Blessed are the Meak-er...

Short Match Report Day Two – Surrey v Gloucestershire at the Oval

Something odd is happening at the Oval. Yesterday I said "It looks like a typical batting track", but wickets have clattered all day: unfortunately from a Surrey point of view all their wickets have clattered, and for not very much. Stumps have gone flying, fingers have gone up...it’s been an unusual type of match, this. The Oval isn’t always known as a results sort of a pitch, by and large, but that’s what we are almost certainly looking at. So, the question is: has a result wicket been prepared or is the ball just seaming about a bit more than expected?

Mr Watchtower Tremlett, who stands as high as the Statue of Liberty, didn't survive the first over this morning and the Surrey innings sort of phutted out after that. Ramps scored 12, RHB went for another quacker, and every single dismissal barring one solitary run-out saw the batsman bowled. All for the princely sum of 178.

But...

Just when you’d usually find yourself morphing into Victor Meldrew and yelling incoherently at the BBC scores page, something happened in the Gloucestershire second innings: more wickets tumbled at speed. At the close of play, Gloucestershire were 139-7, with Meaker bowling perhaps the greatest spell of his first class career, taking four wickets.

The rapid progression of the game should bring both comfort and worry to the home side. If the wickets fall quickly (and hopefully minus another stick-tight partnership from the Gloucestershire tail) then all the better for Surrey. But the fact that all three innings thus far have shown how difficult it is to bat – something I never thought I would say – must have alarm bells ringing. It’s not impossible with a whole two days left to plug away and chase down the target as long as it’s not a total monster, but keeping the wickets intact is going to be the major obstacle here.

I will maintain my insanely optimistic view that it can be done until proven otherwise. I ended volunteering to hug the Surrey team after their great effort on day one. The offer’s still on the table, boys, if you manage the win!

Oh, and it appears that the Oval fox has taken a liking to young Harinath, now known as 'the Fox-Whisperer'. If only Surrey had leant him to Sussex for a small fee...he could have done a Pied Piper and charmed Mr Reynard away!