SURREY VS LANCASHIRE LV=COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

First topic message reminder :

SURREY HAVE NAMED A THIRTEEN MAN SQUAD FOR THE LV=COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP GAME AGAINST LANCASHIRE STARTING ON SUNDAY AT THE KIA OVAL.
Kevin Pietersen is included having recovered from the calf strain that kept him out of the knockout stages of the Indian Premier League. Ben Foakes is also named in the squad but Gary Wilson is unavailable after being selected in the Ireland squad for the Intercontinental Cup game against the UAE.
luke fletcher's back injury rules him out and will now go back to nottinghamshire.
there is still no place in the squad for the viscount
The Surrey squad to play Lancashire in the LV=County Championship at the Kia Oval on Sunday 31st May, Monday 1st June, Tuesday 2nd June and Wednesday 3rd June :
Gareth Batty (capt)
Zafar Ansari
James Burke
Rory Burns
Tom Curran
Steven Davies
Matthew Dunn
Ben Foakes
Stuart Meaker
Kevin Pietersen
Jason Roy
Kumar Sangakkara
Dominic Sibley
sibley and burke to miss out
over to you guys

jimbobgooner wrote:

Haven't looked at the score for a while - guess JimBob's post means we still haven't taken the 7th wicket!

No watching or even listening to Churchy today. Just the odd look at cricinfo. Surprised there was as much play as there was. Feel we tried the right thing (bat on and then try to bowl 'em out twice cheaply), just a pity it didn't quite work.

Remarkable the amount of play today.  About 35 south east of London it was dismal, alternating between light and heavy drizzle, the whole day...

Roll up roll up, get your highest ever score against Surrey!!
Fed up seeing this happen almost every other game now
Need to get a wicket in the next 21 overs to get our full quota of bonus points!
So KP leaves after this game, and Roy's with England for 3 weeks, it's going to be tough!

there is a chance we could lose this game

Good god people get a grip

We're 2nd in the table, and unbeaten. We've shown resolve to get out of difficult situations, and nerve to win tight games already this season. Have some faith

Olly wrote:We're 2nd in the table, and unbeaten. We've shown resolve to get out of difficult situations, and nerve to win tight games already this season. Have some faith

Ah, the optimism of youth! Unfortunately the more senior of us are used to Surrey allowing teams off the hook on a regular basis.

Half an hour gone and Lancs move to 364/8. Olly - this is what frustrates myself and the regulars here so much - another 50 plus stand so far for the 9th wicket.

Irritating as well - eh, JimBob, this always rattles you - that we've allowed Lancs a 4th batting point and possibly they might get 5.

Important we try to stop Lancs getting that final batting point = parity with us from, presumably, a drawn game. Who knows how important every last point might be come September?

On the 108-6 to almost 400 point, it's a fact of life that there are very few out and out rabbits around the County circuit nowadays. Most 9, 10, Jacks are able to hang around and score their 20s and 30s - sometimes more, while it is no big news when a No 7 or even 8 gets a hundred. Indeed, you would be disappointed if your regular 7 and 8 weren't averaging around 30.

Olly's a Surrey fan now!

There's so many...

Ansari opening the batting and bowling the most overs!

Lancs reach 400 and obtain that 5th pesky batting point.

Assuming it's a draw, we'll end up with 1 more point than Lancs from this match. They failed to get our 9th wicket within 110 overs and so missed out on the 3rd bowling point.

Meanwhile, Batty is being carted by Kerrigan. I know this is old fashioned thinking but it's been proven to work over the years - give the ball to your fastest bowlers (Dunn and Meaker) and get them to fire a few yorkers at their number 11!

Hi Jimbo - don't know if you've seen it but I posted about Ansari opening the batting and bowling a lot together with Alec Stewart's comments on the "Surrey news/articles thred".

Batty needs to be dropped

Disappointing morning session but it was at least of some comfort that we got to lunch without losing a wicket. If we had lost a couple of wickets in those 7 overs and then another straight after the resumption, it would have caused some anxiety. Realistically, all we can and should do now is bat out the day. Would be particularly good for Ansari to get some runs under his belt. Burns could also do with a decent score.

guildfordbat wrote:Hi Jimbo - don't know if you've seen it but I posted about Ansari opening the batting and bowling a lot together with Alec Stewart's comments on the "Surrey news/articles thred".

i did guildford cheers for that
hopefully he can move down to roy's position against leicestershire

50 for third degree

guildfordbat wrote:

Irritating as well - eh, JimBob, this always rattles you - that we've allowed Lancs a 4th batting point and possibly they might get 5.

jimbobgooner wrote:50 for third degree

THE LANCASHIRE BOWLERS CAN'T HANDLE THE HEAT #BURNSJOKES

100 partnership

Guildford, just had a look, interesting stuff!

Surrey 100-0 now. Burns on 70

jimbobgooner wrote:100  partnership

Burns sizzling along now

Olly wrote:

jimbobgooner wrote:100  partnership

Burns sizzling along now

I suspect Olly feels most of us are miserable b*st*rds anyway so I won't rain too much on Burns and Ansari's parade. However, while Lancs are still using proper bowlers, I would guess that the intensity has gone out of the fielding side's game. If our opening bats can keep their concentration, further runs should come. Nothing wrong with that and getting it recorded at the end in red ink. The openers normally get the worst of the situation so hopefully they can enjoy this one.

Haven't heard from the Corporal for a bit. Believe he has the builders in and is busy overseeing their work. Just maybe that might be for a bar extension to the mess. Obviously no celebration tonight but maybe one on the house, eh Corp?

50 for for son of boris

third degree on 99

100 for third degree

Yep, well done to Ansari and Burns. First fifty and century of the season respectively.

Guess the declaration will come at 4:50 and that will be that. Good if these two can see it through.

If this is Pietersen's last fc match as Stewie suggested on Monday, it'll be a quiet way to go.

horton on

4 minutes left

2 minutes left

last over to be bowled by horton

2 balls left

last delivery

goodbye kp it was a pleasure

guildfordbat wrote:I suspect Olly feels most of us are miserable b*st*rds anyway so I won't rain too much on Burns and Ansari's parade. However, while Lancs are still using proper bowlers, I would guess that the intensity has gone out of the fielding side's game. If our opening bats can keep their concentration, further runs should come. Nothing wrong with that and getting it recorded at the end in red ink. The openers normally get the worst of the situation so hopefully they can enjoy this one.

Haven't heard from the Corporal for a bit. Believe he has the builders in and is busy overseeing their work. Just maybe that might be for a bar extension to the mess. Obviously no celebration tonight but maybe one on the house, eh Corp?

No no not miserable b*stards, trust me I am more than partial to a good old moan when the Yellas aren't playing well - but we're 2nd in division, haven't lost a game all season, and have a team littered with promising young talent. What's there to moan about?

Corporal - have one for me 

jimbobgooner wrote:goodbye kp it was a pleasure

Yes, assuming that was Kevin Pietersen's last fc game, it was a lot of fun.

Olly - I agree there's a lot of promise. There's also been noticeable improvement over the last year. What we still need to do better though (and this is a continuing source of frustration) is to be more ruthless and effective when we get in a good position.

By way of example, we came back very well from a dangerous looking position of 70 odd/4. However, having done that and all the hard work to get in a strong position, we allowed Lancs to escape from an even more dangerous position of 100 odd/6. Obviously Lancs and especially Faulkner get credit there but we should still be finishing them off better. As a bit of an aside, we're continuing to miss the control that Trem brings to the party; each of our 3 seamers in this match were going at or nudging 4 runs per over, not terrible but not great either and especially if you're not quickly taking wickets.

As for us being unbeaten in fc games, that's also encouraging. However, given the massive difference in points awarded for a win or a draw, it's wins that most matter. The two teams that will be promoted will most likely be the two with the most wins under their belts regardless of how many they have lost. Stewie's scathing comments about Essex as reported on the ''Division 2'' thread refer.

Evening all!  So the match fizzles out, with Burns and Ansari getting useful batting practice in a largely non threatening situation, once they had got through the first 15/20 overs.

Apologies for not being around to update on the opening hours of the mess bar...