Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: Duo excite in England Test whitewash but club suffer One-Day Cup woes

The performances of Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith in England’s three-Test whitewash of West Indies have had the pundits positively purring at the injection of new, young, Surrey-manufactured talent

Atkinson’s 22 wickets at an average of 16.22 saw him walk away with the player of the series award, after delivering pace, swing, seam, short stuff as well as reverse on debut.

The 26-year-old revealed he has altered his run-up since returning from the tour of India in March, where he was deemed surplus to requirements – lengthening it by three metres.

“I changed my run up,” said Atkinson. “That was something I felt I needed to do. I didn’t feel consistent at the crease, so improving my run-up has helped a lot.

“The reason I pulled out of the IPL was to get ready for the Test summer.

“I felt playing for Surrey in the championship was important. Equally playing in the T20 Blast helped my rhythm.”

Jamie Smith’s first three Tests produced 207 runs at an average of 51.75, but his showing with the wicketkeeping gloves also turned heads.

“The initial signs are that the Surrey man is not overawed by the scale of the task of filling Jonny Bairstow’s buccaneering batting and Ben Foakes’s silky glovework,” wrote Simon Hughes in The Times. “In the main he has made taking Mark Wood’s howitzers look like he was catching flies.”

Former England captain Michael Vaughan wrote: “He looks different class to me, and I don’t think it will be long before people are asking if number seven is too low for him.”

Last week, Surrey marked the 50th anniversary of their very first List A trophy win by welcoming back to The Oval six members of the side that lifted the Benson & Hedges Cup in 1974 – Younis Ahmed, Alan Butcher, Geoff Howarth, Arnold Long, Pat Pocock and Stewart Storey.

The South Londoners have clinched a further six List A titles since.

However, barring an outlandish turn of events in what remains of the One-Day Cup, they won’t be adding to that tally in 2024. Another County Championship, maybe, and perhaps a second domestic T20 crown, but certainly not a full set.

Even allowing for the 15 players Surrey have lost to The Hundred and England, they looked well short in the Metro Bank.

The Oval outfit were always going to struggle after opting, for the second year running, against backfilling with an overseas player or two.

But despite the presence of three former Test cricketers – in the shape of Rory Burns, Ben Foakes and Dom Sibley – the South Londoners’ opening three games have, at times, been frustrating to witness.

An all-rounder capable of bowling a tight line and length would have come in very handy given the margins of defeat to Yorkshire and Gloucestershire.

The less said about last Sunday’s clash with Glamorgan the better. When fans turn up at The Oval on a perfect summer’s day for a 50-over contest, they don’t expect to only see 50 overs in total.

The hosts’ 121 all out represented their second lowest List A total since 2005. Only the 88 they mustered at Bristol in 2019 being worse.

With Glamorgan breasting the tape with 204 deliveries to spare, you have to go back to Chelmsford in 2006, when Essex won with 207 balls up their sleeves, to find a more one-sided List A reverse involving Surrey.

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