Frustrating first day at Guildford

Lancashire will be the far happier team after Day one of the LVCC Division One match at Guildford, after ending the day on 245-3, but it wasn't without chances.

On a glorious summers morning, Gareth Batty won the toss and elected to field first. A surprising decision, but with some cloud about and it being the first game since the razzmatazz of the T20, bowling may not have been a bad idea. Jordan and Linley were the 2 from the 13 man squad to be left out, which meant Chris Tremlett and Zafar Ansari made their first appearance in the Championship this year.

Early wickets was the order of the day, but they didn't arrive, as Stephen Moore and Paul Horton got their side off to a solid start without many alarms. An hour into the day, Stuart Meaker made the breakthrough when he beat Moore for pace and trapped him LBW. 

That was the last wicket before lunch though, as Karl Brown joined Horton and he started to up the rate. Batty ringed the changes but struggled to apply pressure onto the Lancashire pair, who batted rather comfortably. There was a chance just before lunch though, as Tremlett drew Brown into a false shot, but the skipper put down a straightforward chance at first slip.

Horton was looking imperiously good, but he also gave a chance straight after the lunch break, when Kartik couldn't hold on to a low chance at second slip, once again off Tremlett. The partnership went past 100, and even though they gave those chances, it reaffirmed the miscalculation Batty had made in electing to bowl first.

Meaker was brought back into the attack, and he picked up the second, and his second, when Brown looked to run him down to 3rd man but could only edge through to the safe hands of Steve Davies. Ashwell Prince was the next man in, and straight away looked at ease at the crease, as he and Horton took their side to tea just 2 down.

A heavy rain shower in the interval lead to a delay to the evening session, and after coming out for a couple of overs to gain their first Batting point, bad light led to another delay.

The players finally managed to get back out in the middle at 20 past 5, still with 17 overs remaining in the day. The batsman managed to negotiate 11 of those overs, with Horton going to a superb championship hundred, but Tremlett finally had his first wicket of the day, when Batty managed to hold onto Horton at slip. 

But just 3 balls later, the poor fielding returned, when the normally reliable Davies put down a relatively easy chance down the leg side off Croft.  A third drop off the bowling of Tremlett. Croft survived another chance toward the end of the day, this time off Meaker, as Kartik once again put one down, but this time it was an extremely tough chance down to his right. Prince and Croft took their side to the close just the 3 down, completing a fine day for the visitors. 

Plenty of negatives in our performance today, especially with the fielding, as 4 catches went down. We have 3 spinners in our side, but worryingly they were played extremely comfortably by the batsman, and im not sure why Batty persisted with Kartik in the final session as he was so ineffective.

The main positive was the return to First Class cricket of Chris Tremlett, who bowled extremely well, and on another day would have had 4 wickets. 

Outsiders looking in would say "What was Gareth Batty thinking?" when he chose to bowl first, but the conditions did suit it at the time and the pitch was one of the greenest I have seen at the Festival. However, it didn't play like he thought it would, and if we fail to pick up early wickets tomorrow, Lancashire may bat us out of the game.

Squad for Guildford Festival named

Chris Adams has named a 13 man squad for the return of the Liverpool Victoria County Championship, as Lancashire make their first ever First Class appearance at Woodbridge Road, Guildford, starting tomorrow.

Chris Adams has been forced to make 5 changes to the 13 man squad that was named for the last Championship game, the defeat against Sussex at Horsham. Rory Hamilton-Brown is on compassionate leave, Ramps has retired, Jade is injured, Gary Wilson is on Ireland duty, and of course Tom Maynard tragically passed away 3 weeks ago.

That means there will be a chance for the younger guys in the squad to impress, with Rory Burns and Zafar Ansari in contention of a starting place. Rory Burns has been in wonderful form for the Second X1 and his club side Banstead this year, and surely deserves a start at the top of the order.

I presume that Ansari will play and bat at that number 6 position which is currently vacant in the side. I have been impressed with Zaf this year, where he was very consistent with bat and ball in the T20, and I would be intrigued to see how he gets on when having more time at the crease.

Chris Tremlett has been named in the squad, and will presumably make his first Championship appearance of the season, alongside the two star bowlers for Surrey in the competition, Jon Lewis and Stuart Meaker. It is great to see Tremlett back, and even though he still needs some miles in his legs, he will add vast amounts of quality and international experience to our attack. Tim Linley, our star bowler from 2011, has been waiting in the wings for months but looks once again to miss out on selection for the starting X1.

If it is Rory Burns to open, then it would be either Steve Davies or Jason Roy to open with him. Davies was Surrey’s highest scorer in the FLt20, but only averaged 18, which outlines how poor the batsman were in the competition. Jason Roy had a torrid T20 campaign, not registering one half century, and averaging just over 10. However, he did strike a quickfire 40 against Middlesex last Friday to suggest that he is starting to find some form, and he has to play, as Adams doesn’t have many other options.

Lancashire are nowhere near as strong as they were last year, when they won the Championship for the first time in 70 years. They sit one place above us in the table, but have played one game more, so a win here will put us above them in 6^th. Their side hasn’t changed an awful lot since last year, but one more year into the legs of Glenn Chapple and Gary Keedy make them look like an ageing side who can be beaten by a young and vibrant Surrey side. It is sure to be an intriguing contest.

It is almost certain that the weather will play a part in one way or another in the coming days, but as we have seen with Surrey this season, a result is possible in less than 3 days. After the difficult last few weeks for the club, we finally registered our first win since the passing of Tom Maynard at the weekend, and we will be looking to take momentum from that into this must win game. On paper we have a stronger bowling line up, with possibly 5 internationals in our attack, but with the likes of Prince, Moore and Horton, their batting line up looks experienced, so it will certainly not be easy.

We haven’t had the greatest records at Woodbridge Road in recent years, as we haven’t won a County Championship game there since 2002, where we beat the White Rose of Yorkshire by 6 wickets. However, last year’s defeat to Middlesex will be remembered by Surrey fans for one outstanding innings, 141 by Tom Maynard. It was one of the greatest innings I have ever seen, and let’s hope our boys can put in a performance this week that Tom would be proud of.

Surrey Squad:

Gareth Batty (C)

Steve Davies (WK)

Rory Burns

Zander de Bruyn

Kevin Pietersen

Jason Roy

Zafar Ansari

Jon Lewis

Murali Kartik

Stuart Meaker

Chris Tremlett

Chris Jordan

Tim Linley

Lancashire Squad:

Glenn Chapple (C)
Stephen Moore

Paul Horton

Steven Croft

Ashwell Prince

Karl Brown

Gareth Cross (WK)

Tom Smith

Ajmal Shahzad

Kyle Hogg

Gary Keedy

Simon Kerrigan

Oliver Newby

Mark Ramprakash: The Career of a Legend Part 3

Here is the final part of three blogposts I have written about Mark Ramprakash’s career between the years of 2009 and 2012.

2009 was yet another disappointing year for Surrey, as they failed to bounce straight back up to Division One under new coach Chris Adams. Ramps’ close friend, and club captain, Mark Butcher, announced his retirement from the game halfway through the season after a persistent knee injury, and Surrey were struggling to find a settled line up, as experienced players didn’t perform and the youngsters were still raw.

However, Ramps once again had a prolific year, averaging over 90 in the Championship, which led to many calling for him to be recalled to the England side for the final test of the 2009 Ashes. However, it wasn’t to be as Jonathan Trott was given the nod, and as they say, the rest is history.

This disappointment didn’t deter Ramprakash, who once again was the leading run scorer in the country the following year, scoring over 1500 runs, but a refreshed Surrey side with Hamilton-Brown as skipper couldn’t get promoted, but were certainly looking more promising.

At the end of the 2010 season, Ramprakash had gone past 40 and in October suffered an injury to his anterior cruciate ligament in his knee. This was the first real injury that he had suffered throughout his career, and according to many, was the reason why his form has dipped dramatically over the last two seasons.

He had his worst season for Surrey in 2011, failing to reach 1000 First Class runs and scoring just the one century, and failing to get into the limited overs side. The team enjoyed success in both forms of the game, reclaiming promotion to Division One and winning the Clydesdale Bank 40, but Ramps failed to rediscover the form he had shown previously.

This year was even worse. Ramps looked absolutely nothing like the player he was before and even though nobody wished it, retirement looked more and more likely, as he was dropped from the side for the first time in ten years, and once again couldn’t break into the limited overs side. He scored just 107 runs from 10 innings, and it was hard for me as a supporter to see a man so good before, struggle so badly.

Mark Ramprakash is not only a hero of mine, but a legend of the game and Surrey County Cricket Club. As you have seen, he had an illustrious career, even though he never quite made it at international level.

As well as being a wonderful First Class batsman, he was also a fantastic one day player. He didn’t have the ability to score a 50 ball hundred, but his record of 13,273 runs at an average just over 40 speaks for itself, and for many years he was the leading run scorer in Domestic Twenty20, finishing his career with 1719 runs at a good average of over 32.

There are many wonderful memories that Ramps has given us throughout his career, but my favourite without doubt is when he got to his hundredth hundred. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing at the time, when he cut David Wainwright behind square for four, and it still gives me goose bumps when I hear it now.

One of the greatest batsmen to ever play for our wonderful club. Thanks for the memories Mark, you will be sorely missed.

Mark Ramprakash: The Career of a Legend Part 2

Here is part two of three blogposts I have written about Mark Ramprakash’s career between the years of 2002 and 2008.

Ramps could now concentrate on playing for Surrey with less media pressure on him, and had a good second season for his county in which he scored 4 centuries, including 2 double centuries, helping Surrey to their 3^rd Championship in 4 years. The Championship was won even though the team had suffered a tragedy before the season started, with Ben Hollioake dying in a car crash in March at the age of just 24.

This obviously hit the team, and especially his brother and club captain Adam, hard, but they managed to win the Championship that year, and follow it up the year after, by winning the inaugural Twenty20 Cup, in which Ramps was a vital part of. He also scored 6 centuries in the Championship, but without being able to catch the selectors eyes enough, as he was ignored for all international games.

In 2004, Ramps had his most prolific season yet for Surrey when he struck 7 centuries in the Championship to lead them to 3^rd place in Division One. However, the wonderful Surrey side from the previous few years started to break up, as Adam Hollioake retired at the end of the 2004 season, which was a year after another Surrey legend, Alec Stewart, had hung up his gloves. 

Young players had to be brought into the team quickly, and even though they were talented, they weren’t anywhere close to what had preceded them. Ramps took over the captaincy at the beginning of the 2005 season because Mark Butcher was injured, and even with players such as Azhar Mahmood and Harbhajan Singh, Surrey were relegated to Division Two, finishing just one point behind London rivals Middlesex. Ramps still managed 6 centuries, as he continued to show the selectors what they were missing.

Even though it was Division Two, Ramps had his best season for Surrey by far in 2006, as he scored over 2000 runs in the Championship at an average of over 100, to lead Surrey straight back up into the first division. He scored his highest First Class Score in his career with an unbeaten 301 against Northamptonshire and he claimed the PCA player of the year award at the end of the season.

The return to Division One was a struggle at the start, as Surrey were right at the bottom for a long time in the season, but largely thanks to Ramprakash, they managed to survive. People doubted whether he could repeat what he did in Division two in the First Division, but he did. He once again scored over 2000 runs in the Championship, he hit 10 centuries, and became the first batsman in English Domestic cricket to average over 100 in two consecutive seasons. He was named one of the Wisden cricketers of the year for 2007, and even at the age of 37, a recall to the England side must have been on the cards.

However, once again the recall didn’t come, so Ramprakash had to concentrate on his time at Surrey. 2008 was a difficult year for Surrey, as they failed to win a game in the County Championship, the first time they had done this in their history, and were duly relegated back to Division Two, with Ramps covering Mark Butcher as captain. However, 2008 was once again a fantastic year for Ramprakash and one that will most definitely stick in the memory bank for years to come.

He started the season off by scoring 2 centuries in the first 3 matches, to take his overall tally of First Class Hundreds to 99. Media and fan pressure seemed to get to Ramprakash, as he went months without being able to secure that illustrious ton. However, on August 2^nd he finally completed the feat when he scored an unbeaten 112* against Yorkshire at Headingley, the place of his first hundred back in 89. He was the 25^th man to reach achievement, and as I said before, he will be the last.

Check back here for tomorrow for the 3^rd and final part of my take on Mark Ramprakash’s career.

Mark Ramprakash: The Career of a Legend Part 1

At the age of 42, after a 25 year career spanning 4 decades, Mark Ramprakash has decided to retire from First Class cricket. Here is part one of three blogposts I have written about his illustrious career, between the years of 1987 and 2002.

Let me start by throwing a few stats at you. Mark Ravin Ramprakash has played a total of 461 First Class matches, a massive amount which with the way the modern day game is evolving, no-one will ever get near again. He is 38^th in the list of all time leading run scorers in First Class Cricket, with 35,659; another stat that will never be reached again. Of the 37 people above him in the list, only 3 have a better average than his of 53.14. But he will most likely be remembered for his remarkable achievement of being the 25^th, and likely the last, man to reach one hundred First Class centuries.

He made his First Class debut back in 1987 at age of just 17, and immediately made an impact scoring an unbeaten 63 for Middlesex against Yorkshire, and on July 20^th 1989 he made his first First Class century at Headingley. From there on then, he began to get better and better. At the age of just 21, Ramps was selected for his first Test Match against the firepower bowling line up of the West Indies, which included the likes of Ambrose, Walsh and Marshall. He made 27 in both innings, and even though it wasn’t an excellent start, it was promising.

However, his Test career never really lit up, but while he continued to score heavily in county cricket for Middlesex, he was always in the selectors minds. It wasn’t until March 13^th 1998, nearly 7 years after his debut, that Ramps made his first Test Match century, against the team he played on his debut, the West Indies. After being in and out of the team, he finally made another century against Australia in the Ashes of 2001 at his home ground the Oval.

The winter before his Ashes hundred, he moved south of the river to Surrey, a team who had won the County Championship in the previous two years. It didn’t take him long to make his mark at his new club, scoring 146 on his debut against Kent at the Oval in April 2001. At the end of his first season, he toured New Zealand with England, in what turned out to be his final test appearances. He finished his Test Career with 2350 runs at an average of 27.32 from 52 matches. Many compared him to Graeme Hick, who also struggled to adapt to international cricket, but was a prolific county batsman.

Check back here tomorrow for part 2 of my take on Mark Ramprakash’s career.