Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: Weather set to play a part in Vitality Blast quarter-final hopes

When you draw back the curtains in the morning you’re reminded that it’s Wimbledon fortnight.

The threat of rain has continued to influence county cricket’s Vitality Blast, which is fine if you’re one of the teams with wins in the bank; not so if your group campaign needs a kick-start.

The South group table suggests the Oval outfit – who have lost three of their last five – are still en route to a quarter-final place. But the absence of England stars Jason Roy and the Currans has seen them look a touch fallible.

That’s partly because Surrey seem to find it harder to adapt to batting first. It’s also because in 20-over cricket anyone, on their day, is capable of beating anyone.

But if time is lost due to the weather, resulting in game time being truncated, it becomes something of a lottery because there’s a perception that the Duckworth-Lewis method for deciding shortened games isn’t as reliable in T20 as it is in 50-over cricket.

Surrey dodged a bullet in last Sunday’s contest at Hove, which was one delivery away from being regarded a match when the rain took hold, nearly five overs into the hosts’ reply.

Safety comes into the umpires’ thinking, and I get that Sussex’s Phil Salt and Luke Wright were both struck on the helmet by skiddy bouncers from Gus Atkinson and Kyle Jamieson. But all Wright needed to do was block one more ball from Jamieson (or let it pass through to the keeper) and the Sharks would have got the victory.

But you need a bit of luck and maybe, just maybe, the point Surrey earned from the no result could make all the difference when the dust settles on the group phase.

Batting second definitely seems the way to go. In the last 43 T20 matches involving Surrey (where a toss was made), the captain winning the coin flip has elected to bowl first in 33 (or 77 per cent), including each of the last 17.

Surrey’s T20 record since the start of last season underlines how much more comfortable they are chasing a target, rather than setting one.

They have lost just one out of their last 12 batting second, while, batting first, it’s four defeats out of eight.

Even in the absence of key players, including Ben Foakes (hamstring), Liam Plunkett (calf strain) and Reece Topley (side strain) an indication of the riches at Alec Stewart’s disposal is the decision to allow fast bowler Conor McKerr and opener Mark Stoneman to go out on loan.

Stoneman marked his debut for Yorkshire with only his second T20 half-century in five years, while McKerr was ever present during his recent stint at Derby.

But given that McKerr and Stoneman are unlikely to be drafted into The Hundred, it’s great to see them getting some game time ahead of the Royal London One-Day Cup, during which Surrey will give up at least 11 players to The Hundred.

Before all that there are two crucial T20s against Kent, with a visit to Hampshire in the County Championship sandwiched in-between.

If Surrey are to qualify for Division One in the championship they need to beat Hampshire next week and Somerset the week after. Having Kyle Jamieson on board as overseas replacement for Sean Abbott gives them a great chance.

But as to how many Surrey fans will get to see the game at Southampton has been thrown into doubt following the decision, driven by social distancing, to only allocate tickets to Hampshire members.

It appears cautious in the extreme given that the Ageas Bowl is permitted to hold 25 per cent of its 25,000 capacity; and that, in 2019, the average number for a day’s championship cricket at Southampton was fewer than one thousand.

But we mustn’t lose sight of the fact that Covid-19 remains a threat to our well-being, with even those who have been fully vaccinated contracting the disease.

I’m glad to see that cricket is not shying away from the issue.

Seven Sussex players have been forced to self-isolate following a positive Covid-19 test for an eighth – 20-year-old opener Tom Clark.

Also, the Glamorgan side that ended Surrey’s 11-match unbeaten run batting second in T20 was missing Australians Marnus Labuschagne and Michael Neser and key batsman Nick Selman, after the latter tested positive for coronavirus.

KENT v SURREY
probable line-ups

Surrey:
Jacks, Smith (wk), Evans, Pope, Burns, Overton, Clark, Atkinson, Jamieson, Batty (capt), Moriarty.

Kent:
Bell-Drummond (capt), Crawley, Denly, Leaning, Cox (wk), Blake, Stevens, Milne, Ahmed, Milnes, Klaassen.

KEY PLAYERS
Dan Moriarty (Surrey, below) – took five wickets at an average of 15.20, with an economy rate of just 6.33 runs per over, across the three clashes with the Spitfires in 2020.

Daniel Bell-Drummond (Kent) – not only Kent’s leading run-maker in this year’s Blast, he also, with 425 runs at an average of 30.35, has a decent T20 record against Surrey.

FORM GUIDE
Kent, like Surrey, are at the right end of the South Group. However, both need to show more consistency if they are to cement a home tie in the quarter-finals. The Spitfires have lost two out of their last three, while the Oval outfit have just two wins in five after opening their Vitality Blast account with a trio of successes.

STAT
Thirteen different players have hit a six for Surrey in this year’s Vitality Blast.

STAR MAN
Ollie Pope – has made scores of 52 not out, 18, 60 and 23 since returning from the England fold.

BEST MOMENT
Jamie Overton, having just launched Sussex fast bowler Tymal Mills over square leg for six, going over to make sure the young boy whom it landed on was okay.

NEXT FIXTURES
July 2: Kent v Surrey v at Canterbury (Vitality Blast)
July 4-7: Hampshire v Surrey at the Ageas Bowl (LV County Championship)

PICTURES: KEITH GILLARD