Cricket

SURREY TAKES SECOND XI TITLE

25 September 2009

John Prendergast
johnp@southwarknews.org

The future of Surrey Cricket looks bright as a side containing seven under nineteen players triumphed in the Second XI Championship final at Old Trafford last week.

The side, coached by former Surrey and England leg spinner Ian Salisbury, featured ten players below the age of 25 including seven currently working within the successful Pemberton Greenish Surrey Academy.

Surrey became Champions by virtue of securing a winning draw in what both sides turned into a one innings match, played over three days. Captained by the experienced Jonathan Batty, they won the toss and batted first, piling on 500 runs before declaring in the middle of day two.

Needing 501 to secure the title, Lancashire produced a number of good partnerships and went into the final session of the match needing just over a hundred runs with five wickets left. However, a superb spell from spinner Tom Smith - on loan from Sussex - wrapped up the title for Surrey with just over an hour to spare, as he recorded great figures of 5/90 from 34 overs.

Smith also impressed with the bat, scoring 88 not out from number eight, but was superseded by all-rounder and former Dulwich College schoolboy Chris Jordan who scored a superb 135 to move Surrey from potential trouble at 223/5 to 469/7 when he was out just before lunch on day two.

There were also fifties from potential stars of the future Seren Waters and Jason Roy, with the ever reliable skipper Batty also contributing a valuable 70 from number three. Other notable performances came from teenage seamer Richard Stevens, whose two wickets came at vital times and off spinner Simon King, Surrey's leading Second XI
wicket taker this year who took the final dismissal.

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