Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: Some big-hitters back when T20 Blast resumes

Between them, Surrey and Essex have grabbed five of the last six County Championship titles. But, in the three summers following Covid, they only faced each other on three occasions, which has done little for the competition’s integrity – hence why, with both vying for this season’s crown, the chance to see them go toe-to-toe at home as well as away might just make this year’s race the finest for many a year.

With 10 teams in Division One and just 14 four-day fixtures, a schedule that cannot accommodate each team playing everyone else twice is a real drawback.

I believe the championship should revert to nine counties in each division. Even if it meant there were still instances of only facing some teams once, there wouldn’t be the imbalance we’ve got at the moment.

Surrey’s dominance of the T20 Blast’s South Group has owed much to Jamie Smith’s 285 runs at an average of 40.71.

With six wins plus a tie from the first eight games, the Oval outfit would already appear to have one foot in the draw for the quarter-finals.

When the Blast resumes on July 5, the South Londoners can look forward to welcoming Sam Curran, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan and Reece Topley back from the T20 World Cup.

Smith was also instrumental in terms of building a foundation for Dan Lawrence to do what he did, putting Surrey in the ascendancy at the start of this week’s four-dayer at Worcester.

By joining forces with Dominic Sibley (76) in a third-wicket stand of 149, Smith helped make up for the early departure of Rory Burns, third ball, and Ollie Pope (14) after the visitors were invited to bat first.

Smith, who hit 86 and puts his form down to trying not to overthink things, also went past 500 championship runs for the season at New Road. The England management will have certainly taken note.

“It wasn’t easy in the heat, especially after playing so many T20s in a row, plus reverting back to the championship is never easy,” said the 23-year-old.

“There were a lot of good partnerships and they left us in a nice place. I wasn’t surprised Worcester stuck us in, as we also wanted to have a bowl.

“You never quite know what a wicket is going to be like at this time of year, plus guys have had a lot of cricket coming into this, so there were a few tired bodies out there. But, after being put into bat, we were happy with 490.”

Smith also paid tribute to the groundstaff at Worcester, for getting New Road ready for championship cricket for the first time this season, after successive flooding.

“The outfield was probably a little bit slow to start with, but it got a little bit quicker as the game went on,” said Smith. “It’s been a fantastic effort from everyone involved, working on the ground to get it to the way it is.

“There was a fraction of movement with the new ball, so we looked to exploit that when we came to bowl.”

PICTURE: KEITH GILLARD