SURREY VS GLAMORGAN/ GLOUCSTERSHIRE/ HAMPSHIRE/ KENT/ GLAMORGAN/ SUSSEX SHARKS/ MIDDLESEX T20 VITALITY BLAST

Surrey have announced 15 players who will make up the squad for the first game of the T20 competition. Chris Jordan returns to The Kia Oval, where he came through the academy, and will skipper the team. Jason Roy, Sam Curran and Ollie Pope are all named in the squad, as is West Indian Sunil Narine.
There is no place in the squad for Ben Foakes or Ryan Patel
Full Squad:
Chris Jordan (C)
Gus Atkinson
Rory Burns
Jordan Clark
Sam Curran
Laurie Evans
Will Jacks
Dan Moriarty
Sunil Narine
Jamie Overton
Kieron Pollard
Ollie Pope
Jason Roy
Jamie Smith
Reece Topley
Dan Worrall
Christ almighty how do you pick the four to miss out   here goes Atkinson, Burns Smith and Possibly Moriarty, the latter would be harsh but with Narine available and Jacks to bowl maybe 2 spinners is enough.
Over to you chaps  

Good work, JimBob! There's a members' forum meeting at the Oval next week - I'm going to say they should be putting these type of announcements out earlier! Not fair keeping you up like this.

I reckon that's an extremely decent shout on the four to miss out and why in the case of Moriarty. That's assuming Pope is happy enough to take the gloves and everyone remains injury free.

Btw, Patel is playing for the Counties team against the Kiwis. Don't know what's going on with Foakes.

I'll be there for this game. You going too?

guildfordbat wrote:Good work, JimBob! There's a members' forum meeting at the Oval next week - I'm going to say they should be putting these type of announcements out earlier! Not fair keeping you up like this.

I reckon that's an extremely decent shout on the four to miss out and why in the case of Moriarty. That's assuming Pope is happy enough to take the gloves and everyone remains injury free.

Btw, Patel is playing for the Counties team against the Kiwis. Don't know what's going on with Foakes.

I'll be there for this game. You going too?

not this one Guildford i Forgot all about Patel

Surrey win the toss and bowl

Team as predicted

We do like to make hard work of it don’t we!

jimbobgooner wrote:Team as predicted

Brilliant prediction, JimBob. Anything but straightforward.

Good game but, as Olly said, we don't half make it difficult for ourselves.

Bit more in the morning.

guildfordbat wrote:

jimbobgooner wrote:Team as predicted

Brilliant prediction, JimBob. Anything but straightforward.

Good game but, as Olly said, we don't half make it difficult for ourselves.

Bit more in the morning.

after the live stream debacle it will be needed

There is one change to the Surrey squad for the game against Gloucestershire with West Indian superstar Kieron Pollard joining up with the team. Pollard replaces Ollie Pope who is on international duty with England.
Smith obviously gets the gloves, so the final spot is between Clark or Worrall and judging by last Friday it will probably be Clark on drink duties.

jimbobgooner wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:

jimbobgooner wrote:Team as predicted

Brilliant prediction, JimBob. Anything but straightforward.

Good game but, as Olly said, we don't half make it difficult for ourselves.

Bit more in the morning.

after the live stream debacle it will be needed

Ha! Heard the live stream was a bit of a disaster.

Apologies for delay in giving you any thoughts.

It really was surprising to me that the result was so tight in the end. We were on top so long when bowling and even when Glamorgan had about 5 overs of their innings left, it looked as they might struggle to get 160 which was surely never going to be enough on the large and fast Oval outfield. Credit there to some effective bowling and fielding. Sam particularly mixed it up well whilst Narine was on the money and really tidy from his first ball throughout his full allocation. Roy and Evans pulled off some fine boundary stops with the former and Topley (yes Topley!) excelling in the catching department. Only fluffs I noticed were Pope missing a stumping of Northeast off Narine and then Narine pulling out of a catch (forget the details although possibly the dipping low sun might have played a part). Probably our only taking 5 wickets gave them a bit of extra freedom to biff away in the closing overs and edge their score up a bit.

Batting wise - we made it more difficult than it should have been. Tbf, Hogan was near brilliant getting lift and varying his pace which earned him a deserved fivefernotmany. However, he had little bowling support and their fielding was ordinary at best - skipper Lloyd dropped an absolute sitter offered by Evans off the unlucky Neser. Former Surrey second XI player Douthwaite sent down 4 overs of pretty unchallenging medium pace - I would seriously reckon that Olly will face more dangerous bowlers in his weekend games! Where we came dangerously close to mucking up is that we lost wickets too quickly in succession when we had enough overs left to bat more steadily - Pope batted very well (never mind the debate about him at Test level, I still reckon he can make it as an international in limited overs cricket) and almost got us to victory but fell around the same time as Clark in a semi-repeat of Roy and Jacks being dismissed close together up top.

Anyway, we start off with a T20 win which hasn't been too common in recent years. However, we'll face tougher teams than Glamorgan and so do need to kill off opponents when the opportunity arises.

jimbobgooner wrote:There is one change to the Surrey squad for the game against Gloucestershire with West Indian superstar Kieron Pollard joining up with the team. Pollard replaces Ollie Pope who is on international duty with England.
Smith obviously gets the gloves, so the final spot is between Clark or Worrall and judging by last Friday it will probably be Clark on drink duties.

Cheers, JimBob. Assuming the others who played on Friday remain fit, I agree with you about Clark being the one most likely to miss out.

Great knock from 'superstar' Pollard

thegooch7 wrote:Great knock from 'superstar' Pollard

Just watching bits online tonight. Even if we pull this one out of the fire, there's been some outstandingly dopey batting by Surrey.

I really was, and am not, keen on the Pollard signing. He has been on the decline in t20s for a long time now, especially his batting (his bowling can still be handy).

He will have 4 of the innings he's had tonight for every "one" good one...

Curran, Topley and Narine win it for Surrey....along with our opening 4 overs batting....Dunno why Jacks doesn't get a bowl instead of some of the dross from Jordan, Pollard and Worrall

Hey guys. It's a very long time since I posted but I've always been reading your Surrey wisdom and nodding my head in agreement.

Firstly, it's great to see the lads make such a good start to the season in both competitions. However, although we have many reason to be cheerful, I was slightly discouraged rather than encouraged by last night's performance. I'm not too worried by the batting even though it was poor last night apart from Roy and Jacks. I think we panicked with the reduction in overs and perhaps a perceived threat of further rain.

My concerns are more with the bowling. What on earth are we going to do when Sam and Reece are off with England ? I really think we need to make room for Moriarty in the side and I'm not sure why we've binned off Jacks bowling in T20.

I agree totally with Olly about Pollard and I would much rather have tried to get Tim David back. Unfortunately I fear CJ is on the decline too and we've got him back too late.

Anyway, sorry to be negative when the season is going well. There are lots of good things going on at Surrey. Sam's batting more consistently than I ever expected, Jacks is possibly our best T20 opener now, Smith gets better and better and lots more besides.

Voice of the Beehive wrote:Hey guys. It's a very long time since I posted but I've always been reading your Surrey wisdom and nodding my head in agreement.

Firstly, it's great to see the lads make such a good start to the season in both competitions. However, although we have many reason to be cheerful, I was slightly discouraged rather than encouraged by last night's performance. I'm not too worried by the batting even though it was poor last night apart from Roy and Jacks. I think we panicked with the reduction in overs and perhaps a perceived threat of further rain.

My concerns are more with the bowling. What on earth are we going to do when Sam and Reece are off with England ? I really think we need to make room for Moriarty in the side and I'm not sure why we've binned off Jacks bowling in T20.

I agree totally with Olly about Pollard and I would much rather have tried to get Tim David back. Unfortunately I fear CJ is on the decline too and we've got him back too late.

Anyway, sorry to be negative when the season is going well. There are lots of good things going on at Surrey. Sam's batting more consistently than I ever expected, Jacks is possibly our best T20 opener now, Smith gets better and better and lots more besides.

Nice to see you back Beehive! Think you have summarised things well here - although, and Guildford may be able to offer more insight here, do we know when Tom is back from his injury? Getting him back would help mitigate some bowling fears in t20 for sure

Squad unchanged for Hampshire

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:

Voice of the Beehive wrote:Hey guys. It's a very long time since I posted but I've always been reading your Surrey wisdom and nodding my head in agreement.

Firstly, it's great to see the lads make such a good start to the season in both competitions. However, although we have many reason to be cheerful, I was slightly discouraged rather than encouraged by last night's performance. I'm not too worried by the batting even though it was poor last night apart from Roy and Jacks. I think we panicked with the reduction in overs and perhaps a perceived threat of further rain.

My concerns are more with the bowling. What on earth are we going to do when Sam and Reece are off with England ? I really think we need to make room for Moriarty in the side and I'm not sure why we've binned off Jacks bowling in T20.

I agree totally with Olly about Pollard and I would much rather have tried to get Tim David back. Unfortunately I fear CJ is on the decline too and we've got him back too late.

Anyway, sorry to be negative when the season is going well. There are lots of good things going on at Surrey. Sam's batting more consistently than I ever expected, Jacks is possibly our best T20 opener now, Smith gets better and better and lots more besides.

Nice to see you back Beehive! Think you have summarised things well here - although, and Guildford may be able to offer more insight here, do we know when Tom is back from his injury? Getting him back would help mitigate some bowling fears in t20 for sure

100% about Beehive.

Don't know about Tom but will see if I can find anything out.

jimbobgooner wrote:Squad unchanged for Hampshire

Thanks for confirming, JimBob.

I would reckon same again unless anyone is rested.

Same Surrey team subject to one fitness test - per Stewie.

Again per Stewie - Tom hopefully back for end of Blast competition.

another excellent win, baby face is on a different level to everybody else

Squad unchanged for Kent
even though we have won all three games i wouldn't mind clark replacing Worrall though i doubt it will happen.

jimbobgooner wrote:another excellent win, baby face is on a different level to everybody else  

Yeah, Sam was terrific. Top team performance and pleasing that the batting was better than the bowling. I bet though that Roy can't believe we made 228 off 20 overs and he was out second ball for one!

Another very fine performance from Narine, this time with the bat as well as the ball. When we play away, I think the opposition's best chance would be to bring the rope in as far as allowed and go for sixes when Narine bowls. He's so flat that can't happen on the large Oval outfield.

....................

There was a members' forum before the game. That's where I got the news about Tom. Stewie also said we're looking to sign Sean Abbott again for the Championship matches in late season as Pollard and Narine are only here for the Blast. However, Abbott joining us is dependent upon him not being called up by Australia.
Stewie's expecting us to lose a load of players to The Hundred which will maybe leave us with only 9 professionals for the RL50. However, we're not intending to sign anyone else for that and will play ''an extended second eleven'' providing opportunities to squad and academy players.
Some sympathy from Stewie in response to a question about Moriarty and Virdi but he made clear ''the team comes first'' and emphasised the all round strengths of Jacks. He said opportunities should come later in the season. [Hard to argue with that given our places in the CC and Blast tables but still not overly reassuring for the players concerned.]

jimbobgooner wrote:Squad unchanged for Kent
even though we have won all three games i wouldn't mind clark replacing Worrall though i doubt it will happen.

Thanks, JimBob. Yeah, probably the same team again.
Stewie mentioned the team last night would probably be unchanged (as it turned out to be) but that was subject to one fitness test and didn't want to be drawn on who the player was. Given that, possibly 2 games in 2 nights might be too much for someone and see him rested. If so, the money usually goes on Topley.

Thanks for the updates Guildford - another positive blast performance last night, while I am skeptical of the Pollard signing, Narine is about as good a blast signing as a county can make - top class with the ball, and will have the odd innings with the bat like last night too

Kent win the toss and bowl
Clark in for pollard (knee)

jimbobgooner wrote:Kent win the toss and bowl
Clark in for pollard (knee)

Cheers, JimBob.

I guess Pollard is who Stewie was referring to yesterday about needing a test before playing.

Shocking batting from Evans and Clark, going to need to bowl well here

thegooch7 wrote:Shocking batting from Evans and Clark, going to need to bowl well here

Yeah, Overton - aided by being dropped badly - has got us up to a score we might defend but it'll still take some doing.

guildfordbat wrote:

thegooch7 wrote:Shocking batting from Evans and Clark, going to need to bowl well here

Yeah, Overton - aided by being dropped badly - has got us up to a score we might defend but it'll still take some doing.

I can never quite work out Evans in this format - sometimes seems to take ages like today, sometimes can go in all guns blazing. Feel like we’re 20 short unless we bowl very well

guildfordbat wrote:

thegooch7 wrote:Shocking batting from Evans and Clark, going to need to bowl well here

Yeah, Overton - aided by being dropped badly - has got us up to a score we might defend but it'll still take some doing.

Surely Overton should be batting ahead of Clark

12/2 in the 4th.

That's a great start but we will have to get rid of Billings. If he bats to the end, they'll win without a doubt.

I think Narine's bowling will decide this match

guildfordbat wrote:12/2 in the 4th.

That's a great start but we will have to get rid of Billings. If he bats to the end, they'll win without a doubt.

43-3 Billings gone....confident guildford?!

thegooch7 wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:12/2 in the 4th.

That's a great start but we will have to get rid of Billings. If he bats to the end, they'll win without a doubt.

43-3 Billings gone....confident guildford?!

Fairly but you never know.

Adore Narine's bowling. 0/11 so far off 2 overs. Each of his first 11 balls went for a single and then a dot. That's more than fine. So far they just can't get him away.

Joe Denly with an all time bad t20 knock there

And we did bowl well....without Curran as well, pretty impressive as it was fairly comfortable all of Kent's innings

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Joe Denly with an all time bad t20 knock there

Yeah, it might have been ok if he had been partnering an all firing Billings. However, once Billings went, Denly needed to step up a couple of gears and he failed miserably.

Narine is the classic case of getting wickets for others. Just the single wicket for him but so economical. Dries it up for 4 overs, puts the opposition behind the rate and they then get out to the returning seamers as they hit it up in the air playing catch up.

Squad unchanged for Kent
With Pollard traveling you would expect him to replace Clark

Called that wrong Pollard still injured, one change Moriarty in for Worrall
Glamorgan win toss and bowl

Another stinker from Evans - can’t afford to bat that slow when you bat to 9

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Another stinker from Evans - can’t afford to bat that slow when you bat to 9

Yes - in line with your post the other day, Olly, I'm not sure what Evans is trying to do or what the cricket management are asking of him. Whatever the answers, it's not working!

jimbobgooner wrote:Called that wrong Pollard still injured, one change Moriarty in for Worrall
Glamorgan win toss and bowl

Just hope we give him a decent total to bowl at. Not looking great atm.

guildfordbat wrote:

jimbobgooner wrote:Called that wrong Pollard still injured, one change Moriarty in for Worrall
Glamorgan win toss and bowl

Just hope we give him a decent total to bowl at. Not looking great atm.

phew thank you jamie

Jamie Overton

Some master blasting from Overton gets us to 160/9 off our 20.

It doesn't seem that much of a total to me but the Glam comms boys generally know their onions and reckon it's a formidable score. We'll soon find out.

I didn't see Douthwaite bowl but note his 2 overs went for a measly 7 runs. If our top order aren't taking his right arm filth for more than that, we're doing something wrong.

JimBob - WARNING - Topley's dad is there in the crowd. Just hope no one allows him in the comms box!!!

guildfordbat wrote:JimBob - WARNING - Topley's dad is there in the crowd. Just hope no one allows him in the comms box!!!

Due to restart at 4:35.

With Glam now to face less than 20 overs and with 10 wickets still left, I would expect them to be favourites when we get going again even with Ducky Lewis pushing up their required runs per over.

EDIT - scrub that. Being reported no overs lost. Surprised but pleased.