SURREY VS WORCESTERSHIRE SPECSAVERS COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP

First topic message reminder :

Surrey have named a 13-man squad for the Specsavers County Championship match with Worcestershire, starting at New Road on Monday 10 September.
All twelve of the squad that featured in last week’s win at Essex – after Ollie Pope was called up by England and replaced by Ryan Patel – are again in this squad.
They are joined by Jade Dernbach who has recovered from a groin injury picked up in the August victory over Lancashire.
Jason Roy is still unavailable
There is no place in the squad for Gareth Batty, Arun Harinath, Stuart Meaker or Jamie Smith.
FULL SQUAD:
Rory Burns (captain)
Rikki Clarke
Tom Curran
Jade Dernbach
Dean Elgar
Ben Foakes
Will Jacks
Conor McKerr
Morne Morkel
Ryan Patel
Ollie Pope
Mark Stoneman
Amar Virdi
For me Dernbach for McKerr would be the only change from the team that started against Essex.
Over to you chaps

one thing that has made this harder is too many extras given away

jimbobgooner wrote:That leave by Barnard

Almost as good as Morkel’s in the first innings...

Very close game this - could go either way. 154-2 to 207 all out, Worcs will be kicking themselves if they lose this, that collapse has taken any possible draw out of contention

also will foakes be able to get it out of his system by tomorrow?

jimbobgooner wrote:one thing that has made this harder is too many extras given away

Fair point. No way that Virdi should ever bowl a no ball.

4 overs left

2 overs left

1 over left

1 ball left

excellent session
202 to win

Brilliant effort by Burns and Stoneman to get us through those 20 overs without loss and bring up 70 runs. Doesn't seal the deal but gives us a wonderful chance.

Surrey off to a very, very confident start in this chase. If Worcs were to lose this one, it would be back to back games they have lost from very strong positions after Lancs knocked off 317 a few weeks back. Tough pills to swallow.

guildfordbat wrote:Corporal - what are the latest chances of a bit of weather helping us out today or tomorrow?

What sort of weather are we looking for Guildford?  Dry and sunny if Surrey are chasing down the target well or sudden thunderstorm if Surrey lose a flurry of wickets?  I guess flexibility is the order of the day tomorrow!

A very strong and resilient performance by Surrey in the latter part of the day - typical of a good number this season. Obviously the game is very much in the balance but we're in with a reasonable chance.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Corporal - what are the latest chances of a bit of weather helping us out today or tomorrow?

What sort of weather are we looking for Guildford?  Dry and sunny if Surrey are chasing down the target well or sudden thunderstorm if Surrey lose a flurry of wickets?  I guess flexibility is the order of the day tomorrow!

A very strong and resilient performance by Surrey in the latter part of the day - typical of a good number this season.  Obviously the game is very much in the balance but we're in with a reasonable chance.

Evening Corporal - I'm more optimistic than you.

When I originally asked our first innings had just folded quickly and so I was looking for some of the wet stuff. The way the game appears to have turned round, I'm less concerned. At risk of jinxing things, I reckon we're in the box seats and should win from here - it was so important not to lose a wicket in that final session. However, even if the weather intervenes, we'll still get a draw and the all important Championship.

PS It was very overcast with a touch of drizzle here today. Surrey seconds were meant to be playing day 1 of a 3 day friendly against Yorks at Guildford but I don't think play ever got underway, haven't seen any score or mention of the game.

Good Golly I'm Olly wrote:Jason Roy is the sub fielder - suggests he wasn't picked rather than being unavailable?

Jason face is still slightly tender looking near his eye and he was put through his paces to build up his general fitness in the tea interval.

What odds on a Burns fairy tale today? A second hundred to win the match and the Championship. No way even Smith and Bayliss could leave him out after that.

Apologies for the inevitable jinx.

50 for rocky

100 up

50 for Burns

Good half hour, the openers carrying on where they left off last night.

Great start by Burns and Stoneman.        For contrasting reasons it's really good to see both of them making what could be telling contributions to this chase. 111 - 1 as Rocky falls with the score on Nelson!

ARGHHHHHHHH

that would have been Parnell's last over as well

123/1.

149 to get ... certainly doable although I would like to have at least 8 wickets in hand when the target becomes 99 ....

135 - 2 with Burns now out.  Important that we don't lose our heads now.  Really need both Elgar and Pope to get 30+

Elgar dispatches Twohig for a 6 and 4 to ease the nerves a little. 153 - 2 and the target is down to 119.

elgar gone

Elgar falls for 21. Useful contribution, but not enough. Alarm bells ringing now. Foakes in now - has he recovered enough from his illness to concentrate 100%? 115 required, which is still a fair way to go. Could certainly do with a half century from His Holiness.

100 runs to win with 7 wickets left at lunch. Fairly even session. Can't help feeling that we need Pope and Foakes between them to score most of these runs.

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Elgar falls for 21.  Useful contribution, but not enough.  Alarm bells ringing now.  Foakes in now - has he recovered enough from his illness to concentrate 100%? 115 required, which is still a fair way to go.  Could certainly do with a half century from His Holiness.

Get a grip, Corporal! You need to steady your troops, not panic 'em!

A bit of concern - yes, but no alarm bells ringing yet. We've lost one more wicket than I would have liked but we're still in a good place. I'm pretty sure Worcs would be happier if in our place in this game.

First 30 minutes after lunch is mighty important though - I'll give you that. Lose 2 wickets then and it will be an anxious time ....

guildfordbat wrote:

Corporalhumblebucket wrote:Elgar falls for 21.  Useful contribution, but not enough.  Alarm bells ringing now.  Foakes in now - has he recovered enough from his illness to concentrate 100%? 115 required, which is still a fair way to go.  Could certainly do with a half century from His Holiness.

Get a grip, Corporal! You need to steady your troops, not panic 'em!

Yes, you're right, Guildford.  Definitely time to emulate one's NCO role model, Corporal Jones.  "Don't panic! Don't panic!"

thrown the game away

Calm down, JimBob! We'll be celebrating in the bar tonight.

4 wkts left, 22 to win the game but - keep this anorak point in mind - only 21 to tie and win the Championship.

guildfordbat wrote:Calm down, JimBob! We'll be celebrating in the bar tonight.

4 wkts left, 22 to win the game but - keep this anorak point in mind - only 21 to tie and win the Championship.

16 to win

guildfordbat wrote:Calm down, JimBob! We'll be celebrating in the bar tonight.

4 wkts left, 22 to win the game but - keep this anorak point in mind - only 21 to tie and win the Championship.

I can't remember the last time that a side needed not many runs with a few wickets in hand and it ended up as a tie.....

Afro wrote:

guildfordbat wrote:Calm down, JimBob! We'll be celebrating in the bar tonight.

4 wkts left, 22 to win the game but - keep this anorak point in mind - only 21 to tie and win the Championship.

I can't remember the last time that a side needed not many runs with a few wickets in hand and it ended up as a tie.....

7 down 12 to win or 11 for the draw

4 needed

3 to win

2 to win

That Worcs collapse yesterday is looking critical for them now

Congrats Surrey

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS CHAMPIONS

Corporal make sure the bar is well filled

loving the bitter we bought the title comments

Afro wrote:Congrats Surrey

Thanks, Afro.

A long wait but much deserved this season imho.

Congratulations to Surrey...it’s been a long wait since 2002...but all the more pleasing when you think what key roles that some of our youngsters coming through the ranks have played.Obviously the signing of Morkel was key..as was Ricky Clarke. I got that one totally wrong as when I heard that Surrey had signed him, I was extremely dubious and thought he would turn out  to be like so many of our recent signings of players nearing the end of their careers that haven’t contributed a lot..well I was 100% wrong on that one! Anyway , if the bar is open,Corporal, I’ll have a dark Island beer and a 25 year Highland Park malt to celebrate!

Sorry, troops, I was out on patrol this afternoon. But now the bar is unquestionably open. Another very strong performance today to cap a magnificent season with numerous highlights.

So - get stuck in ......

Congratulations chaps, a thoroughly deserved title win and good to see you doing it with a majority of the side being young, home grown talent complimented with a couple of astute, experienced signings. Hopefully we will see Burns make the step up to international level, got down to New Road today and I was impressed with him.

As for Worcs, tale of the season in one game really. Got ourselves into a promising position on a couple of times only to let our grip slip on the game. Batting has been too fragile for large parts of the season although moving Tom Fell up the order in recent games does seem to have solved one isssue.

I imagine this might mean the end of Joe Clarke’s time at New Road with our division 1 status precarious to say the least! Onwards and upwards to final day, and again many congratulations folks!