NEWSLETTER JULY 2015

MEMBERS’ PUB QUIZ IN THE LONG ROOM ON TUESDAY – SIGN UP!!

Teams are still being encouraged to sign up for this year’s Members’ Pub Quiz, set to take place in the Long Room after play on Tuesday July 14th. More of a traditional pub quiz than a test of your Surrey CCC knowledge, the evening will feature an assortment of rounds on a wide range of topics covering news, sport and an array of popular culture! There will be a good selection of Surrey related prizes on offer and entrance is free of charge. Proceedings will get underway relatively shortly after the close of play with the Ali Brown 268 Bar due to stay open for the duration of the quiz. With around 40 participants already signed up, it should be a good night. To take part, just come along to the Long Room on the day. Depending on its popularity, places could be limited for space so to guarantee a spot just go online to kiaoval.com and go to the Members’ Events section.

NEWSLETTER JULY 2015

Daniel Brettig, the author of the universally praised Whitewash to Whitewash, will be giving the traditional pre Test Match Members’ talk in the Long Room on Tuesday August 18th at 7pm. Brettig’s book, which details the difficult period for Australian cricket in between their dual 5-0 whitewashes of England in 2006/7 and 2013/14, has been described by Cricinfo as “the definitive, no-nonsense account of a cricketing era” and by no less than Michael Atherton as “an excellent piece of reportage”. Last year’s talk, given by former BBC Sports Editor Mihir Bose, was extremely well attended so Members wanting to guarantee their place in Test Match week should act quickly to book their spot. Entrance is free – and to book please visit Pavilion Reception, the Pavilion End Ticket Office or go online to kiaoval.com

DAN BRETTIG CONFIRMED FOR ASHES WEEK TALK

NEWSLETTER JULY 2015

GRAHAM FORD - A BUSY AND DRAMATIC PERIODIt has been a gruelling period for the Surrey lads. They have had just eight non playing days out of the past 36 and on those days, there has been a fair amount of travel and added to this there have been an alarming number of injuries within the squad! Having said this, it has been impressive to see the character and toughness shown by the lads through this period. They have played five County Championship games since I last wrote a column with the game against Glamorgan at Guildford being the only blemish. For a long time, we were in control of this fixture but a freakish double hundred from Graeme Wagg quickly changed the flow of the game. For Surrey it will always be remembered for Arun Harinath’s wonderful achievement of scoring a hundred in each innings. This was a fantastic reward for a very hard working cricketer and wonderful club man. He is not always an automatic pick for the first team but works really hard, gives more than a hundred percent and always has a smile on his face. Whilst the game against Lancashire was disrupted by poor weather and ended in a draw, our performance was a good one against one of the top teams in our division. Jason Roy showed his class scoring an outstanding 143 in the first innings and both Rory Burns (110*) and Zafar Ansari (66*) were amongst the runs in the second innings. The Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Gloucestershire matches all ended with convincing wins for Surrey. During these three fixtures Tom Curran was outstanding with the ball. His 7-20 against Gloucester was the standout performance - although he probably prefers to talk about his powerfully struck 60 against Leicester!

Other young members of the squad have also put in some exciting performances. Dom Sibley (74) anchored the first innings against Leicester on a very tough surface, James Burke took 4/19 against Leicester and made a crucial 73 against Derbyshire and Ben Foakes hit a mature 118 on a testing surface against Gloucester. All these performances showed that the players in question can make match winning influences at first team level. Our T20 Blast campaign did not start well at all and the collision at Arundel certainly did not help matters. Injuries and the absence of Jason Roy and Kumar Sangakarra disrupted things initially and, although the team is still a way off full strength, the lads have shown some real fight and a determination to stay in

this competition by winning their last three fixtures. As I write this before our trip to Hampshire, I am hopeful they can now build on their much improved recent performances. As ever, I wanted to thank you all for your fantastic support at all times. I have mentioned Arundel already but the messages we received for Rory and Moises were a true testament to the character of our fans and made us realise just how much everyone at the club was pulling together to offer support - it was greatly appreciated by everyone.

Graham Ford - Head Coach

NEWSLETTER JULY 2015

West Indian legend Brian Lara has been confirmed to play in the Cricket for Heroes match to be staged at the Kia Oval on Thursday September 17th. As well as Lara, the Rest of the World side will feature a host of cricketing greats from the recent past including Matthew Hayden, Graeme Smith, Damien Martyn, Herschelle Gibbs and Scott Styris. The ‘Help for Heroes’ England side will be captained by Andrew Strauss and is set to feature Graeme Swann, Simon Jones and Darren Gough. More big names will be announced throughout the rest of the summer, ahead of the big day itself on September 17th. Tickets for the match cost just £20 and £1 for U16s. They can be purchased from the Pavilion End Ticket Office or by visiting kiaoval.com/tickets. The headline match will be preceded by the very first match between a Top Flight XI and a Help for Heroes Recovery XI made up of those who have been wounded or injured serving in the British Armed Forces.

June was both a busy and an up and down month for the Surrey Second XI. The action started with an innings defeat to Hampshire at Wimbledon CC but picked up with a giant fifty over victory over Sussex at Woodbridge Road in Guildford. Surrey put up 296/6, James Burke headlining affairs with 81 and then saw a combined effort by their seam attack skittle the visitors for just 73 – giving Surrey a dominant 223 run win. Sussex got their own back with 102 run victory in the first of two back to back T20s at Horsham and secured a second win of the day in a closer 18 run affair that afternoon. The rubber match was the three day Championship game, also played at Horsham. After Bradley Erasmus (56) ensured a virtual first innings tie, Surrey were dismissed for just 228 in their second innings. However, five wickets for Freddie van den Bergh saw Sussex slip from 160/2 to 193 all out and give Surrey the win by 40 runs and overall honours in the series. Two T20 matches against Hampshire at Purley CC were split - with an unbeaten 63 from Sam Curran securing the Surrey victory – before the Second XI travelled to Glamorgan for a week at Cardiff CC. The good start of an eight wicket T20 win was followed up with an excellent showing in the three day game. A vintage 191 from Vikram Solanki – backed up by runs from Academy player Dan Douthwaite (77*) saw Surrey post an imposing 575/5 declared before they skittled Glamorgan for 159 in their first innings. The home side made more of a go of it in the second innings but Surrey stuck to their task and bowled them out for 399, securing the victory by an innings and 17 runs. June ended with a week against Somerset at Taunton Vale CC. The home side started by recording a 108 run win in the Second XI Trophy match, despite an unusual five wicket haul for the leg spin of Dom Sibley! Sadly, the planned three day Championship match was ruined by weather after runs from Solanki (97) and Sunbury CC triallist Chris Green (88) saw Surrey post 422 and Somerset pull out of their reply on 353/6 before a well poised final day was rained off.

LARA CONFIRMED FOR CRICKET FOR HEROES ON SEPTEMBER 17TH

SECOND XI UPDATE

NEWSLETTER JULY 2015

Surrey U17s have started their first summer of three day cricket, playing the new format as part of an ECB trial. As well as their opener against Middlesex, which ended in a hard fought draw, they will be playing three day cricket against Essex, Kent and Sussex – with games following the same regulations as matches played in the Second XI Championship. The new format is being trialled by the ECB within the South Division One. The group winner qualifies for the national semi-finals and final when the competition reverts to two day. The team picked for the opening match included a number of players that already boast Second XI experience, such as Bradley Erasmus, Ollie Pope, Rafeh Jafri and Amar Virdi – as well as a number of exciting prospects including batsman Lewis Bedford and spinner Angus Dahl. The U17s were joint national champions in the equivalent two day competition last year. They went unbeaten throughout the group stage in this year’s fifty over competition and will play a semi final on Sunday August 16th.

There was a day to remember for Surrey U13 Connor Griffin in a recent County Age Group match against Kent. Connor was selected to bowl the final over in the game, played at Wellington College, with Kent needing just nine runs to win the match. After delivering a dot ball with his first effort he proceeded to remove Joe Gordon, Jack Gallagher, Ed Scrivens, Clark Dockwray and Mark McClean in five consecutive balls to win Surrey the match in the most dramatic fashion imaginable! The performance was nominated for the Cricket World Performance of the Week – as the newsletter went to press Connor was leading the voting to win a signed photograph from England legend Matthew Hoggard!

The first ever Pride of Lions Open Day is taking place at the Kia Oval on Wednesday July 22nd – with the club’s young members set for a day to remember. Although there is no game taking place, young members are invited into the ground free of charge to watch the Surrey squad train, get autographs and enjoy a behind the scenes tour of the Kia Oval. The ever popular Caesar the Lion will also be attendance – and there will be plenty of opportunities for kids to get involved with bats and balls, as Surrey Cricket Foundation coaches will also be at the ground. To register, join up as Pride of Lions member (a £20 annual cost for U16s, which also includes tickets to all Surrey matches at Kia Oval including the NatWest T20 Blast) at prideoflions.co.uk and then e-mail

prideoflions@surreycricket.com.

U17s TRIAL THREE DAY GAMES BIG DAY FOR U13s!

PRIDE OF LIONS DAY

Surrey Women are continuing to battle hard in both the First Division of both the Royal London One Day Cup and the Women’s T20. A great start to the season was derailed by back to back defeats to Middlesex and a further loss to Warwickshire at their regular home ground of Reed’s School in Cobham. These were compounded by T20 reversals to Sussex and Yorkshire before Surrey travelled to play Lancashire. After captain Cecily Scutt won the toss and fielded first, all-rounder Natalie Sciver bowled superbly to take 5/27 from her ten overs. She was well supported by the Sarah Clarke (4/11), who has now become the club’s all-time leading female wicket taker, as Lancashire flopped for just 78 all out. Although opener Kirstie White and Holly Knight went early, Sciver (28) and Susie Rowe (35) used their international class to see Surrey easily home with over 30 overs to spare.

WOMEN’S CRICKET UPDATE