Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: Blast prospects promising – but test will be when Currans and Roy join England’s white-ball bubble

Surrey have made a rampaging start to their T20 campaign, setting the standard in the South Group with three wins out of three.

It’s only the third time they have opened their T20 account with a trio of victories – 2003 (when they went on to take the title) and 2004 (when they reached the final) being the other two occasions.

Middlesex and Somerset were swept aside with comparative ease, but the South Londoners were made to work harder by Glamorgan – or, to be precise, Marnus Labuschagne, who hit 74 and then, with the ball, ended a Jason Roy onslaught.

But, as if to underline that it has been not only a homegrown but also a collective effort, the five-wicket victory over the Welshmen came down to an intelligent cameo from Jamie Smith, who saw Surrey over the line with an unbeaten 35.

Indeed, 91 per cent of the South Londoners’ runs in the opening three matches and 84 per cent of their wickets have come from former Surrey Academy alumni.

Having Roy and the Currans to kick-start things has taken Surrey to another level. The test will come when they go off to join England’s white-ball bubble. Who knows, maybe Hashim Amla will get a game.

But with Rory Burns and Ollie Pope to come back in, coupled with the signing of New Zealand sensation Kyle Jamieson, Surrey look well placed to heap pressure on the chasing pack – led by Kent.

Jamieson’s decision to extend his stay in England will also put him in prime position for a replacement deal to play in The Hundred, following the withdrawal of several overseas players from the tournament.

But the 26-year-old won’t pick up anything like the pay cheque he received from Royal Challengers Bangalore, who bid £1.48million for him in the IPL auction – the fourth-highest price ever paid in the competition for an overseas player.

England’s first defeat in a home Test series in seven years – to Jamieson’s Kiwis – has put the County Championship back in the spotlight. If only it enjoyed spotlight status when the ECB puts the fixtures together.

People are now questioning whether the championship is fit for the purpose of producing England Test cricketers.

For far too long, now, it has been pushed to the margins of the season, forcing it to be played in conditions which bear little relation to Test cricket – not just overseas, but also Tests in this country.

Judge it when it occupied the months of June, July and August.