Surrey Players' Abroad part 3

Since the last instalment of Surrey Players Abroad, there has been a lot going on in the cricket world, with England going down to Pakistan in the test series and the razzmatazz of the IPL auction earlier this month. There have been 13 Surrey players away, either playing First Class, T20 or One Day cricket and here is how they’re getting on.

Steven Davies

After his match winning innings in the first tour match for England in Dubai, Steven Davies has been a squad player ever since. At the beginning of the series, it was felt that this would happen but with the way the series carried out, it was felt by some that he could have played, perhaps as a specialist batsman, due to the poor form of Bell, Morgan and co. He has once again missed out on both of the limited overs squads and has like last year, he has gone virtually the whole winter without proper cricket. This could have a negative effect on his start to the season, as last year it took him a few months to really find his form from the previous year.

Zander de Bruyn

After being frozen out of the picture at the Highveld Lions since November, Zander de Bruyn finally returned to first class cricket on January 26^th, scoring 92 in his first innings and claiming 4 wickets. In his next game, he hit 42 and went wicketless in a draw against Dolphins. However, he was once again dropped for the following game as big names, such as Alviro Peterson, had returned from international duty and pushed him out of the team.

Jade Dernbach

After his poor time in the Aussie Big Bash, playing just two games, Jade joined up with the England Lions in Sri Lanka, playing 3 games and taking 3 wickets. He was then named in both the ODI and T20 squads for England ahead of the upcoming series against Pakistan. His first game in the UAE was against the England Lions for England, in which the senior side won easily. Jade took 3-21 off of 8 overs, including Alex Hales off his first ball, to help England bowl the Lions out for less than 100. He has now made a claim to be named in the team for the first ODI on Monday, but faces stiff competition from Broad, Anderson and co.

Rory Hamilton- Brown

The Surrey skipper had a poor winter for Mashonaland Eagles and Wellington in the Twenty20 competitions. Since my last instalment, RHB played two more games for the New Zealand outfit before arriving back at the Kia Oval, scoring 13 and 15 respectively. He only played 4 games for them overall, barely averaging 10 in the process, so it was a winter that he will want to forget in a hurry and  will be looking to be in better form for the important season that awaits his team.

Chris Jordan

After his fantastic end to last season, Chris Jordan has had a relatively quiet winter so far. However, last week he was signed by Barbados as their overseas player in the West Indian 4 day competition. His first game could have been last Friday, but he wasn’t selected, as players such as Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach and Tino Best are ahead of him in the pecking order. However, if he does get a chance to play, it will be vital experience and practice, ahead of an important season for him after signing a new one year contract towards the end of last year.

Murali Kartik

New overseas signing Murali Kartik hasn’t played any cricket for the last 2 months. However, he has been retained by the Pune Warriors for this year’s Indian Premier League which starts on April 4^th. However, in the last few days, it has emerged that there is a possibility the Pune Warriors won’t participate in the competition due to a problem with their sponsorship for the tournament. But if they do take part, then Kartik will be unavailable for Surrey at the start of the season and could miss up to 7 championship games up to the end of May, which is a massive part of the season. Therefore, Chris Adams is looking at bringing a temporary replacement in, and the South African leg spinner Imran Tahir is a name which is rumoured that Adams is interested in.

Tom Maynard

Tom Maynard has played 4 games for the England Lions since the last instalment scoring 89 runs, including a 55 ball 68 against Bangladesh A in a Twenty20 game. However, his overall performance wasn’t deemed good enough by the England selectors  and he missed out on the Lions squad to tour Sri Lanka and Dubai. Like most of the England players, Maynard wasn’t bought in the IPL auction on February 4^th, so it will be down to his form for Surrey to regain his Lions place.

Stuart Meaker

Stuart Meaker has played a few of games for the England Lions in the last month, taking 4 wickets in the process. He was then named in the squad to travel to Sri Lanka and the UAE but had to withdraw due to a back injury and has flown back to the UK. So, disappointing for Meaker, who would have been looking to add to his 2 England caps, and now has to concentrate on being fit for the opening day of the season for his county.

Dirk Nannes

The 35 year old Australian has been a busy man over the winter, playing for Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Champions League, the Mountaineers in Zimbabwe and Melbourne Renegades in the Aussie Big Bash. And he will be getting busier, as last week he signed for the Highveld Lions, to play in the South African T20 competition alongside Zander de Bruyn, which starts on Friday 17^th of February. When that competition finishes, he will be travelling to India for the IPL to once again play in a star-studded RCB team, before joining up with Surrey in June for the FLt20.

Kevin Pietersen

I think it is fair to say, as well as most of the other batsman, KP has had an awful last month. Averaging less than 11 in the 3 tests against Pakistan is far less than what is expected of him, with many calling for him to be axed in the last test. However, Andy Flower and the selectors have stuck with him, naming him in both of the limited overs squads, and have pushed him up the order like he did in the 2011 World Cup. In the tour match against England Lions, he found some form hitting 41 in an easy victory for the senior team.

Jason Roy

Since the last instalment, JJ Roy has played 4 matches, 2 for England Lions and 2 for the Chittagong Kings. For the Lions, he struck 40 runs in the two Twenty 20 matches, but it wasn’t good enough and Roy was left out of the squad which travelled to Sri Lanka and the UAE. Roy was also one of the host of England players who went unsold in the IPL auction on February 4^th. However, on the 9^th, it was announced he would play in the inaugural Bangladesh Premier League for the Chittagong Kings. In his first game, Roy struck 43 off 25 balls in a win for his side. He then followed that up by hitting 36 in the next game against Khulna Royal Bengals, in another win for Chittagong. There is at least 8 games left in the competition for the Kings, so it will be a great experience for him.

Chris Tremlett

Chris Tremlett has had a retched month. It started off by going wicketless for England in the first test match against Pakistan. He then missed the second test due to a back injury and had to fly home to the UK. The injury was deemed serious enough for the big man to have an operation, which took place on February 8^th, and will keep him out of action until at least May. His test future is surely in doubt as, when fit, Tim Bresnan is ahead of him in the pecking order, and another serious injury may put off the selectors.

Gary Wilson

Since the end of the county season, Gary Wilson and Ireland haven’t played too much, apart from a couple of ODI’s against Canada in late September. However, last month it was revealed that Wilson, along with other players such as William Porterfield and Paul Stirling, had been given a category B Central Contract by Ireland. Gary will now be involved with his national team regularly, starting with a tour to Kenya this month, followed by a tour to the UAE for World T20 qualification in March.

Dirk's back for 2012 T20

Australian left-arm seamer Dirk Nannes has re-signed for Surrey for this year’s Friends Life T20.

Dirk is without doubt a Twenty 20 specialist and is still the leading wicket taker in the format’s history with 169 victims to his name. He had a very good first season with Surrey in 2011, claiming 19 wickets at an average of 20.05, including figures of 5-40 in a memorable London derby win at Lord’s. He will add vast experience to the Surrey bowling line up, who could be without Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker due to the ODI series against the West Indies coinciding with the FLT20.

Since leaving Surrey in June last year, Dirk has kept himself busy by playing for three different teams; The Royal Challengers Bangalore, Mountaineers from Zimbabwe and the Melbourne Renegade in the Aussie Big Bash. Before joining up with Surrey in June, Dirk will be playing in the IPL for RCB again, getting himself ready to try and help Surrey reach the knockout stage of the T20 for the first time since 2006.

Manager Chris Adams has also confirmed that overseas signing Murali Kartik will miss the start of the season due to his IPL commitments. Kartik could miss up to 7 Championship games if his team go far in the competition and Adams has said, once the IPL auction is over on February 4^th, he will be looking to bring in a quality overseas replacement for the vital start to Surrey’s return to LVCC Division 1.

With the possibility of Tom Maynard and Jason Roy being involved in the IPL, a batsman or an all-rounder could be ideal for Adams. The IPL runs until the end of May and if they are both bought in the auction, the batting will look weak for a vital part of the season. Both, especially Maynard, played big roles in Surrey's promotion last season and I feel Surrey need their best batsman available to compete in Division 1. With bowler's such as Dernbach, Lewis, Jordan, Dunn, Meaker, Batty and de Bruyn all possibly being available, the bowling looks far stronger than the batting, especially if Roy and Maynard aren't available. Apart from, Davies, de Bruyn, RHB and Ramprakash, there isn't much in the squad so I feel Adams will be looking to strengthen this if Maynard and Roy are bought on February 4th.

Surrey Players' Abroad Part 2

Over the winter, 10 of Surrey’s first team squad have travelled around the world to brush up on their skills, playing for their country or for a club team. Here is the second instalment of how they are getting on.

Rory Hamilton- Brown

The Surrey skipper hasn’t been in the best form over the winter months. After having a retched time in the group stage of the Zimbabwe T20 competition for the Mashonaland Eagles, his form didn’t get much better in the knockout stages, hitting scores of 26 and then just 5 in the final in which his team lost to Mountaineers. After the T20, RHB stayed with the Eagles for a one dayer and a 4 day match, hitting 21 in the former and getting a duck in the latter. Hamilton- Brown will of hoped his fortunes would have changed when he travelled to New Zealand to play in their T20 competition for Wellington, but it didn’t get much better. He scored 7 in his first game against Canterbury and 7 again and 1-19 against Northern Districts in the second game. He still has a few games to go and will be hoping to find the form Surrey fans know he has before April.

Jade Dernbach

England international Jade Dernbach hasn’t had the best times since signing for the Melbourne Stars to play in the Australian T20. He played the first two games of the tournament for the Stars, who are captained by Shane Warne, but conceded a combined 80 runs in those two games and has only claimed 1 wicket. As well as with his bowling, he has had some issued with his attitude shown on the pitch, which Surrey and England fans will be aware of. He has now lost his place in the side and hasn’t played since the 20^th of December. Jade will be hoping to prove everyone wrong and regain his place by letting his bowling do the talking.

Zander de Bruyn

In the first part of Surrey Players Abroad, I mentioned that Zander de Bruyn had lost his place in Highveld Lions team due to poor form. Sadly for Zander, this is still the case, as he hasn’t played since November 18^th as the Lions’ middle order has played well enough to keep him out. However, this could benefit Surrey as playing cricket all year round for a 36 year old could be tough, so a rest may be vital for him to be in top form come April.

Murali Kartik

Since signing in late November, Murali Kartik has played a couple of four day games for his Indian side Railways. In the first of these games, Murali hit 27 runs and took 5-27 in Uttah Pradesh’s second innings, to help his side to an innings victory. In the following game, Railways played Orissa with Murali claiming 3-74, as the sides settled for a draw after some relatively slow batting in the first innings’. It is not quite clear yet if Murali will play in the IPL or join Surrey in April, but whenever he does turn up, it has been a clever signing by Adams.

Tom Maynard

The England Lions’ have played 4 games on their tour of Bangladesh, but batsman Tom Maynard has played in just one of those, today in a poor defeat against Bangladesh A. The Lions were beaten by 75 runs, with Maynard scoring just 3. England still have 4 games remaining on their tour of Bangladesh, before they travel to Sri Lanka for 5 ODI’s, so there is plenty of time for Maynard to show how good he is.

Jason Roy

Jason Roy has played three of the 4 Lions’ games, but hasn’t done too well, leading him to be dropped for today’s game. He top scored with 40 in a warm up match against Bangladesh A, but in the following ODI’s he hit scores of 10 & 0. However, due to the terrible loss today, Roy may be able to find his way back into the team and pin down a place in a strong lions squad.

Stuart Meaker

Fast bowler Meaker has without doubt has had the better time of it than his 2 Surrey colleagues. Meaker has played in all 4 of England’s games, taking 8 wickets, including career best List A figures of 4-47. He will hoping to continue this form to try and alert the selectors attention once again and be picked for the ODI squad to play Pakistan.

Chris Tremlett

The big 6ft 8 bowler has finally made his cricketing come back this week, after not playing since July last year due to a variety of injuries, including more recently an eye infection. He was involved in England’s victory over a PCB X1 today, claiming 2 wickets in each innings, and bowling economically as always. Now that Tim Bresnan has flown home after an injury, Tremlett has to fight with Steve Finn, Graham Onions and even Monty Panesar for the 4^th bowler’s spot, after the spinner claimed a fifer on Wednesday.

Kevin Pietersen

After committing his future to Surrey for the rest of his international career in December, KP has  had an eventful few weeks. Firstly, last week, he transferred from the Deccan Chargers to the Delhi Daredevils for the 2012 IPL, in which he can play up to early- mid May due to the Test series against the West Indies starting on May 17^th. Since then, he has played in both of the warm up games for England, but has only scored a combined 57 runs, top scoring with 38.

Steve Davies

After being selected once again as Matt Prior’s understudy in Test cricket, Steve Davies would have been delighted to have been given his chance in the first warm up game due to an injury to Prior. Davies kept very well and scored 12 and a match winning 38* to help England to victory after they were in a spot of bother at 6 down with still 60 needed. However, Prior has recovered and was fit enough to play in the second warm up game this week, meaning Davies stepped aside. However, if Morgan and Pietersen continue their below par form, Davies may find a place in the side solely as a batsman.

Surrey Players' Abroad Part 1

While most of the squad are back at the Kia Oval training, over the winter, some of the first team squad have travelled around the world to brush up on their skills and keep up their fitness, ready for the 4^th of April. Here is how a few of them are getting on.

Zander de Bruyn

Zander has travelled back to his native South Africa to play for the Highveld Lions in all forms of the game. After his fantastic debut season for Surrey, he has not had the best time of it. Since he has departed London, he has played 9 matches in total, 4 first class and 5 one dayers. His top score of the season so far is 62, which he got against the Warriors, but this score is his only 50. He has bowled ok, with his best figures of 3-51 coming against the Warriors again, but this time in a one day game. Overall, he has scored 200 runs at an average of 22.22, some way off what he was getting for Surrey and, he has claimed 11 wickets at an average of 40.09. This dip in form has now cost his place in the Lions’ team recently, and he will have to work hard to get back into it.

Rory Hamilton- Brown

The Surrey skipper has signed for 2 teams over the winter, the Zimbabwean team Mashonaland Eagles and Wellington in New Zealand, both in the countries’ respective T20 competitions. He started off for the Eagles playing in two friendlies against the Kenyan national team, in which his team won them both. He top scored in the second of those friendlies with 26. The T20 competition started on 25^th of November where the Tuskers defeated the Eagles, with RHB scoring just 9. They lost their second game as well against the Mountaineers, where former Surrey bowler Dirk Nannes trapped the Surrey skipper LBW first ball. It continued to get worse for the Eagles when they lost against the Rhinos, a game in which Hamilton- Brown skippered. RHB took the only two wickets of the Rhinos’ innings and scored 19 in reply but it wasn’t enough as they lost by 7 runs.  The Eagles finally won a game when they beat Southern Rocks but Rory once again failed with the bat and his place in the side is surely up for debate. After this competition has finished, Rory will join up with Wellington to play in the second half of the New Zealand T20.

Jade Dernbach

Jade Dernbach has signed for the Melbourne Stars this winter to play in the Australian Big Bash T20 league. He will play alongside legendary cricketer Shane Warne and Sussex all rounder Luke Wright. The competition will start on the 17^th of December, with the stars at home to Thunder.

Murali Kartik

New overseas signing Murali Kartik has only played a couple of games since leaving Somerset in October. He went wicketless against Mumbai in a 4 day game in early November but did score 48, showing that he is capable down the order. A week later, his side Railways played Karnataka and Kartik picked up 5-88, but couldn’t prevent his side losing by an innings.

2012 Fixtures Announced

The fixtures for the 2012 county season have today been released by the ECB, with some tough early games for Surrey.

Surrey will start the season back in Division 1 in the County Championship against Sussex at the Kia Oval on 4th of April, the earliest ever start to a county season. They will then travel to Lord's to face the felllow promoted team Middlesex. This will be followed with two more home games, against Worcestershire on the 19th and Durham on the 26th.

On May 4th, Surrey will begin their defence on the CB40, with a tough game against last year's finalists Somerset, under the floodlights at the Kia Oval. The FLT20 campaign will start on June 14th against Middlesex at Lord's, followed by Essex the following day at The Kia Oval.

Festival cricket will be reduced this year, as the Whitgift festival seems to have been scrapped for the time being. However, the Guildford festival will stay and Lancashire and Nottinghamshire are the visitors to Woodbridge Road in 2012.

Surrey will end the season with a tricky game away to Lancashire at Old Trafford in the County Championship between 11th and 14th of September, but Surrey will be hoping their season won't end until the 15th, where the CB40 final is scheduled.

To view a complete fixture list of the 2012 season, click here http://kiaoval.com/sites/oval/files/oval12/2012.pdf.