Vikram Solanki: Surrey determined to bounce back from shock defeat in County Championship opener

BY MARCUS HOOK

Surrey’s head coach Vikram Solanki says his players are determined to bounce back from last week’s shock opening game defeat to Gloucestershire in County Championship Group Two.

A Ben Foakes hundred gave the South Londoners’ hope of turning the tide on the final day.

But Gloucestershire reeled in a victory target of 228 with ease, and in a style that has rarely been seen from the Bristolians since their new management team of Ian Harvey and Mark Alleyne were in their prime, 20 years or so ago.

“Disappointing would sum it up,” said Solanki following the eight-wicket loss at Bristol. “We were below par with the bat to start with. We managed to fight our way back into the game, but really left ourselves too much to do. All things considered we were second best.

“We should have made it a lot harder than we did.

“But I go back to the first innings with the bat being below par and our first session with the ball being poor. We conceded 100 runs before we got started.

“We fought back very well with the ball in sessions two and three (on day two), but when you concede that much of an advantage you’re always having to claw your way back into the game.

“We managed that to some extent. We batted well in the second innings. Ben Foakes obviously batted very well, as did Rory Burns. But then, again, we were poor with the ball. There’s no getting away from that.

“You can’t allow yourselves to get so far behind. But credit to Gloucestershire. They went about the game in a planned way, and hung in there even when we had those partnerships. They just stayed in the game and were able to take advantage in the latter stages.”

While he was also encouraged by Reece Topley’s 5-66 with the ball, Solanki admitted the Surrey players were hurting.

“Reece has had a really interesting journey,” said the former England batsman.

“For him to get a five-fer was great. We know the sort of qualities he possesses and he showed some of them in the first innings. I’m pleased also for Gus Atkinson, who bowled well in the first innings. But there’s no getting away from a group of lads who are quite disappointed at how we’ve started our campaign.

“We’ve spoken about how we can put things right. It’s only ourselves who can go and do that and the aim, against Leicestershire, is to rectify those mistakes.”

Surrey also took a while before they got into their stride in the 2020 campaign.

“For all of the tough periods, for all of the wins we had last year, it very much makes me realise how fortunate I am to be involved with this group of players,” added Solanki, who replaced Michael Di Venuto at Surrey in June 2020.

“They’ve worked extremely hard and we’ll continue to work hard throughout the season to try and get the best out of them.

“We were pleased with how we managed to turn things around in 2020. There’s no getting away from the fact that we certainly weren’t as good as we should have been in our Bob Willis Trophy campaign.

“But our T20 campaign was an entirely different animal altogether. It was exciting to see some young fellas stick their hand up when given the opportunity. We played well and to a plan that helped us to a good run, it was just a shame we fell at the last hurdle.”

Solanki will be looking to overseas fast bowler Kemar Roach to spark a similar fight back.

Roach has now completed the requisite period of isolation since flying in to the UK from the Caribbean.

“We just felt that a senior figure amongst a group of very capable bowlers would be the right addition,” said Solanki.

“We’ve got a very good pack of bowlers, but injuries are always a concern. So, we wanted somebody of the quality of Kemar Roach around, not only on the field, but also for his experience.”

SURREY v LEICESTERSHIRE (probable line-ups)

Surrey:

Burns (capt), Stoneman, Amla, Pope, Smith, Foakes (wk), Overton, Atkinson, Roach, Topley, Virdi.

Leicestershire:

S Evans, Azad, Dearden, Ackermann (capt), Hill, Swindells (wk), Mike, Parkinson, Wright, Griffiths, A Evans.

KEY PLAYERS

Ollie Pope (Surrey) – Following scores of 22 and 0 at Bristol, the 23-year-old will be glad to be back at the Kia Oval, where he averages 90.63 with the bat in first-class cricket.

Hasan Azad (Leicestershire) – The lynchpin in the Foxes’ batting order ever since he burst on to the scene two years ago, and averaged 56.37 in the County Championship.

FORM GUIDE

Both Surrey and Leicestershire got off on the wrong foot last week. The latter suffered an innings defeat at the hands of Hampshire, while Surrey were below par in all departments against Gloucestershire.

STAT

Reece Topley is only the fourth bowler since 1996 to mark his first-class debut for Surrey with a five-wicket haul. The others are Sam Curran (2015), Ravi Rampaul (2016) and Dan Moriarty (2020)

STAR MAN

Ben Foakes – made 26 and 133 with the bat against Gloucestershire. He averages 103.16 against the Bristolians in four-day cricket. No doubt he’s put a ring around the rematch (May 27-30) in his diary.

BEST MOMENT

Reece Topley bagging a first County Championship five-fer since his Essex days in 2014.

NEXT FIXTURES

April 15-18: Surrey v Leicestershire at the Kia Oval (LV County Championship)
April 22-25: Middlesex v Surrey at Lord’s (LV County Championship)