Nurse! The screens!

I’ll shut up about winning games and reaching milestones. It’s obvious to all that I am a jinx to Surrey as well as the opposition.

Lesley was on cake duty today and, in order to show some support for the wounded Tim Linley, she cheered him up by handing over some Yorkshire Parkin. I’m admitting to my culinary ignorance here as I thought Yorkshire Parkin was a car lot at Headingley, but it went down very well by all accounts with the gentleman in question, to the extent where she got a hug and a kiss! I don't have a nasty injury like poor Linley but if it’s any consolation I turned my ankle running for the bus this evening. I like to think it was in sympathy.

I’ll give this one a brief summary. Poor Mr R didn’t quite make the 1,000 run mark. I shouldn’t really have mentioned the possibility in yesterday’s blog as he is still 11 short, having made 30 in the second innings. Interestingly, both Adam Lyth and Chris Rodgers fell short in their second innings, but as Yorkshire will play again before Surrey do it’s pretty much a foregone conclusion that Lyth will reach the magic marker first.

In the game itself, the Surrey second innings looked a trifle unusual. Save for the skipper’s 4 the previous day, only one batsman failed to make it into double figures. That was the good part. The perhaps slightly not so good part was the fact that just one of them made it to 35, with Andre Nel claiming that honour. Younus managed the same score as Ramps with 30, Afzaal made 26, Walters 15, Wilson 28, Batty 26 and Linley, who bravely hobbled onto the field of play, managed a gutsy 7. Tremlett again was the last man standing with 10 not out.

The total of the two Surrey innings amounted to 644, giving them a lead of 407. Which it has to be said, is one that would have most teams looking for a rock to quiver under. It’s by no means an impossible one to chase but it was certainly a substantial lead. Going into the last session, Surrey would have been more than a little bit satisfied with that. However, that satisfaction most likely turned to mild consternation when, despite having removed the super-dangerous Rogers for 33, Madsen and Park continued to merrily get their heads down and score freely. And the reason for the run-spree? Let’s see...

Linley: injured

Nel: injured

Batty: possibly injured

Wilson: injured

That’s four members of Surrey’s squad that have either picked up niggles or whacking great ailments. Add them to Dernbach, Jordan and Brown and we will soon be resorting to Lesley marking her run out with Yorkshire Parkin and bowling muffins! The irony that the fittest of the regular bowlers is Chris Tremlett, built like a six foot seven Adonis but, if the past is anything to go by, possessing the fragility of a daddy longlegs, will surely not have been lost on anyone.

In theory, Derbyshire shouldn’t chase the remaining 271. In theory. But with a whole day still to come and with Surrey’s team dropping like mayflies, who can say? Of course, Surrey could play a bit of a wild card and get Ramps to have a bowl. After all, he’s well known for his huge array of impressions of bowlers. All they have to do is get him to do his best circa 1993 ‘Shane Warne’ and Derbyshire will be back in the hutch within five overs.

Sorted!