Not quite buried yet...

It’s still an awfully big ask, but there’s still life in the old dog!

Or rather, life in the old Lion. Having been made to look a rather toothless moggy with our last T20 performance Surrey came roaring back against a Sussex team that never quite got into a rhythm following some fast, accurate bowling. It was definitely one of Surrey’s ‘going’ days. It can be a bit of a lottery sometimes as to what you’re going to get but today the dunce’s cap was swapped for a rather swanky mortar board hat complete with little dangly tassel thing. Chief swot was the skipper. Well done that man. Someone give him an apple!

I noticed a post on the Sussex board (for I do love a furtive read of other forums when I get the chance) that mentioned that Arundel could easily hold 3000 people but that the pre-sold tickets already amounted to 5000, and that they were predicting multiple hold-ups getting into the ground. They were of course spot on with their prediction. As Churchy muttered the word ‘chaos’ under his breath I couldn’t help but think of Lesley, our Rampant representative, who had quite cleverly decided to take her own chair with her. I do wonder if she managed to get out of the ground okay or if she’s still stuck there!

Talking of Churchy, a word of praise here – and for Mr Barran as well. It can’t be easy commentating al fresco, so to speak; especially when you’ve got microphone mishaps, barrier collapses and people sitting directly in front of you obscuring your view. Churchy was very restrained, I thought. I’m a gentle soul but I’d have been tempted to use the man’s head as a coconut shy and aim something round and heavy at the back of his unguarded cranium...

Top marks to ‘Rob the trumpeter’ as well. Loved the improvised tune that accompanied the sight of one of the umps falling over!

Sussex have an awful lot of good players. There’s just no two ways about it. There are one or two players who fall into the category of ‘not a favourite’ for various reasons. Take Matt Prior for example. Much improved over the years in the batting department, and still very much England’s number one test wicket keeper despite recent strides by Kieswetter. But the fact he, how shall we put this, has a limited grasp of the word ‘humility’ at times hasn’t endeared himself to the Rampants as a whole. So, when Mr Prior went for a magnificent fourth ball duck there wasn’t just a “thank goodness; that’s one danger man gone” feeling but more of a general “yipppppeeee!”

I think it would be more sporting to say “well bowled, Symonds” rather than enthusiastically celebrating the demise of one of the opposition. But in this case we’re fairly unrepentant!

Only three were on the board for Sussex when Prior departed. And only seven were on the board when Joyce went, bowled by Tremlett. I feared for Tremlett this year, given his past history. He seemed like the sort of bloke who would shatter if someone in the same room hit a top C, but he has been a complete triumph thus far, especially in the T20. If we do sneak through to the next round by some miracle, a lot of it will rest on CT’s very broad shoulders.

It got even better, when moments later Nash made his way to the crease, faced a ball, and then wandered his way back to his team mates, yet another Symonds victim. Things were looking rather too good to be true, especially as Goodwin was beginning to tick. I’m not bringing up the whole Goodwin saga again. But if you think the celebrations amongst the Rampants was jubilant when Prior went, that was nothing to the delighted cheers that marked the departure of Muzza for 11. Give that man Tremlett a medal, that’s what I say! Although you’d probably need a ladder to pin it on him.

It would be fair to say that the middle and lower order fared better for Sussex than their top order did, with Smith reaching 21, Gatting 16 and Arafat 12, but the wickets kept falling steadily. I did wonder if the pitch had a few tricks in it, but the Surrey bowling has generally been decent this year and so it appeared more likely that it was down to this rather than any unseen gremlins. For a while a rather handy little partnership in the guise of Keegan and Rayner got going, and the former’s last minute heroics hauled the Sussex total over a hundred and beyond. But then Andre Nel struck and removed him for 26, leaving Rayner on 25 and Beer not out on 1 at the end. The finally tally for Sussex was a rather tame 121, and it seemed that it would just take a few overs from RHB and Davies to put the whole game to bed.
Things never quite work out the way you expect them to, however.

Surrey’s reply was cautious, although rightly so considering they had no need to go hell for leather after such a small target. The skipper rode his luck when Kirtley dropped him at the start of the Surrey reply, and from that moment onwards it seemed to galvanise him into positive thought. Davies seemed a little subdued at the other end, maybe mindful of his duck in the previous game. They crawled slowly, run by run, all the way up to a solid if unspectacular 41, with the occasional boundary from RHB to enliven proceedings, until Davies fell for just 9. This brought Jason Roy to the crease who sadly, after the two monster innings he had earlier in the competition, did what Nash did and perished for a quacker.

You’d have still rather have been Surrey at this point. It was a pretty decent toss to lose in the end. Even although they were two batsmen down, giving Sussex a glimmer of hope, the runs on the board gave Walters licence to tick around for singles whilst the skipper set about his former county with consummate ease. Once the sixes and fours were unleashed the outcome was never really in any doubt, with the Sussex faithful beginning to exit the ground as soon as the Surrey hundred was reached. It was in the end a facile victory from a team who had been so roundly and deservedly thrashed in their last game.

I was pleased for Rory in particular, who finished not out on 87, with Walters not out on 24 with just under two overs to spare. Qualification still seems unlikely, but with Middlesex losing to Glamorgan and Kent beating Essex the fourth spot is still open to many of the chasing pack. Whoever gets there in the end will have earned it, that’s for certain. As for the game itself, it was one of the most enjoyable T20s I’ve listened to this year. And considering Mr Ramprakash wasn’t playing today, that’s quite a compliment!