surrey vs glamorgan lv county championship

hello everybody ready for 6 months of fun ok let's begin   
Surrey have named a twelve man squad for their opening game in the LV=County Championship against Glamorgan starting on Sunday.
Graeme Smith will lead the side at the Kia Oval having arrived in the country this week. Jade Dernbach is being rested under instruction from the ECB after returning from the World T20 with England.
Vikram Solanki is currently not with the Surrey squad due to family reasons which are of a private nature.
there is no place in the squad for batty,harinath,jewell or edwards
The Surrey squad to play Glamorgan in the LV=County Championship at the Kia Oval on Sunday 6th April, Monday 7th April, Tuesday 8th April and Wednesday 9th April:
Graeme Smith (Capt)
Zafar Ansari
Rory Burns
Tom Curran
Steven Davies
Matthew Dunn
Tim Linley
Jason Roy
Stuart Meaker
Dominic Sibley
Chris Tremlett
Gary Wilson
dunn or curran to miss out i would guess

Why does Dernbach need rest? I suppose carrying those pies must be exhausting.

Welcome back Jimbob!  Timed return to duty opening the batting on Surrey match threads with military precision.... 

Main point of interest in the squad is the absence of Batty. I imagine that the hope earlier in the season is that Ansari can provide sufficient variety with his spin.  With Solanki absent as well it's going to be a pretty youthful team.  

Big opportunity for Roy.

I expect Burns will open alongside Smith - but not sure what position Sibley would bat.  Could be either him or Ansari at three.

Hi JimBob - great to have you back on your summer contract!   Thanks for the thread.

Fair enough for Batty to miss out - we won't need much slow bowling in this opening match and Ansari, who is the better batsman, can do that. However, poor form by the club website to not even mention Batty in the preview.

I suspect that Curran will make his CC debut and bat at 8 in an attempt to provide some balance. That leaves Dunn the most likely to miss out in my book although there's a chance it could actually be Tremlett.

Stewie Walters returns to the Oval with Glamorgan. He should get a good hand - never a superstar but he always gave everything for Surrey.

Looking a bit further ahead, I understand Solanki is likely to be out for some time. It appears that Ansari will take his place up the order, at least to start the season. Harinath is probably entitled to ask what he's done wrong.

Just hope the threatened rain doesn't impact this match too much ....

oh dear from 34 for 0 to 34 for 3   

Slow rebuilding in process. Now 85-3.  Extras making a useful contribution (17).

Davies 50     Ansari struggling in difficult batting conditions but still there on 22

166-5

Ansari 42* and Roy 4*

Davies goes for 67 seeming fairly fluent in difficult conditions but Wilson falls for only 1.

Really hope we don't develop the old trend of losing wickets in batches this early in the season. First 3 all fell with the total on 34, next 2 fell at 156 and 158.

Huge opportunity for Ansari and Le Roi  (he may not quite deserve the emoticon again yet...) to put down a marker here.

Ansari 50* off 183 balls. Has fought through really well in nasty conditions by sound of things.

182/5 of 73.1 overs

Bit worried about the new ball. Given the run rate it could be an occasion where it offers a chance to score more freely with the ball coming onto the bat more. That's what I'll tell myself anyway...

king_carlos wrote:Ansari 50* off 183 balls. Has fought through really well in nasty conditions by sound of things.

182/5 of 73.1 overs

Bit worried about the new ball. Given the run rate it could be an occasion where it offers a chance to score more freely with the ball coming onto the bat more. That's what I'll tell myself anyway...

Made it along today. King Carlos' thoughts hit the nail on the head. It was tough going but Davies and Ansari battled hard and pretty successfully.

Glamorgan could also have taken better advantage. Generally, they didn't make us play enough in the afternoon session, often bowling too wide. Specifically, Wallace dropped a straightforward chance from Ansari when he was on 9 off Hogan's bowling - the keeper seemed to take the catch and then the ball somehow squeezed out with Walters at slip just failing to grab it before it hit the deck. Ansari was two yards out of his crease and heading for the pavilion before he realised what had happened and scampered back sharpish. To Ansari's credit, he didn't let it bother him displaying admirable composure and necessary patience.

A very decent innings in the circumstances also by Davies - a little more flowing than Ansari's. Things balanced out a bit for Hogan in that he took the wicket of Davies, falling to a wonderful one handed catch by Wallace low to his left. A few more similar performances over the next month by Davies plus some tidy keeping could yet get Davies in the England team - too soon to make predictions but not too soon to wonder.

Had a look at the wicket at lunchtime - all part of the pretence of suggesting I know what I'm talking about! Anyway, it did look very green. Think our seamers - particularly Meaker - might enjoy that.

The forecast for tomorrow is bad. It'll be a great shame if most or all of tomorrow is lost to rain. Given the match conditions, I would put us a bit ahead tonight. However, if we don't resume until Tuesday, it's difficult to envisage us having enough time to score sufficient further runs and take 20 wickets for a win.

Thanks for the report Guildford.  I heard some of the commentary.  Sounded as though Ansari and Davies rode their luck on occasions in very testing conditions. Pleased for Ansari that after becoming totally becalmed (particularly on the score of 22 I recall) he did dig in well and continued to accumulate runs. Looks as though he could become our Chris Tavare.  

Cheers for the report Guildford - Always nice to get a view from someone at the ground. Especially given the closest first class cricket for me these days is Chester-le-Street, and even that's a hike!

Agreed re the weather. Especially with a decent seam attack for a green wicket (on paper anyway) and several if not all of them looking to prove a point for various reasons it would be very frustrating to see the game ruined by rain.

Another two wickets falling this morning on the same total - what is that with Surrey? 'Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose' as they say - or 'same old, same old' if you like.

Unfortunately fears about the second day weather proved justified. Less than 13 overs were possible as Surrey added a further 27 wickets for the loss of 2 more wickets.

We now stand at 209/7 with Ansari having moved to an undefeated 60. I don't think that's a bad team score given we lost the toss and have had to bat in difficult conditions. Very hard though to see us getting a win over the remaining two days. At this very early stage of the season, I doubt that either captain - particularly Wallace - will want to come to any sort of agreement to produce a positive result with the associated risk of an opening match defeat.

Perhaps worth noting that the experienced Allenby has exploited the conditions and claimed the wickets of four of our young guns - Burns, Sibley, Roy and Curran - with his thoughtful but hardly earth shattering medium pace. Still a bit for them to learn ....

280 all out first innings with Meaker (35) and Tremlett (27*) clubbing some very useful quick runs at the end. Ansari top scoring with a fighting 74 that held the innings together at tough moments. A quick   for our trusty companion Extras who chipped in with 32, or to put it another way more runs than all but 2 of our recognised batsmen could add   

Glamorgan currently 140/6 from 37 overs

Meaker with 4/37 plus Tremlett and Ansari chipping in with one apiece.

A result still looks unlikely but need to wrap this up quickly in the interest of max bowling points and any hope scoring some quick fire runs then trying to pile the pressure on in the final day.

Still an awful lot to do tomorrow for a win but Surrey deserve great credit for having advanced matters so well today.

Sounds like a good day's play.  Very encouraging that Meaker has found early season form.

guildfordbat wrote:Still an awful lot to do tomorrow for a win but Surrey deserve great credit for having advanced matters so well today.

80/8!   

I fear we may have advanced matters too much.

81 - 9    Now 81 - all out 

81 all out, a lead of 152.

One side is defiitely going to win today - something I thought very unlikely since day two. Meaker, Linley and Tremlett are going to have to pull out all the stops if it's to be Surrey ....

Noone signed in the winter - and no practice either from the look of it. Same shambles as last season.

Wow what a absolute disgrace

jimbobgooner wrote:Wow what a absolute disgrace

JimBob - so you don't reckon we can take 10 wickets for 120 in the next 2 or 3 hours?   

Me neither to be honest. I think we really needed at least one out by lunch.

This defeat will really hurt. We did everything well over the first 3 days - batting with sensible patience and determination, then bowling effectively as a unit and clinging on to catches - only to apparently chuck it away in a horror show this morning ....

Well batted lads! Same old same old, at least we can't get relegated this season!

thegooch7 wrote:Well batted lads! Same old same old, at least we can't get relegated this season!

Whatever the result, the day and the season has just got much better! Welcome back, Goochie.  

Hi guildford! It's been a long winter (especially watching turgid West Ham!)
What think ye of our Captain Smudger Smith? I must admit I was quite miffed last season when he decided to have his operation AFTER signing his lucrative deal with us!

Hi again Goochie - to be fair to Smith (or at least the way the story is spun), the need for his op only became clear after the opening games of last season. He's an impressive figure and has certainly delivered against the world's best. More importantly to us though, he hasn't yet done it amongst the muck and bullets of the County Championship - that's where I expect us 'Surrey boys' to judge him.

I'll leave the Corporal to follow up on West Ham under Big Sam!   

hmmmm apparently he'd been 'struggling' with the ankle for 3 years! But that's the cynic in me!

I'd best keep quite about Big Sam, otherwise I'll be barred from here for using 'colourful' language!

Anyway, game over at The Oval as 'Billy' Bragg is making the pitch look a typical Oval batsman's paradise

Shocking capitulation! (Honourable exception was Meaker who at least managed 2*   )

Welcome back Goochie - I suppose Big Sam has at least got us within touching distance of safety even though it's been grim fare at times!

A 10 wickets defeat. Don't think even Adams could put a positive spin on our final day performance!

guildfordbat wrote:

JimBob - so you don't reckon we can take 10 wickets for 120 in the next 2 or 3 hours?   

 

guildfordbat wrote:

thegooch7 wrote:Well batted lads! Same old same old, at least we can't get relegated this season!

Whatever the result, the day and the season has just got much better! Welcome back, Goochie.  

    

what a collaspe from surrey!!!!!!  a shock win for Glamorgan

I wonder where Depressed Surrey Fan has got to?  

As was the case with Middlesex I think Surrey got the wrong end of an important toss. However, having managed a first innings lead despite having the worst of the conditions this must be an extremely disappointing loss. These things happen, and Glamorgan are an improving side, but it must be a bit of a wake-up call to those, myself included, who had Surrey down as comfortable favourites for Division Two.