www.ovalworld-online.com/itsasurreything.htm VOLUME.28 ISSUE NUMBER.3 START OF THE SEASON 2015 EDITED BY MARCUS HOOK PLEASE NOTE THAT THE VIEWS EXPRESSED IN THIS NEWSLETTER ARE PURELY PERSONAL OPINIONS. ANY CORRESPONDENCE REGARDING 'OVAL WORLD' SHOULD BE ADDRESSED TO MARCUS HOOK AT FLAT 1, 67 BIRDHURST RISE, SOUTH CROYDON, SURREY, CR2 7EJ or E-MAIL
[email protected] FIRST INNINGS - THE HOLY GRAIL by Marcus Hook Surrey may only be two matches into the new season, however it's already clear that climbing out of Division Two of the County Championship will be far from easy. The alliance of the number one batsman in the world, a resurgent Steven Davies and the new found consistency of Rory Burns, sees Surrey's batting in fine fettle. But whereas batsmen (especially those capable of saving a match) are worth their weight in gold in Division One, the best guarantee of promotion in Division Two is bowling sides out twice. Surrey have taken twenty wickets in just ten of their last 47 championship matches. The Essex game underlined that without an overseas fast bowler, experienced England qualified bowlers or both, the holy grail of 20 wickets will be hard to come by; and even harder on surfaces such as the one Glamorgan served up for Surrey's championship curtain-raiser. Given that you need to win a fair proportion of your matches to finish in the top two of the second division, playing on spicy 'result' pitches is a definite advantage. It's a difficult one because if Surrey see themselves challenging for the championship title in a few years time, taking cheap wickets on helpful surfaces will not prepare the likes of Tom Curran and Matt Dunn for bowling to the best batsmen in the country.