Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: Ben Foakes is best keeper I’ve watched at Surrey

Jamie Smith marked his call-up to the England Test squad by hitting a hundred that was vital in terms of Surrey making the early running in this week’s top of the table championship clash with Essex.

If all goes well for the 23-year-old, who has looked a million dollars with the bat in all formats this season, the chance to play in the IPL will surely beckon, which makes you wonder how much the South Londoners will see of him going forward.

Michael Vaughan has written that he finds the decision to jettison Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow, and hand the wicketkeeping gloves to Smith, staggering.

I don’t always agree with the former England captain, but he has a point, especially in the case of Foakes, who is the best keeper I’ve ever clapped eyes on – and there have been some great ones since I first walked through the turnstiles at The Oval in 1976.

Foakes has struggled batting down the order at international level. For Surrey, he tends to bat a five, which means he has time to play himself in before opening his shoulders when it’s there to be hit.

For Foakes to be told, in effect, the reason he has lost the gloves has nothing to do with his keeping must feel like a hammer blow.

Unless Surrey can negotiate an extension to Sai Sudharsan’s stint at The Oval, they will head into the resumption of the T20 Blast without any overseas players, now that Sean Abbott and Spencer Johnson’s spells for this season have reached their conclusion.

I do hope Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan and Reece Topley – who are back from the T20 World Cup – aren’t rested with the Hundred in mind, or it will even test Surrey’s resources, given that four others could be playing against the Windies at Lord’s next week.

But Surrey aren’t short of a player or two, as is evident given they can afford to let fast bowler Conor McKerr and off-spinner Amar Virdi go out on loan (to Yorkshire and Worcestershire respectively).

McKerr’s five wickets against Gloucestershire last week contributed to the Tykes’ innings victory at Scarborough, which might just kick-start Yorkshire’s bid for championship promotion.

From a purely selfish perspective, in terms of getting to away games, it suits me that Middlesex and Sussex appear to be in prime position to be back in Division One next summer.

MAIN PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD