I love it when a plan comes together...

Not that there’s much resemblance between the skipper and the A-Team’s Hannibal Smith, but I bet he was thinking much the same thing as Surrey walked off the field of play at the end of the CB40 game against Lancashire. Whilst Surrey have not been doing terribly well in the championship - a current tally of zero wins so far this season, a whole zero more than last season - their form in the CB40 games has been rather splendid! If Friday’s contest showed Surrey could dig themselves out of any fix (like BA Baracus creating an armoured tank from a garage full of paint pots and a few sheets of corrugated iron), today’s display was as silky smooth as one of Dirk Benedict’s shirts.

There the A-Team similarities end, unless Gary Wilson needs his cheese burger doped before they get him onto a plane...

Yesterday I complained that Surrey had a tendency to collapse when Ramps got out, but the problem didn’t arise at all today as the main man was rested (or according to Bumble because he had a slight groin strain). On paper – and with Jimmy Anderson back to bolster an already fine Lancashire side – you’d have thought Surrey would have had their work cut out. Even as an annoying optimist I found myself settling down to listen to what I anticipated would be an enormous drubbing.

I do love being wrong sometimes!

But for a large partnership in the middle of the Lancashire innings care of Sutton and Chilton, Surrey’s opponents never really got going, and this wasn’t so much the batsmen playing badly but the Surrey bowlers repeatedly hitting their mark again and again. Each one of them had a fantastic game but by and large I would just give the nod to Dernbach as pick of the bunch. If he can keep this consistency up in the championship games he is going to be a real handful. In total he claimed three wickets, as did Andre Nel, with two for Tremlett as well. Lancashire were all bowled out for 165, a total that was never going to be enough barring a huge collapse.

Mind you, Surrey has been prone to the odd collapse. Fortunately there was none of that today, as the opening partnership of RHB and Steven Davies came in, kept their heads down and then slowly upped the tempo, with Davies in particular sounding very relaxed and majestic with the bat. It’s not often that Surrey and their fans can sit back and tick the overs away, safe in the knowledge that it was almost impossible to lose the game. It was all finished by the time 23.5 overs had been reached: little short of an absolute massacre! RHB had made 65, and Davies was 85 not out at the close, with Evans out for a rather uncomfortable 3 runs. Afzaal was also not out on 7 at the end of the game.

So, today’s spectacularly uncomplicated, almost clinical victory keeps Surrey second at the top of the table one point behind Somerset. The Unicorns appear to have beaten Sussex as well, which is useful from a Surrey point of view. However, just when you would expect to be able to take all that momentum and energy into the next CB40 game, a quick look at the schedule tells you that Surrey don’t have another game in the competition until July! Is it wrong to scratch my head in bewilderment at this point?

What the schedule does reveal is:

Surrey have a lot of travelling to do.

Surrey have a lot of championship games to play.

Surrey are going to be absolutely knackered by the time they next play a CB40 game, as they have to play for 18 out of the next 22 days!

Hopefully at least the two wins in the CB40 will at least inspire Surrey in terms of confidence. Schoey can do a job with bat and ball, Davies is in tip-top form with the bat as well as tidy behind the stumps, RHB can score quickly, and Ramps and Afzaal have both regained their form in the last few games. With the bowlers beginning to fire, it will surely all come together for Surrey.

Will tomorrow be the day?

Here comes that music again...

Day Three, Surrey v Middlesex at the Oval


Actually, I’m saving the play-on-name stuff for the moment, as I don’t want to jinx ‘himself’ for tomorrow.

I’ve been in a bit of a quandary with this game. I find it so much easier to cheer on Surrey when the opposition is full of players I have no emotional attachment to, but Middlesex are stuffed with ex-Surrey players like Newman, Murtagh and Collins so it’s not as straightforward as I thought it might be. And then there’s Udal, who I rather like, and Finn who seems destined for great things at the top level in due course. So, when the likes of Newman get set for a big score against my team I really don’t know whether I’m supposed to applaud or secretly cross my fingers under the desk and hope that his bails are whipped off...

The splendiferous ninety one that he made was, for me, the best compromise in the circumstances. Bet the poor man was gutted to fall nine short of a ton! Strauss similarly accumulated a very frisky ninety two and then managed to get out to Dernbach (who replicated Udal's effort and picked up five wickets) when Middlesex would have hoped he’d go on.

In all other respects the Middlesex first innings sort of stumbled and stuttered along. Shah, Dexter, Simpson, Murtagh and Collins all went for single figure totals, and only Berg with his effort of 43 made a really useful contribution to the efforts of the two opening bats. Middlesex ended with 324 all out.

Possibly most people expected the follow on to be enforced. I didn’t, mostly because I was on the bus home from work at the time and remained in total ignorance as to the situation. I do however recall thinking that the bus would get home quicker if it ran over a few of the slow moving pedestrians at Frederick Street corner. The upshot is that RHB opted to bat again, which I am personally delighted at because Rampants and Surrey fans alike now get a second chance to watch the great man bat once more in a quest to help Surrey to that elusive first win of the season. The win is a possibility now, although it would take another Middlesex collapse to do it. Newman and Strauss - and one or two others – are really going to have to dig in deep because Surrey definitely go into tomorrow with their chins held higher. I personally think the draw is still the most likely.

Harinath played another blinding innings second time round. He was eventually out for 63, but I think the commentary had it right, in that batting with a senior player such as Ramps will just bring the best out of him. A real shame that he couldn’t quite kick on to what would have been a well deserved century. Evans, alas, only made seven this time although there isn’t any doubt that he is a talented player. Mr Ramprakash achieved an excellent 86 not out and (she said trying to type and touch wood – or desk vinyl in this case) looks set for a possible second century in this game. It’s well deserved if it happens, although I should think that going for the win will be first on his and everyone else in the team’s mind.

So, bat for an hour tomorrow and see how the ground lies? What kind of total would RHB look for? What would Middlesex fancy chasing and what would make them bat for the draw? I still haven’t recovered from the finish of last year’s humdinger of a derby at the Oval! People were being bowled and run out all over the place!

At the moment the Surrey boys are looking mighty hungry for this first win. A total will be set, the bait laid, and then it will be up to them to reel in their prey. Whatever happens, I hope the Middlesex squad have their earplugs in because that Jaws theme is getting ominously louder and louder at the moment...

Kash’in In

Day one Surrey v Middlesex at the Oval

Oh, you’ve got to allow me that title. I’ve been waiting since April to use it!

I do love Surrey v Middlesex games. I love them because, whilst I feel no animosity towards Middlesex at all, I just love a good old-fashioned Derby. A set-to, a ding-dong, a barney...call it what you will, only more civilised. And with balls. There’s something special about these Middlesex v Surrey games, and I have spent the last three or so years trying to work out what it is.

Is it the atmosphere of those two monumental bastions, the Oval and Lords? Is it the centuries of history, built up layer upon layer, year upon year? Is it the romance of a contest between two once mighty teams struggling to recapture their best?

Well, actually no it isn’t. The answer is far simpler. It’s because usually Ramps tends to give his former club a real doing over!

It has to be said that the exceptional Mr R hasn’t quite found his dancing feet early this season, for many reasons, although there have been a couple of fairly effortless performances amidst a series of, shall we say, bijou scores, but you always feel with Ramps that a shed load of runs are usually lurking round the corner. And lo and behold, the Middlesex posse moseyed into Kennington and worked their usual magic. Fingers crossed this will kick-start his season and propel him towards a nice purple patch of form. At the close of play, he sits 125 not out after a hard fought century from 261 balls.

Having momentarily dispensed with the waving of flags and hanging of Rampant bunting (or in Jean’s case pushing pineapples and shaking trees), now is possibly a time to reflect on the game overall. Harinath and Evans, subjected to some pretty decent bowling (you see, I’m quite unbiased when I put my mind to it!) began to tick slowly along, although you felt Evans was just getting into his stride when he was bowled by former Surrey player Murtagh. In came former Middlesex player Ramprakash, who played very watchfully throughout the first session, whilst former Surrey players Scot ‘Pandora’ Newman and Pedro ‘Mr Whippy’ Collins looked on, probably knowing only too well that Ramps likes scoring hundreds against the St John’s Wood contingent.

In the meantime Udal, not formerly of Surrey, managed to remove young Harinath for 39. It turned out to be a rather productive day for Udal, if an unintentionally dramatic one, as it appears that the poor fellow managed to half-concuss himself trying to dive for a ball. Fingers crossed he’s okay: I may want Surrey to thrash Middlesex but I don’t want the opposition maimed in the process. In the absence of Steven Davies, away on England Lions duty, captain RHB came in at four, scoring rapidly just as the Surrey effort looked to be crawling almost to a stop, and smacked a relatively quick fire 55 from 60 balls, exactly what the innings needed. However, Udal struck again, bringing in Afzaal.

Now, the Rampants love Afzaal. We may have mentioned this earlier in the blog. And he got a nice little partnership going with his buddy Ramps at the crease, sticking with him all the way as Mr R stuttered through the extremely nervous nineties towards a century that he must have wanted very much indeed. Middlesex were doing their darndest to restrict Surrey by making sure that singles were hard to come by, hoping to induce the fault. And after that landmark was reached – the 110th first class century of his career and 5th against Middlesex – Afzaal and Ramps began to play some lovely shots and relax. Unfortunately for Afzaal he relaxed too much and was dismissed by Udal with the very last ball of the day.

We still love Usman, though. Even if the initial thought of the O’Rampant contingent was “Afzaal, you PLANK!”

Honours pretty much even at close of play then. Surrey end the day with MR Ramprakash not out, and with the new batsman yet to face a ball. If Middlesex get Ramps quickly tomorrow they will be feeling it is very much their game to lose, but if they can’t...well, let’s just say Gus Fraser must be sick of the sight of Ramps. It occurred to me to wonder what Ramps averages against Middlesex at the moment (it must surely be over 100), and a witty reply from friend-of-the-Rampants Harold informed me that the qualitative answer was, "He averages full throttle".

So, another century to be added to the wall of the hundred hundreds bar. The Surrey fans will be delighted that the great man saw fit to once more take his ire out on his former club. I imagine that the sane majority of Middlesex supporters will shrug their shoulders and think “oh well, here we go again,” and marvel at a skilled and naturally gifted batsman going about his work.

To the tiny minority of rather angry people out there who seem to have a little bit of trouble letting the past go, I suggest a lie-down in a dark room and some essential oils might help a little...

It's...a draw!

Now, there’s a surprise. If it wasn’t for the fact that there was some rather good cricket being played I would have taken the unpopular view that a three day game at the Oval was a complete waste of time (in terms of a positive outcome). I do feel a four day game would have been better for both parties because the tame way in which the match tottered towards its inexorable conclusion left me feeling a tad deflated.

That said, a splendiferous 150 plus innings from Afzaal (Hah! Take that, moany people!) showed that he can still swing the bat, and time was all he needed to sort himself out. I’m hoping he will kick on now: Surrey needs both he and Ramps to bat at their best. It’s harsh, but true. Mr R has almost singlehandedly carried Surrey on his broad back for years, and it isn’t fair that so much pressure is put on him – and indeed Afzaal as the other noted specialist batsman – but it’s because they are on their day very fine players.

Has Evans done enough to get a recall to the first team? Has Spriegel earned a middle order berth? It’s all fascinating stuff. Lancefield is still learning his trade, one feels, and has time ahead of him. I’d personally be tempted to have Evans open the batting until Michael Brown makes a reappearance. His ninety eight was finely accumulated over the course of the day. It was so, so close to one hundred that you just felt something cruel was going to happen, just like it did to Meaker, and sure enough he was run-out just two short. Cricket can be a real barsteward of a game sometimes.

Now, Afzaal doesn’t seem remotely to blame in the Evans run out from what I can gather, but there remains the fact that certain players do seem to be involved in run outs more than others. Afzaal is one of that unhappy band, whether it is his fault, his partner’s fault or simply down to lack of luck. I get the impression, from what I have seen of him in the field and batting in the middle, that he isn’t Spring-heeled Jack. I suppose it’s difficult for an Airbus to do a half-turn...

And so on to Middlesex next week, who seem to be finding their mojo a little just when a non-neutral wouldn’t want them to. Newman and Murtagh against their old club, and Ramps against his. If their last encounter at the Oval was anything to go by, it could be a very interesting game...