surrey vs middlesex LV county championship

Surrey have named a thirteen man squad for the LV=County Championship match against Middlesex at the Kia Oval starting on Tuesday.
Stuart Meaker returns to the squad having missed the last couple of months of cricket due to a knee injury. Jade Dernbach is also named having missed the recent game against Derbyshire due to his involvement in England’s T20 series against Australia.
Gary Wilson is unavailable after being selected in the Ireland squad for their ODI against England and Chris Tremlett is rested.
there is also no place in the squad for tom curran.
The Surrey squad to play Middlesex in the LV=County Championship at the Kia Oval on Tuesday 3rd September, Wednesday 4th September, Thursday 5th September and Friday 6th September :
Gareth Batty (capt)
Hashim Amla
Zafar Ansari
Rory Burns
Steven Davies
Zander De Bruyn
Jade Dernbach
George Edwards
Arun Harinath
Tim Linley
Stuart Meaker
Dominic Sibley
Vikram Solanki
maybe harinath and edwards to miss out

Here is my preview - http://deepextracover.blog.com/2013/09/02/lvcc-surrey-v-middlesex-preview/

Shelsey93 wrote:Here is my preview - http://deepextracover.blog.com/2013/09/02/lvcc-surrey-v-middlesex-preview/

cheers shelsey  

Good preview Shelsey - I have a feeling that Sibley might be given a run out in preference to Harinath who has failed in the last four innings. But it could go either way.

Meaker and Dernbach have the potential to bowl well or to be very expensive indeed. I think a lot will hinge on whether Meaker has got his radar functioning.

JimBob - thanks for the thread - if only we could rely on the Surrey players so much! I think you may be right on the two to miss out from the 13 man squad.

Tremlett being ''rested'' certainly supports the doubts that the Corporal and I have raised about him being ready for a 5 day Test.

Shelsey - good preview (although a bit in the middle remains about Somerset - presumably from an earlier preview which now needs to be deleted).
Although the Viscount only took 2 wickets on Saturday (when I was at the Oval), he was right on the money - Batty certainly right to sing his praises. Still hoping he'll get his full county cap this season - maybe even tomorrow.
I feel Sibley has a greater chance of making his Championship debut in this match than your preview suggests.
As the Corporal said on another thread, excellent for Surrey that Murtagh and Roland-Jones aren't playing.

Interesting that you guys think Harinath (Champ ave. 33) might be dropped. Middlesex seem very reluctant to axe Malan (Champ ave. 16) and Denly (26). If he were a Middlesex player Harinath would have the third highest average of any regular (Voges excluded).

Last week's Somerset team news has been deleted!

Middlesex have won the toss and will bat

Frrom the ground - Keedy replaces Ansari!! Meaker replaces Edwards.

Zafar Ansari was struck on the thumb while batting in nets this morning and is unavailable for the game.Gary Keedy will come into the 11

The tail just got longer

Ansari injured in warm-ups... Keedy comes in.

Middlesex give yet another stay of execution to Denly and Malan. Collymore replaces Murtagh from last week's team.

I'll try and post some thoughts here fairly regularly but I'll definitely have a full report and colour piece at the close.

Dernbach has Robson caught behind. 8 - 1

Denly out in predictably soft fashion, steering one to third slip...

The Viscount strikes to dismiss Denly. 24 - 2.   

Meanwhile, first blood to Derby against Somerset as they take a couple of early wickets.

Surrey curiously bringing de Bruyn, who has looked ineffective, on at first change. Malan scoring quite freeling - looking the best he has in red ball cricket all season I'd say. Decent start for Middlesex now.

Excellent session for Middlesex in the end. All the pressure Surrey built in the first half hour has dissipated. Malan (46*) one sure of his previous season's best.

A couple of wickets down in the afternoon session - Rogers run out (bad call by Malan) and Malan fishing at one outside off stump in familiar fashion - but Middlesex still rattling along at the kind of rate they haven't usually been able to manage this season.

Linley has certainly been the pick of the Surrey bowlers. Only the second time I've seen him live (I think) and looks quicker than I imagined. Has extracted a fair bit of bounce bowling from the Vauxhall End and earned the wickets he's got. The younger pacemen have struggled for control, as have Batty and Keedy at this stage.

241 - 6 Surrey chipping away but without ever threatening to bring Middlesex innings to a quick conclusion.

Meanwhile is looks a near certainty that there will be a positive result at Taunton with 15 wickets already having gone down. Derby not finding the going much easier but have built a useful lead of 50.

Here are my pieces from today:

Report (included within Div 1 round-up): http://deepextracover.blog.com/2013/09/03/lvcc-division-1-round-up-tuesday-2nd-september/

Malan quotes piece: http://deepextracover.blog.com/2013/09/03/malan-320-would-be-perfect-for-middlesex/

All in all a very even day. The momentum ebbed and flowed frequently but the day can be divided into three parts really: Surrey building pressure in the first hour, Middlesex scoring freely between then and Malan's dismissal half an hour after lunch, Middlesex digging in for the remaining 3 hours or so.

As alluded to in my earlier post Tim Linley was the pick of the Surrey bowlers, bowling with more pace than you might imagine him to and getting some serious lift off a length. Keedy was the better of the two spinners but, after a poor start, both him and Batty were increasingly tidy as the day went on. Dernbach was neither here nor there. Meaker was used sparingly and was not particularly effective when he was used. de Bruyn caused no problems at all, and was hit for a number of boundaries after coming on first change.

Malan was really excellent, hitting some lovely shots through the off-side. Certainly the best I've seen him bat in red ball cricket this season though it was a shame that he got out in familiar fashion, fishing at one outside his off-stump. Once he was gone, Rogers having been run out after lunch, Dexter decided to dig a bunker. It wasn't the most exciting cricket but, in the context of Middlesex's last few efforts, was certainly the sensible thing to do.

Meanwhile, comments from George Dobell in his cricinfo article.  Only a tad harsh about the Surrey policy on recruiting maturer citizens.

"The squad has, over the course of the season, contained six men aged 35 or over - the team for this game contains four - and there were rumours that only fear of breaching the salary cap prevented the addition of Harold Macmillan. In the end it was decided that Macmillan's death in 1986 might render him something of a liability in the field."

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Meanwhile, comments from George Dobell in his cricinfo article.  Only a tad harsh about the Surrey policy on recruiting maturer citizens.

"The squad has, over the course of the season, contained six men aged 35 or over - the team for this game contains four - and there were rumours that only fear of breaching the salary cap prevented the addition of Harold Macmillan. In the end it was decided that Macmillan's death in 1986 might render him something of a liability in the field."

Also see Barney Ronay's piece today - http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/sep/03/surrey-fight-avoid-drop

It was disappointing, and a little curious, that Gary Keedy turned down our interview request... that may or may not have contributed to Mr. Dobell's harsh line!

Shelsey93 wrote: Also see Barney Ronay's piece today - http://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2013/sep/03/surrey-fight-avoid-drop

Something tells me that Ronay may not be an avid Surrey supporter.

I too was there today and certainly feel that Shelsey's summary above reflects the day and its twists and turns extremely well.

I would though actually give a lot of credit to Dernbach for Rogers' run out. Whilst the expectation would have been for him at mid off to take a shy at the bowler's end to where Malan was scurrying, he cleverly looped the ball over both batsmen to get it to Davies to dismiss Rogers who sensed the danger too late.

As the Corporal feared, Meaker was poor and leaked runs in his first spell. He only got one more spell later on (again of 4 overs) and was a lot tighter then. He probably could have been tried for a few more overs instead of some of those bowled by the Brain and/or Batty. Meaker might well be worth using tomorrow to try and blitz out the Middlesex tail.

As Middlesex have runs on the board, I tend to think they're currently a bit on top. I can't see us getting much of a first innings lead if at all. We'll miss Ansari the batsman for sure.

Good early work from Dernbach and Meaker to get rid of the tail and dismiss Middlesex for 294 leaving Dexter stranded on 90.

Now the next part of the job begins ....

The wicket of Corey Collymore is worth watching for the giggles - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Lx_hh7tZMk&feature=youtu.be

Harinath's poor run continued as Harris got him to edge one early on. Amla now in.

Nice shot from Collymore!  I would say Middlesex are on top: basically Surrey have only two batsmen who are in any sort of form (Amla and Solanki).  Realistically we need them in aggregate to get c150 which might serve to get us somewhere near parity. Burns and Davies are struggling to get more than 20s at the moment.

Surrey stumbling towards a heavy defeat.

rayner is killing surrey  

145 all out will middlesex enforce the follow on?

Harinath continues his good run - 2 runs in his last 5 innings! At least the tail did better - 6 runs between them - that's more than usual!

kingdaveeagle wrote:Harinath continues his good run - 2 runs in his last 5 innings! At least the tail did better - 6 runs between them - that's more than usual!

 

I think that due to extras in the last wicket partnership we have gallantly avoided the follow on?

sunstroke corporal  

24 off 2 overs middlesex want this game over nice and early

They could probably declare now!

Not our greatest day I suggest. Probably just as well I only went yesterday.

Btw, Shelsey, today probably isn't the day to ask Gareth Batty if he's looking forward to meeting up again soon with Peter Trego!!

guildfordbat wrote:Btw, Shelsey, today probably isn't the day to ask Gareth Batty if he's looking forward to meeting up again soon with Peter Trego!!

Maybe Keedy will be more amenable today if he takes a stack of wickets ! Might have interesting views on value of experienced players! !

5 wkts for keedy  

282 lead at stumps more then enough

Keedy is a very useful- under-rated bowler, and always has been!

Look forward to hearing from Shelsey how much of today's developments he attributes to the pitch / bowlers / batsmen.

Where ever the credit and blame belong, certainly now feel the last lifeboat has gone without us aboard.

Here are my pieces:

Rayner piece - http://deepextracover.blog.com/2013/09/04/remarkable-rayner-reaps-his-rewards-with-rare-eight-for/

Report within round-up - http://deepextracover.blog.com/2013/09/04/lvcc-division-1-round-up-wednesday-4th-sept/

All in all Surrey's batting effort was appalling. They seemed to decide, consciously or not, that they had to score quickly and it failed terribly. It was a strange thing to do in the first place given that Dexter - the main runscorer in the match so far - batted cautiously. Amla got out to a full toss (it happens) but plenty of the others were culpable in their dismissals, particularly de Bruyn (top-edging an unnecessary sweep), Meaker (charging down the pitch - batting No. 8 he must do better) and Dernbach (slogging - as a No. 10 he's let off). Others got out trying to push the score along too. It must be said that Middlesex fielded well, Robson taking two excellent short-leg catches that he would have been excused for missing.

The Middlesex bowling was accurate, but I'm not convinced Rayner was doing anything more than he normally does. He's picked up some confidence lately, which certainly helps, but he certainly didn't morph into Murali or even Monty Panesar overnight. He, and Patel - who was unlucky to only take one but bowled quite a few bad balls too - did take advantage of a surface which was offering turn. Quite how much turn was hard to say from where I was seated but those with an elevated view thought it was considerable.

By the evening session it certainly seemed to be doing a lot for spin. Gary Keedy caused all sorts of problems from the moment he came on, but any chance of getting Surrey back into the game had been quashed by some poor new ball bowling which got hit round the park.

The game isn't quite over yet. Amla is capable of heroics and, if he can find an ally, 300 is conceivably chase-able. More realistically Middlesex will complete victory either tomorrow night or Friday morning, in time to avoid the rain forecast for Friday afternoon.

Thanks for the reports, Shelsey. Very informative.

Rayner sounds like a sensible fellow who's keeping his feet on the ground and deserved his day in the sun. Good luck to him. When I saw him bat yesterday, I was struck by how very tall he was. Possibly that helped him extract some turn and bounce - although it seems that our batsmen gave him more than enough help anyway!

guildfordbat wrote:
Rayner sounds like a sensible fellow who's keeping his feet on the ground and deserved his day in the sun. Good luck to him. When I saw him bat yesterday, I was struck by how very tall he was. Possibly that helped him extract some turn and bounce - although it seems that our batsmen gave him more than enough help anyway!

Agreed. He has rarely been the most exciting cricketer - a bit like Bresnan for England he's the one whose place is always under threat, seemingly - but he is definitely a solid bloke and, as you say, deserved to grab the headlines for once. Reminds me very much (though bowling with a different arm) of Paul Harris who used to play for Warwickshire and SA. He is only 27 which, for a spinner, isn't too great an age. He could yet have an excellent FC career.

Surrey 67-2 in search of a very daunting 385 for a very unlikely victory. Both the openers back in the hutch - at least Harinath got past 20 for the first time in yonks.

If we can get to the end of today with no more than 5 down, I might go tomorrow. Suspect my train money will be able to be spent elsewhere.

Weather tomorrow likely to be wet. So it would be worth Surrey trying to hang on tonight. Achieving it is another matter!

Amla must be wondering what he has joined here
Solanki and the brain come and go
one more wkt and the tail is exposed