to be some doubt as he can't yet bat or bowl.

* As happened around this time last year, a marquee is being erected on part of the Oval outfield for pre-season training. I like that. Best preparation for starting the season in 'orrible, cold English conditions is 'orrible, cold English conditions and not some jolly abroad.

* Stewie confirmed ''additions to the squad'' will be made but they are unlikely to be revealed for some time yet.

* Spills adds that the position concerning Balcombe is ''still unclear''.

Thanks for the updates guildford.

I'm very glad to hear Zaf is recovering well from the op. Even though he was very unlikely to feature once in the test squad behind Moeen and Rashid it would have been a great experience for him to tour. Such an unfortunately timed injury.

I also like the use of a marquee to get players used to performing their basics in horrible chilly conditions! Is the marquee over the square I take it? Hopefully Footit can use it to get a real eye for his new home track.

I'm still waiting eagerly to hear of an experienced top order batsmen to bolster the ranks for Div 1 cricket. Sadly I can't think of anyone currently out of contract that springs to mind?

Hope springs eternal: I still see Zaf, once fully fit and in form with bat and ball, as a possible longer term opening option for England, thereby allowing us to play 6 front line bowlers!

A nice big batting signing would be nice. But, if not, I would also hope that our current crop of promising young batsmen would rise to the challenge of Div 1, learning from and playing alongside the rock that is Sanga.

Thanks for the update, Guildford. Pleasing to see Curran (Snr) taking three economical wickets and an excellent catch in the Lions ODI win against Pakistan A.

#noansarinoparty

On Sky tv's The Verdict reviewing day one of the Test, Alec Stewart gave a realistic and fairly sympathetic assessment of Jonny Bairstow's wicket keeping for England.

Looking ahead, he made two points of interest to Surrey supporters, the second a major surprise to me -
1. In his view Ben Foakes would be challenging for an England place ''inside two years''; and
2. Steve Davies is ''starting to keep wicket again'' with a suggestion he could come under consideration for an England place this summer.

Not astonished to hear Stewart say Foulkes might be a chance...I hear he is a pretty handy keeper.

For all Bairstow's fallibilities I'm not convinced Buttler is significantly better with the gloves ; so I suspect the position might not be locked up in the near future. Either might be more of a temporary custodian ; with Bairstow perhaps looking to secure a middle order batting spot and Buttler more of a limited over expert...which would leave the field open to a young keeper as long as he wasn't a total rabbit ...

Davies I'm less inclined to credit . Hasn't his time come and gone ? He'd need a lot of runs , I think.

Curran junior took 5-10 off 8 overs for England u19's today

Alfie - good to have a reply from you although I would have expected the Corporal to have the Surrey troops on parade here by now!

No surprise about Stewart's comments on Foakes. He's a very fine keeper - particularly nimble and athletic - and a decent bat. Possibly he needs to be a bit more vocal behind the stumps - that just might explain why Gary Wilson tended to take the gloves last season when they were both available.

The really surprising thing for me was Stewart's comments about Davies. A very elegant batsman who has concentrated solely on that part of his game for the last two and half seasons and not kept at all during that time. Stewart never ruled out Davies returning to keeping but that seemed increasingly unlikely with time passing by and then our signing Foakes. An excellent keeper at his peak although another who was definitely labelled ''too quiet''. As he's said himself, he was badly affected by Tom Maynard's death and that seemed to make him an even more insular figure at the Oval. If he does return behind the stumps, that would on the surface appear to raise doubts about Foakes' Surrey future.

As you, Alfie, suggest, I think England would regard Davies' time of opportunity as having been and gone and would now be suspicious of returning to an individual who felt unable to keep for so long.

Guildford/Alfie - I also find that a very surprising comment about Davies keeping wicket. It seems to me that Davies has pretty much flourished while concentrating on his batting - and clearly there isn't room for three front line keepers all no doubt wanting to keep wicket. There's a risk of several players getting a bit disgruntled....

Excellent bowling by Sam Curran today.  I don't suppose Namibia U19s are the strongest team in the world - but their batsmen did manage 152.

From a Surrey (and England?) standpoint, the ideal would be to see Foakes stay with us but push on from his current great promise to become the England Test keeper, with a rejuvenated Davies or Wilson to stand in behind the stumps for us when international duty called Foakes away. Surrey are blessed/cursed with a bizarrely high number of top quality w/k batsmen: Wilson and Foakes are the current rivals for the gloves, while Davies, Sanga and Burns all have done the job for us and others in the past and could do so again credibly.

PS: well bowled Curran Jr. I don't care who the oppo is, figures of 5-10 off 8 overs in a total of 152 are outstanding.

https://www.kiaoval.com/ford-leaving-for-sri-lanka/

Rut oh.

Stewart clearly not happy about the timing of this, even he says in the piece "Despite the timing of his decision, we wish Graham all the best and we will immediately start our search for a new Head Coach.”

Oh that is difficult news for Surrey. I too was immediately struck by the rather pointed reference about the timing of this decision.  Ford has done an excellent job for Surrey and it may well be difficult to find the ideal candidate at this stage.

Any candidates spring to mind? Only one for me is maybe we could tempt Farbrace or Ramprakash away from England with a head coaching role...

That is seriously bad news.

Farbrace would seem a decent shout by Olly. England won't want to lose him though and wouldn't roll over in letting him go.

Not so sure about Ramps. He'll always be massively popular at the Oval but I feel he's viewed much more as a batting coach than a head coach.

Paul Barnes has done the combined role of bowling coach and assistant coach to Ford. He would probably be keen to step up and, if he did, would almost certainly get a lot of help from Stewart who remains remarkably hands on. However, I suspect a bigger name and more experienced individual will be sought.

Giles might be tempted back from Lancs to his Surrey homeland if there was enough money on the table which there almost certainly will be. [He would also relish another opportunity to try and bowl me out! That's an oft repeated story and boast - reproduced here mainly for the Corporal who likes to count my bragging! ]

A wild card could be Rob Key as he now nears the end of his playing career. He's highly regarded by Surrey's top brass. We flirted with signing him as a player and consulted him about Ford before making that appointment.

Just to add to my last post -

Toby Radford is another who could come under consideration. He has the advantages of experience (some anyway) and being immediately available having left his position as head coach of Glamorgan at the end of last year. Before that, he was batting coach for the West Indies and Middlesex.

With Stewart's vast address book and knowledge of the county game, I wouldn't rule out him looking to get in someone from overseas to work with and under him.

On the playing front, we have to hope that Ford's departure to Sri Lanka doesn't prompt similar thoughts for Sanga. Probably not too likely as Sanga has a year left on his contract and always comes across as an honourable guy who would therefore see his contract out but you never know. If Sanga did depart, expect us to make a move for Rabida if he's still available then (he's spoken of wanting to play English county cricket to improve his game).

Also, Ford and Pietersen had a good and close working relationship. With Ford now gone, I feel Pietersen's small chances of returning to the Oval and playing again in any form of the domestic game have got even smaller.

Before the Ford news was announced it was announced that Sanga is going to play in the CPL

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/966813.html

Cricinfo reporting that Farbrace has been approached, with Graham Thorpe the next man up if he rejects it

Almost mentioned Thorpe earlier but thought he could be viewed in the same way as Ramps might be ; ie more a batting coach than a head coach.

Ford and Farbrace worked together in Sri Lanka so they obviously know one another and their methods. Hopefully, they could also have some dialogue if Farbrace were to be appointed. On the face of it, an appointment of Farbrace would seem to keep down the level of disruption.

Olly wrote:Before the Ford news was announced it was announced that Sanga is going to play in the CPL

Hmmm. I had missed that. I assume it wasn't Surrey who announced this. Certainly doesn't tally with what Stewart said a year ago when he was expecting Sanga to be available for us throughout the whole 2016 season following his international retirement.

What's the likely impact for Surrey? How much of our season is he likely going to miss by playing in the Caribbean?

CPL runs for six weeks from the end of June till the first week of August - and Sanga is one of the six "marquee" players which suggests he'll play most if not all of it to me.

Nothing confirmed however on how much time he'll miss. Would imagine we will have a similar Elgar type signing for that month

http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/966813.html

Well that was swift

Olly wrote:http://www.espncricinfo.com/england/content/story/966813.html

Well that was swift

As indeed are you, Olly. Thanks.

Olly wrote:CPL runs for six weeks from the end of June till the first week of August - and Sanga is one of the six "marquee" players which suggests he'll play most if not all of it to me.

Nothing confirmed however on how much time he'll miss. Would imagine we will have a similar Elgar type signing for that month

Thanks, Olly. From a look at the fixtures, Sanga will miss 4 or 5 Championship matches depending upon when he flies out. That's not good. Pretty sure the Club haven't said anything about this - that's not good either.

An Elgar type or Elgar himself (he was well regarded during his brief time at the Oval last season) would seem the most likely fill in. However, we might be prepared to shuffle our pack if a top quality bowler (? Rabida) became available then.

Definitely a time to keep your eye out, get Spills on the blower Guildford!

I'll update if I see anything floating about on Twitter etc

Nothing to do with Ford's replacement but Spills told me just before Christmas that he understood we were on the lookout for another seamer (in addition to Footitt) with Linley and Tremlett gone and doubts over Balcombe's future. That's largely behind my mentioning Rabida earlier.

Btw, Spills reckoned Footitt was a good signing.

http://www.espncricinfo.com/county-cricket-2016/content/story/966863.html?CMP=OTC-RSS

Dwayne bravo signed for six t20 blast games. Good signing.

Footitt is a gamble imo. Has had injury issues before, and is there really a door for him to get into the England side? Debatable, hopefully there is for him as that'll give him some extra motivation.

He does add some good variety to our seam attack - in excess of 90mph sometimes according to reports

Aaron Finch confirmed as cover for Sangakkara when Kumar is at the CPL

Finch is strong replacement for t20 and one day games where he should do well against slightly slower county bowling attacks.

During the period when Sanga is missing we have tough CC games against Warks, Yorks and Hants. He may also miss the hop over the river to Lords which starts on the 4th. These games I find Finch a less exciting prospect for in a batting line-up which already has lots of striking power and explosive capability but may rely massively on Sangas nous and experience in Div 1.

Finch can bowl handy left arm spin if I'm nit mistaken? Good enough to sacrifice a bowler to get extra bat in the team?

He does very occasionally. With 4 first class wickets to his name it isn't near enough to drop a bowler sadly.

It will be interesting to see how the side is balanced early in the season. 2 spinners could be surplus to requirements. With Batty as skipper it may be tough to drop if going into Div 1 but personally I would be tempted to move Ansari into the middle order to remove the burden of opening and extend the order. Then have Burke with 3 front line seamers after him.

1.Burns
2.Harinath/Sibley
3.Sanga
4.Davies
5.Ansari
6.Roy
7.Foakes (wk)
8.Burke
9.T Curran
10.Footit
11.Dunn/Meaker

Hi Carlos - understand and appreciate your reasoning but doubt we'll go that way. Stewart still seems keen on Ansari opening and I reckon he'll want Batty's experience out on the field as well.

Out of interest, who would skipper your team?

Hi guildford - Probably Sangakarra from that XI. Wilson keeping and captaining is of course another option but I'd prefer Foakes to play personally.

1.Burns
2.Ansari
3.Sanga
4.Davies
5.Foakes
6.Roy
7.Wilson (wk)
8.Batty (c)
9.T Curran
10.Footit
11.Dunn/Meaker

Are you expecting something such as the above early season then guildford? Or do you think Burke will fit in at 7 to offer a 4th seamer with one of Wilson or Foakes missing out?

Hi again Carlos - yes, that's the sort of line up I'm expecting for the early season weeks. Not necessarily recommending, mind.

Both Stewart and Batty are keen to emphasise it being a squad game these days and so I do feel they'll mix the seamers up a bit from match to match during this time with Tom Curran being the only ever present of that contingent. I wouldn't rule Dernbach out either of challenging for that number 11 berth.

Very hard to predict who'll get the keeper's gloves. Foakes imo is the only one who is going to get better behind the stumps and he needs to keep to do that. I suspect there might be a recognition of that now. No guarantees though - there weren't last season!

http://appointments.thesundaytimes.co.uk/job/449855/head-coach/

So who fancies the gig then?

Olly wrote:http://appointments.thesundaytimes.co.uk/job/449855/head-coach/

So who fancies the gig then?

As of last week, 22 enquiries about the position had been received by the Club either directly or via agents. Cracking comment from Stewie as relayed by Spills in the Surrey Ad - ''Some of them certainly interest us, others definitely don't.''  

Another interesting and perhaps significant comment from Stewie: ''We are not going to rush into an appointment because we are determined to make sure it is the right person, which means I am not set in a particular timescale. There will be someone in place for the start of the season but whether that is a holding role or a permanent appointment is impossible to say at the moment.''

A holding role for this season tallies with vibes I've picked up from a usually reliable source in a one to one. That also seems to fit with Stewie's final comment in the Surrey Ad article - ''I have been sounding out people - we know the type we want but they are few and far between.''

I would interpret ''few and far between'' as being not currently available.

David Balcombe has retired