Daily Surrey Updates

Surrey v Yorkshire (Day 4)

The home side batted out the final day, losing only four wickets, with the Yorkshire side failing to get close at any stage to securing a victory.

Resuming at 56-2 the early wicket of Scott Newman gave the Tykes early hope, but a stand of 104 by Murtaza Hussain and  Usman Afzaal put paid to any realistic chance of the game ending in anything other than a draw.

Afzaal, who had bowled unchanged for a whole session the previous day, showed the other side of his skills when he became the fifth centurion of the contest scoring 105 off 268 balls.

He was ably assisted by Hussain in an excellent stand who fell having just passed the half century mark. Ali Brown then came and went cheaply before Jon Batty (54no) joined Afzaal and once again put on a century stand.

With Surrey on 294 Afzaal was outfoxed by young Yorkshire spinner Adil Rashid just before close, but Batty and Matt Nicholson saw out the remaining overs as the game petered out to a draw.

Surrey (11 points) drew with Yorkshire (11 points) 

Surrey v Yorkshire (Day 3)

Surrey continued to get a taste of the first day medicine they dished out to the Tykes attack, as Yorkshire led by Andrew Gale passed the home side's first innings total.

In the first over of the day Jacques Rudolph got the one run he needed to complete his century, but was soon the next wicket down when Usman Afzaal trapped him LBW.

But despite a couple of cheap wickets Gale, who went on the score 150, and Tim Bresnan (84no) did the lions share of the work that saw Yorkshire reach 525, a first innings lead of 59 runs.

With a couple of dozen overs left in the day Yorkshire soon made inroads into the Surrey batting order. Butcher, the double centurion of the first innings, was first to go when Deon Kruis caught the edge of his bat which was snatched up by a grateful keeper.

The wait for the Ramprakash hundredth  first class century goes on, as before close of play Rashid managed to capture his scalp, leaving the home side on 56-2 at the and with work to do in the final day.

Surrey v Yorkshire (Day 2)

Skipper Mark Butcher picked up where he left off on day one by completing a marvellous double century. His partner in crime on the opening day, Matt Nicholson, also continued to put the Yorkshire attack to the sword.

By the time both their wickets fell for 205 and 133 respectively, the home side had passed the 450 mark and when Jimmy Ormond's wicket fell soon after Butcher declared the innings on 466 for 8.

Despite Pedro Collins picking up of Yorkshire opener Joe Sayers early on for only 14, the home attack found the Oval pitch as equally unforgiving as the opposition attack did.

Anthony McGrath was particularly harsh early on as he quickly passed the half century mark, when Collins took his wicket for 54 and Mushtaq eked out Adam Lyth for 40 it appeared the game may be turning Surrey's way.

But no more wickets fell for the rest of the day with Jacques Rudolph ending the day on 99 not out and Andrew Gale on 70 not out, as the home attack toiled away.

With Yorkshire reaching 292 for 3 at stumps early wickets will need to be the order of day 3 if Surrey are to force a result in this game.

Surrey v Yorkshire (Day 1)

Mark Butcher continued his fine run of form ending the day on 189 not as Surrey dominated the opening day of this contest.

The home side ended the day on 396 for 5 as Butcher and Matt Nicholson both scored centuries. Nicholson has begun to get runs in recent contests and his pleasing form is playing its part in Surrey becoming a formidable batting outfit.

The pair put on 203 for the sixth wicket, although the Tykes will be ruing missing chance to get both men out, the missed opportunities were to be heavily punished.

The damage was done in the final session as Surrey piled on 183 runs off 31 overs, with Nicholson passing the 100 mark in the final over of the day to round off a good days work for the boys from the Oval.

Hampshire vs Surrey – County Championship - Preview

Mark Ramprakash will go into tomorrow’s four day game against Hampshire hoping to enter the history books with his hundredth first class hundred.

Ramps, currently on 99 first class tons, will take his place in a strong Surrey side looking to put their inconsistent form behind them and record a first county championship victory.

If Ramprakash scores a century he will join the legendary list of post war players with 100 centuries. It currently features the names of Graham Gooch, Tom Graveney, Colin Cowdrey, Graeme Hick, John Edrich, Dennis Amiss and Geoffrey Boycott.

In other team news, a thumb injury suffered in the Friends Provident Trophy game with Sussex has ruled spinner Chris Schofield out for the next six to eight weeks and grants off spinner Murtaza Hussain a chance in the first team squad.

Surrey also welcome back Chris Jordan, after the teenage seamer missed the last three games with a side strain. Jordan might play at the expense of Jade Dernbach, who went for more than ten an over against Essex in the last Friends Provident Trophy game.

The Brown Caps will optimistic about their chances of securing their maiden 2008 victory over Hampshire, having won 85 of the 176 County Championship matches between the two. Hampshire have only won 27.

Full Squad
Jonathan Batty
Scott Newman
Mark Ramprakash
Mark Butcher
Usman Afzaal
Ali Brown
Chris Jordan
Matthew Nicholson
Jimmy Ormond
Pedro Collins
Saqlain Mushtaq
Jade Dernbach
Murtaza Hussain

Surrey lost to Essex by 156 runs – Friends Provident Trophy

Surrey were comprehensively trounced by the Essex Eagles on Sunday, after the visitors put on a giant 391/5 from their 50 overs.

After winning the toss and batting, the Essex openers were able to take advantage of the rocket fast Oval outfield and the ideal batting conditions to start posting a serious total.

Eagles’ skipper Mark Pettini (144) and his partner Jason Gallian (117) started off the innings superbly, putting on a giant 269 for the first wicket. Surrey keeper Jonathan Batty spent the entire innings ruing the fact he dropped Pettini when he was on just one.

Even after Gallian was eventually dismissed by Nicholson, the pain did not end for Surrey with Ryan ten Doeschate (60 off 31 balls) and James Foster (46 off 23 balls) picking up the big hitting baton with a partnership of 74 from 35 balls.

The entire Surrey attack took some serious tap but bowlers with particular reason to blank the afternoon from their memory are Jade Dernbach (0/107) and Usman Afzaal (0/62 from seven overs). Once again, the most impressive was Pedro Collins, whose 2/55 from ten overs seems like an Olympian performance in retrospect.

Knowing they needed to score quickly, it was major blow when Surrey lost the big hitting James Benning after he had faced just four balls.

However, when Mark Ramprakash and Scott Newman were at the crease Surrey were always in with a shout. The pair were racing along when Newman was dismissed for an exciting 49.

Ramprakash continued to repeatedly find the boundary, peppering the outfield with big shots until he was trapped LBW by David Masters with the score on 189/3.

From the very next ball, Surrey’s last remaining genuine hope – Ali Brown – was nailed caught behind and the result became almost a formality.

Usman Afzaaal refused to give up, eventually being bowled for 43 off 34 balls but the remaining Surrey order – Batty, Nicholson, Saqlain, Dernbach and Collins – could not live with the pace required and Surrey’s final seven wickets ended up falling for just 46 runs with the Brown Caps eventually being bowled out for 235 off 38.2 overs.

Afzaal leads Sussex rout

A stellar performance from Usman Afzaal led Surrey to a handsome victory in a day night game against the dangerous Sussex Sharks.

With captain Mark Butcher back in the side, winning the toss and batting on a used pitch, Scott Newman and James Benning got Surrey off to an excellent start, putting on 81 for the first wicked before Newman was dismissed by Robin Martin Jenkins for 43.

Benning went shortly afterwards for 51, leaving Mark Ramprakash and Afzaal at the crease. The two used their reams of experience to play very sensible one day cricket, regularly rotating the strike and keeping the scoreboard ticking over rapidly.

After the pair had played themselves in, they started to open their shoulders with a number of powerful lofted shots over the infield.

Both Afzaal and Ramprakash passed their fifties and were looking push on towards their centuries when Ramprakash was bowled by Ollie Rayner for 63.

That might have seemed like a good thing at the time for Sussex, but it only brought Ali Brown to the wicket, who then combined with Afzaal to put on another 90 runs in the final nine overs.

Afzaal secured his 126 not out off 105 balls and Brown bludgeoned his way to 40 off 27 balls to finish the Brown Cap innings on 346/3.

In the Sussex reply, whilst almost every batsman got a start, none of them were able to go on and make the huge score that was required to anchor a successful chase.

Captain Chris Adams top scored with 40 and there were other useful contributions from Murray Goodwin (38), Michael Yardy (39) and Robin Martin Jenkins (39) but consistent wicket taking from Jade Dernbach, Matt Nicholson and Usman Afzaal, who impressed with 2/42 off ten overs following his century with the bat, led Sussex to fall well short of the required rate, ending on 279/8.

After losing the toss, Surrey made the best possible start when Pedro Collins removed the dangerous Kent skipper Robert Key for a second ball duck. The West Indian then combined with Aussie Matt Nicholson to grab the wickets of Joe Denly, Martin van Jaarsveld and Darren Stevens to leave the visitors rocking on 52/4.

However, with a decent wicket and a sunny sky it was always going to be difficult to restrict Kent’s free hitting line up and a partnership of 92 between Justin Kemp (63) and ex England keeper Geraint Jones (86) brought Kent right back into it.

When Kemp was caught in the deep of Chris Schofield, it brought former Surrey legend Azhar Mahmood to the crease, who proceeded to blast the ball all over his former home ground, recording 62 from 43 balls with six fours and three sixes. Azhar and Jones were eventually wiped up by Collins but Ryan McLaren (17 not out) continued the positive momentum to leave the Spitfires on 282/7.

With the sun still shining and the pitch playing well, the talented Surrey side – captained by Mark Ramprakash with Mark Butcher taking a break – would have been confident about their ability to chase down the runs.

However, three sustained spells of quality seam bowling from Yasir Arafat, Azhar Mahmood and Ryan McLaren put pay to that and secured an excellent away win for Kent.

Arafat started the rout, getting Scott Newman and James Benning early up to leave the Brown Caps on 26/2. Mahmood then stepped in, getting the vital wicket of Ramprakash for just 5.

After Arafat got Brown caught behind for 14, Surrey were virtually out of the game when McLaren started his run by having Afzaal caught by van Jaarsveld for 8. He continued with the wicket of Chris Schofield (5) to leave the home team 84/6. A brief partnership between Nicholson (24) and Batty (63) saved total humiliation for Surrey – the loss was sadly broadcast live on Sky Sports – but McLaren dismissed both of them and then Neil Saker (20) to complete his fifer and Arafat finished off by bowling Pedro Collins for 11. Arafat finished with 4/35, Mahmood 1/27 and McLaren with 5/46


Middlesex v Surrey - Friends Provident Trophy

Surrey avenged their Friends Provident defeat last month to their London rivals, by sauntering to victory at Lord's against Middlesex.

The damage was done early on as Surrey seamers Jade Dernbach and Pedro Collins took two wickets apiece that saw the home side slump to 37/4.

Being in dire straits the duo of Gareth Berg and Ben Scott set about doing the repair work, with both notching half centuries which did much to enable Middlesex reach a respectable total at all.

Surrey old boy Tim Murtagh then hit 35 off 45 balls that set Surrey 234 runs for victory off 50 overs.

The brown caps never really looked in trouble in their run chase with openers Scott Newman and James Benning putting on 87, before Newman was run out on 35.

His partner proved to be the bedrock of the innings however scoring 106 off 129 balls, and his partnership of 77 with Usman Afzall took Surrey most of the way home. Although the wickets of skipper Butcher (12), and keeper Jon Batty (18) fell relatively cheaply following Afzall's departure Ali Brown steadied any nerves by hitting 40 off 57 balls to see Surrey home with eighteen balls to spare.

Surrey (2 points) beat Middlesex (0 points) by 5 wickets

Sussex v Surrey (Day Four)

The game meandered to a draw, but this day as many have been over recent years at Surrey was all about Mark Ramprakash.

The ex-England man completed the formalities of his 99^th first class century, picking up runs at will  against a largely toothless Sussex attack.

Once he was finally dismissed on 123 by Ollie Rayner, the only bright spark for the home side on this day, the game lost purpose.

Nevertheless Usman Afzall and Ali Brown notched 71 and 76(no) respectively before Surrey declared on 400/5.

The same two players then bowled thirteen pointless overs before the umpires decided enough was enough.

Sussex (10 points) drew with Surrey (11 points)


Sussex v Surrey (Day Three)

Sussex took up where they left off yesterday, but at a painfully slow rate, with their last five batsmen adding 157 runs in 45 overs.

Play was slow throughout as the inevitable draw loomed on the horizon. Former England keeper Matt Prior was the only highlight of the day playing some flamboyant drives but gave his wicket away when on 51, skying a bouncer from Chris Jordan to Ali Brown on the boundary.

Christopher Martin Jenkins then hit a half century, and Luke Wright with a unusually subdued 20 from 37 balls that did much to see Sussex close on 475.

Martin Jenkins was in the action again with the ball when the Surrey innings opened taking the wicket of opener Jon Batty, but not before he cracked four fours in his total of 17.

Scott Newman and Mark Ramprakash then shared a century stand, before Martin Jenkins returned to snap up the wicket of Newman before the close leaving Surrey on 164-2 overnight and with Ramprakash eyeing his 99^th first class century.

Sussex vs. Surrey (Day Two)

The sun came out at Hove on day two of Surrey’s championship game with Sussex, but Mark Butcher’s side will be forgiven for wishing it hadn’t bothered.

After Butcher won the toss and elected to field, trying to wring an early advantage out of any lingering dampness in the pitch, the Sussex openers Chris Nash and Carl Hopkinson played some disciplined cricket to reach 67 off the first twenty overs.

The pair continued, looking untroubled as they moved towards a hundred partnership. Just before lunch though, Surrey got a stroke of luck, Pedro Collins claiming the wicket of Nash when he rocked back for a pull but only succeeded in bottom edging the ball onto his stumps.

Sussex continued their serene progress throughout the second session, with only one wicket falling, that of Michael Yardy, caught by Butcher at slip off the bowling of Saqlain for twelve.

The dismissal of Yardy brought Murray Goodwin to the crease and he combined well with Hopkinson.

They brought the score onto 246 when Hopkinson – on 97 – was caught and bowled by Usman Afzaal. The Brown Caps followed that up with the wicket of Chris Adams, LBW to Collins for 28.

Goodwin then became the second man to fall tantalisingly close to a century when he rewarded Matthew Nicholson for his nagging line by nibbling one through to Jonathan Batty on 98.

Sussex ended the day on 318/5, looking to push on Friday morning and post a hefty total.

Sussex vs. Surrey (Day 1)

Sussex vs Surrey - Preview

Durham vs. Surrey – Day Four

Surrey’s game with Durham finished as a predictable draw on Saturday, despite positive play from both sides.

The Brown Caps started well, with Jimmy Ormond bowling Kyle Coetzer in the second over. Pedro Collins, who used the conditions to his advantage, was rewarded for some accurate bowing with the wicket of Neil McKenzie for eighteen, edging through to Jonathan Batty.

After Mark Butcher and Batty both dropped sharp chances, Phil Mustard and Dale Benkenstein combined well, to move Durham’s lead onto 220 at lunch.

With the game picking up pace, both Benkenstein and Mustard scored well earned fifties before Saqlain Mushtaq started to bring the magic. The off-spinner took a fifer in just four overs, spiralling Durham to 228/9 where they declared, setting Surrey an unlikely 270 to win in a session and a half.

They got off to a terrible start when Jonathan Batty was LBW without scoring. Scott Newman played aggressively, seemingly chasing the win, but perished on eighteen, hooking Steven Harmison down to long leg.

In a positive move, Usman Afzaal was promoted up the order to number four to partner Mark Ramprakash. This initially worked, with Afzaal clunking the lanky paceman for a six and two fours. However, the very next ball Harmison got full and straight and the unprepared Afzaal was trapped LBW.

Mark Butcher next came to the crease and there was a pronounced shift in the Surrey ambitions, with the captain and Ramprakash playing sensibly to reach tea at 52/3.

Shortly into the final session, the pair were offered the light and accepted.

Although the players were only off the pitch for ten minutes, only six more overs were possible at the restart and Butcher and Ramprakash easily batted out the draw.

Durham (8 points) drew with Surrey (7 points)


Durham vs. Surrey – Day Three

Day three of Surrey’s county championship game at Durham continued much as the previous two, with both balls and wickets falling with regularity.

The first session of the game was comfortably Surrey’s worst so far this season with Mark Butcher’s men slumping from 123/4 overnight to 183 all out. The collapse started when Graham Onions bowled Usman Afzaal all ends up and continued through the Surrey order with only the veteran Ali Brown offering any real resistance with 38 off 54 balls.

With Durham looking to build on their first innings lead of 41, Surrey knew they had to take quick wickets. However, after a close shave from Michael de Venuto – almost run out for a second time in game – they reached lunch on eighteen without loss.

Surrey managed to grab both openers – de Venuto and Mark Stoneman – after lunch but the day ground to a halt with the arrival of rain at 2.45pm, leaving Durham with a lead of 117.


Durham vs. Surrey – Day Two

Another stop start at the Riverside saw Surrey move themselves into a potentially good position against Durham.

Overnight and morning rain meant that play did not get underway until 12.15pm and that was – again – short lived as only five overs were possible before rain swept in.

With an early lunch inside them though, the Surrey bowlers were ready for a big afternoon and allowed Durham to add only ten runs to the overnight score before Mark Stoneman was caught in the slips by Jimmy Ormond off Pedro Collins.

Ormond then had some success with the ball, finally getting Dale Benksenstein to nick an away swinger through to Jonathan Batty for 67.

Phil Mustard looked initially dangerous but was caught at backward point trying to cut the steepling pace of Matthew Nicholson, who also claimed Graham Onions who top edged a pull to wicket keeper Batty.

Chris Jordan then made amends for his first day miss by cleaning up the tail, providing two unplayable yorkers to smash the stumps of the hapless Mark Davies and Neil Killeen.

When Surrey started their first innings, the combination of moisture in the pitch and new ball kept Scott Newman and Jonathan Batty well on their toes.

However, they both fell in the sixth over to the impressive Graham Onions. Batty went first when he misjudged a low one and was trapped LBW and Newman went four balls later, misjudging a leave and being relieved of his off stump.

With Surrey 18/2, cool heads needed to prevail and a patient stand between Mark Butcher and Mark Ramprakash quickly developed. The pair saw off the intermittently dangerous Steve Harmison and began to make hay as the shine wore off the ball.

Late on, with the partnership on 99, Durham skipper Benkenstein brought Onions back into the attack and he claimed the valuable notch of Ramprakash, the Surrey man edging to Neil McKenzie at first slip.

It became a double blow for Surrey as Butcher, looking fluent on 65 repeated Rampraksh’s mistake, this time against Neil Kileen and Surrey ended the day on 123/4.


Durham vs. Surrey – Day One

Surrey started well in their second County Championship game of the season but let their advantage go with some loose bowling late on.

After getting off to a dream start by claiming the scalp of Michael de Venuto in the first over, players were back in the dressing room thanks to persistent rain.

Back out at 3.40pm, West Indian Pedro Collins – who ran out de Venuto early on – claimed two more wickets almost immediately, with Kyle Coetzer and Neil McKenzie both dispatched to leave the hosts on 13/3.

Sadly the Brown Caps were unable to capitalise on the start, with some loose bowling and a missed caught and bowled chance from Chris Jordan allowing Durham to end the day on 144/3 with Mark Stoneman and Dale Benkenstein looking well set.


Durham vs Surrey - Preview

Surrey's Australian star Matthew Nicholson has recovered from a bout of early season flu to lead the attack in the Brown Cap's second championship game of the year, away at Durham.

With Durham's Riverside pitch likely to encourage seam bowling, Surrey coach Alan Butcher has dropped spinner Chris Schofield to the second XI in favour of young paceman Jade Dernbach. Jimmy Ormond has also recovered from the bout of sickness that kept him out of Surrey's weekend Friends Provident tie with Middlesex and returns to the squad.

Surrey could be handed a boost by their hosts, with former England bowler Liam Plunkett currently thought to be struggling with a sore side. He would be replaced by either Neil Kileen or Mark Davies.

Surrey: (From) - Jonathan Batty (wkt), Scott Newman, Mark Ramprakash, Mark Butcher (capt), Usman Afzaal, James Benning, Ali Brown, Chris Jordan, Matthew Nicholson, Jade Dernbach, Saqlain Mushtaq, Pedro Collins, Jimmy Ormond.

Durham: (From) - Michael Di Venuto, Mark Stoneman, Kyle Coetzer, Neil McKenzie, Dale Benkenstein (capt), Phil Mustard (wkt), Paul Wiseman, Graham Onions, Mark Davies, Liam Plunkett, Ben Harmison, Steve Harmison, Neil Killeen.


Surrey vs. Middlesex – Friends Provident Trophy

An astonishing knock from England’s Andrew Strauss saw Surrey taste defeat in their opening one day match of 2008.

With flu sweeping through Alan Butcher’s squad, veteran Chris Lewis was drafted into action a full two months earlier than planned but after winning the toss and bowling, Surrey struggled in the field.

Aside from early success for Jade Dernbach, the likes of Ed Joyce (42) and Owais Shah (55) partnered Strauss, who blasted his way to 163 off just 130 balls with 23 fours and 4 sixes.

Pedro Collins was the pick of Surrey’s bowlers, taking 1/32 off ten overs. Aside from Chris Schofield who managed 1/44 off his ten, Jade Dernbach (2/63) and Chris Jordan (2/67) were expensive. With the 40-year-old Lewis going for 8.5 an over, Mark Butcher was forced to experiment and both James Benning and Usman Afzaal were badly punished by Middlesex as they finished on 315/6 off fifty overs.

Chasing an amended target of 307 from forty six, Surrey started well with Scott Newman (65) and James Benning (47) partnering well. However, a second ball duck from Mark Ramprakash set the trend and, other than Butcher (46), Batty (21) and Lewis (33), none of Surrey’s batsman got out of single figures.

Middlesex youngster Danny Evans impressed with 3/36 as did Gareth Berg with 4/50 from seven overs as Surrey fell to a disappointing 58 run defeat.

Surrey (0 points) lost to Middlesex (2 points) by 58 runs


Surrey vs. Lancashire - DAY FOUR

An unbelievably gloomy day in south London saw Surrey denied the opportunity to push for victory against Lancashire on Saturday.

Whilst no rain fell, the low cover of cloud that cloaked the Brit Oval saw no play possible in the morning session. Despite the umpire’s decision that play could start at 1.45pm, by the time the players had warmed up and prepared to make their way onto the field the light had changed again and nothing happened.

The game was eventually ended as a draw at 4.30pm when the first rain of the day began to fall.

Lancashire would have been far happier with the draw than Surrey, who felt they were in a decent position to push forward and take an opening victory, they also missed out on the chance of collecting maximum bowling points.

Surrey (11) drew with Lancashire (6)


Surrey vs. Lancashire - DAY THREE

Surrey bowled and fielded well on a bitterly cold day to give themselves an excellent chance of securing a win in their first fixture of the season.

With visitors Lancashire starting the day on 63/1, Jimmy Ormond picked up the wicket of Paul Horton, who was looking dangerous after progressing his overnight score to 59.

Chris Jordan also collected his first scalp of the season, bowling the Lancashire night watchman Gary Keedy, who had worked hard for a frustrating 29.

Once the dangerous Mal Loye was run out just two runs later, Lancashire were struggling on 117/4. However Aussie duo of Stuart Law (38) and Brad Hodge (43 not out) combined before Pedro Collins caught by Mark Ramprakash.

That brought the hungry Andrew Flintoff to the crease but, after he initially looked dangerous with a couple of powerful fours, Surrey captain Mark Butcher introduced Saqlain Mushtaq who constantly bamboozled Flintoff before having him caught in the slips.

Shortly afterwards, the Lancashire batsman gladly snapped up the umpire’s offer of bad light and play was ended for the day.


Surrey vs Lancashire - DAY TWO

Surrey continued their superb start to the season, with both Mark Butcher and Usman Afzaal scoring centuries as Surrey reached 537/5 declared.