SURREY VS ESSEX EAGLES/SOMERSET NATWEST T20 BLAST

Surrey have named a fifteen-man squad to start the NatWest T20 Blast – with seamer Jade Dernbach set to captain the side at Chelmsford tonight.
As well as the first appearance of Australian Aaron Finch in a Surrey squad this summer, there is also a debut appearance for all-rounder Ryan Patel, an Academy graduate and recent Second XI regular who was awarded a scholarship earlier this season.
The pair are joined in the fifteen by fellow all-rounder Freddie van den Bergh, named in a squad for the first time this season.
Club captain Gareth Batty is still missing due the calf injury he sustained earlier this week whilst Kumar Sangakkara is also still unavailable after splitting the webbing in his hand during last weekend’s Royal London One Day Cup Final.      
Full Squad
Jade Dernbach (captain)
Scott Borthwick
Rory Burns
Sam Curran
Tom Curran
Aaron Finch
Ben Foakes
Stuart Meaker
Ryan Patel
Ollie Pope
Ravi Rampaul
Jason Roy
Dom Sibley
Mark Stoneman
Freddie van den Bergh
With no virdi in the squad and borthwick in a dark place there must be a real chance the burger van starts.
hard to call the four to miss out so maybe Patel,Borthwick,Meaker and Sibley
Over to you chaps  

Thanks, JimBob.

With no Batty or Virdi, I agree strongly that the Burger Van has a real chance of starting and flipping a few tonight. If he remains parked up, I fear that's curtains!

Very hard to call the four to miss out. It may not even just be on form and ability but who the management may consider need a rest. Anyway, I'll pretty much go with your choices - Patel, Borthwick and Meaker missing out as you say. I'll then suggest Sibley to get in ahead of Burns. If Sibley does play, he may even get a bowl.

nice to know from the official website we have already beaten Essex

Burns not captaining suggests they're at least considering leaving him out. I'll go with Patel, Meaker, Burns and Sibley to miss out. Sibley really needs to bat top 3 in T20 and hard for him to get in there with Roy, Stoneman and Finch.

From Surrey twitter - Foakes(!!), Freddie, Patel and Meaker miss the cut.

Unless you're being very kind to Borthwick, that means we go in with no frontline slow bowler. A few years ago, we used to play 3, 4 or even 5 slow bowlers in white ball cricket -eh, Corporal?

Oh Freddie.

JDizzle wrote:Oh Freddie.

JD - yeah, his contract is up this year and I fear that's it as far as a cricket career goes for your old Durham Uni mucker.

guildfordbat wrote:

JDizzle wrote:Oh Freddie.

JD - yeah, his contract is up this year and I fear that's it as far as a cricket career goes for your old Durham Uni mucker.

Very much looking like it, and as much as I don't think he is very good - it is a shame he hasn't had a chance.

How come Batty and Virdi weren't in the squad tonight though? I live in hope he might get a couple of chances to have a go if they aren't looked upon as options in the T20.

Cricinfo show Burns as keeping. A mistake, surely? Has to be Pope for my money.

Borthwick on the cricinfo card as number 9. Looking at the team make up, he's playing as one of the 5 bowlers (or, at least, as the 5th bowler in a combo with Sibley). Wouldn't have been my choice. Not one bit.

JD - Batty is crocked. Don't get me started ... my godfathers ... he damaged his calf in a football kickabout just before the start of this week's CC match!

Virdi not selected. He has played t20s for the stiffs and done well in them but the immediate aim is probably to develop his red ball skills.

That XI is a bit baffling

Jason getting a shocker from the umpire

burns keeping he really is superman

jimbobgooner wrote:Jason getting a shocker from the umpire

Utterly disgusting decision

Surrey twitter says ''Foakes unfit through injury''.

Doesn't explain why Pope, the seconds' regular keeper, isn't behind the stumps.

One possible explanation. It does seem clear that a decision had already been made for Pope to make his t20 debut purely as a batsman. Rather than change that and disrupt Pope's preparation, possibly Burns has come in off the bench to take the gloves. I don't like that - we should have the best gloveman available taking the gloves, simple as that - but it's all I can come up with.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

jimbobgooner wrote:Jason getting a shocker from the umpire

Utterly disgusting decision

No comment yet. Mrs Bat and Batgirl Number 2 glued to the tennis and shouting at Murray! Surrey cricket being recorded though.

As ever our middle order batting in T20's is non existent

not getting our overs in, shocking!

wisden wrote:not getting our overs in, shocking!

You haven't been penalised though, have you? Only following on cricinfo.

Tom Curran has stones of steel - what a final over!

Brilliant final over from Tom Curran to win the game.

Didn't see much of the game but Dernbach's captaincy was praised by the guys on Sky and he did speak well afterwards.

Very pleasing to start the tournament with a win. So often in recent years it seems we've been playing catch up in white ball competitions.

what a knock from dom sibley so frustrating when you know he can bat like that why he cant turn it into the four day game

same squad for Somerset only decision will be who drops out if foakes is fit

jimbobgooner wrote:same squad for Somerset only decision will be who drops out if foakes is fit  

Hi JimBob - I think that would be a shootout between superman Burns and the Pope. My guess would be Pope getting the nod and Burns getting a deserved rest.

You reckon we'll go again with the half baked fifth bowler combo of Borthwick & Sibley? You're probably right although I fear it's just waiting to be taken to the cleaners! I would like to bring the Burger Van in for Borthwick.

The Cider men name a 13 man squad including New Zealand international Corey Anderson set to make his Somerset debut and former Surrey something or other Steve Davies. Jamie Overton misses out through injury although his twin Craig makes the trip.

Just catching up - great victory the other night against Essex, with Tom Curran's excellent final over.

Surrey going in fits and start against Somerset today.  Excellent start from Finch, but we've rather fallen away since then in the middle order - tho Sam Curran contributed well.  Six wickets down so looks like Borthwick is no 9 Unless Dernbach promotes himself up the order.  Pope's just hit three 4s on the trot in the 19th over.

So it's a Pope Gregory shoot out for the final over! 181 - 7. Rather doubt that will be enough at the Oval.

At the ground. Sibley practising his bowling in the break ...

Think this one going to the wire.

Useful first over from Dernbach - taking two wickets for two runs.

How did we almost lost that?

Still two wins from two games, missing Sanga and KP - putting them two into the middle order, with Foakes and Batty to come back in too and our team looks seriously seriously good

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:How did we almost lost that?

Still two wins from two games, missing Sanga and KP - putting them two into the middle order, with Foakes and Batty to come back in too and our team looks seriously seriously good

A bitz from Anderson, our not having a fifth bowler and a 12 run penalty late on for a slow over rate which seemed to take everyone by surprise.

That said, there were a lot of Surrey positives. Finch was a top act whilst Sam and Pope chipped in usefully. The seamers all bowled well - wonderful opening over from Dernbach whilst Tom held his nerve again at the death.

Not at our very best but 2/2 is much better than we've been in white ball competitions in recent seasons.

Ah - the 12 run penalty - I was wondering how we managed to concede quite so many runs in the latter overs.

A quirky stat is that Tom Curran has now lept into second place in the all time list of bowlers who have bowled T20 maiden overs for Surrey.  Azhar Mahmood bowled 4 maidens, and Tom Curran (along with Rikki Clarke) on 2 are  the only other bowlers who have bowled more than one T20 maiden over for Surrey in their entire career.

Dernbach on a total of 77 T20 career wickets for Surrey is closing in on Azhar Mahmood's total of 82 T20 wickets for Surrey.

Sam Curran scored his highest T20 score today (39) for Surrey.

guildfordbat wrote:

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:How did we almost lost that?

Still two wins from two games, missing Sanga and KP - putting them two into the middle order, with Foakes and Batty to come back in too and our team looks seriously seriously good

A bitz from Anderson, our not having a fifth bowler and a 12 run penalty late on for a slow over rate which seemed to take everyone by surprise.

That said, there were a lot of Surrey positives. Finch was a top act whilst Sam and Pope chipped in usefully. The seamers all bowled well - wonderful opening over from Dernbach whilst Tom held his nerve again at the death.

Not at our very best but 2/2 is much better than we've been in white ball competitions in recent seasons.

not forgetting borthwick's no ball