SURREY LIONS V
KENT SPITFIRES at the Brit Oval (TSL2), 22 AUGUST 2005
Lions skipper Mark Butcher still believes that his side stand an outside chance
of promotion. Perhaps he should concentrate on how Surrey are going to
preserve their top flight status in the Frizzell County Championship. Even if
they do win their tenth one-day clash in eleven against Kent tomorrow night, the
odds will still be stacked heavily against them performing a Houdini act in the
totesport League. Since the introduction of two divisions in the National League
in 1999, only one side has ever lost seven times and gone up (the Hampshire
Hawks in 2003).
Whilst it's gratifying, whenever I look at the Division
Two table and see Kent one off the bottom, I can't help rubbing my eyes. Lord
knows what the Canterbury faithful make of it all. One suspects that even if the
hop county clinches the championship, there will still be questions raised by
the Kent membership as to the Spitfires' form in one-day cricket come the end of
the season.
The Kent Spitfires have not played a 45-over game since
losing to a depleted Surrey Lions line-up by five wickets at Canterbury two weeks ago,
which gives the banged-up hosts some hope as far as tomorrow night is concerned.
Mind you, they will also need to hope that the weather forecast turns out to be
overly pessimistic.
The dangers from Surrey's perspective are Martin van Jaarsveld (466 runs at an average of 35.84),
who
leads the way with the bat this season in List A cricket. When he comes
off, Darren Stevens has been virtually impossible to contain, but, with five
one-day half-centuries to his name this term, skipper Matt Walker has been the
Spitfires' most reliable performer with the willow.
With 23-year-old seamer Robbie Joseph impressing of late, the key to Kent's
chances now appear to lie with the ball. There has been little to choose between Saggers, Hall and Stevens
this summer, but Simon Cook (20 wickets at an average of 24.40
runs apiece) has tended to be the partnership-breaker looking at the totesport League
and the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy as one. Off-spinner James Tredwell
appears to be of the cusp of Kent's first choice limited-overs eleven, but his
cameos with the bat might see him included.
Looking at the weather forecast it seems there is little point in me making one.
But, at this stage of the season, it often seems an advantage to win the toss
and bat first. That said, Surrey's record in terms of chasing under lights in
the National League is mightily impressive - they have chased down successfully
in six out of their last seven attempts (only Old Trafford last year goes down
as a recent failure). However, I don't see how they can keep that sort of run
going if they did bowl first against Kent.
Azhar Mahmood (forehead) and Tim Murtagh (hamstring) are both expected to play
despite sustaining injuries in last week's championship clash against
Gloucestershire. The only alterations the home side look set to make to that line-up
(given
the injury status of Bicknell, Clarke and Ormond) is James Benning for Scott
Newman at the top of the order and Neil Saker for Mohammad Akram in attack.
A Hall, R Key, M van Jaarsveld, M Walker (capt), D Stevens, J Kemp, N O'Brien
(wk), S Cook, R Ferley, R Joseph and M Saggers.
DATE |
COMP |
RESULT |
VENUE |
TOSS |
DECISION |
SURREY |
KENT |
7 Aug 2005 |
NL |
Won By 5 Wickets |
Canterbury |
Kent |
Bat |
212-5 (41.2) |
211 (45) |
1 Jul 2005 |
T20 |
Won By 23 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
167-6 (15) |
144-8 (15) |
22 Jun 2005 |
T20 |
Won By 7 Wickets |
Beckenham |
Kent |
Bat |
141-3 (16) |
140-8 (20) |
18 Jul 2004 |
NL |
Won By 4 Wickets |
Canterbury |
Surrey |
Field |
193-6 (33.4) |
192-8 (34) |
9 Jul 2004 |
T20 |
Won By 3 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
185-7 (20) |
182-9 (20) |
13 Jun 2004 |
NL |
Lost By 5 Wickets |
The Oval |
Kent |
Field |
230-8 (45) |
234-5 (43.5) |
3 Sep 2003 |
NL |
Won By 5 Wickets |
Canterbury |
Kent |
Bat |
143-5 (37) |
142 (31.4) |
23 Jun 2003 |
T20 |
Won By 18 Runs |
Canterbury |
Kent |
Field |
186-8 (20) |
168-9 (20) |
18 May 2003 |
NL |
Won By 6 Runs |
The Oval |
Kent |
Field |
322-7 (45) |
316-7 (45) |
4 May 2002 |
B&H |
Won By 44 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
257-9 (50) |
213 (45.3) |
14 Aug 2001 |
NL |
Lost By 43 Runs |
Canterbury |
Kent |
Bat |
164 (38.1) |
207 (42) |
24 Jun 2001 |
NL |
Lost By 2 Wickets |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
154 (44.2) |
158-8 (39.3) |
7 May 2001 |
B&H |
Lost By 1 Run |
Canterbury |
Kent |
Bat |
264 (49.1) |
265-9 (50) |
16 Apr 2000 |
B&H |
No Result |
The Oval |
No toss made |
- |
- |
- |
6 Sep 1998 |
NL |
Won By 41 Runs |
The Oval |
Kent |
Field |
183-8 (40) |
142 (33.3) |
6 May 1998 |
B&H |
Won By 4 Wickets |
Canterbury |
Surrey |
Field |
261-6 (47) |
260-9 (50) |
12 Jul 1997 |
B&H |
Won By 8 Wickets |
Lord's |
Kent |
Bat |
215-2 (45) |
212-9 (50) |
4 May 1997 |
NL |
Lost By 12 Runs |
Canterbury |
Surrey |
Field |
181-8 (25) |
193-8 (25) |
28 Apr 1997 |
B&H |
Lost By 4 Wickets |
The Oval |
Kent |
Field |
257 (49.5) |
262-6 (50) |
12 May 1996 |
NL |
Won By 150 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
307-5 (40) |
157 (26.5) |
6 Aug 1995 |
NL |
Lost By 55 Runs |
Canterbury |
Kent |
Bat |
246 (39) |
301-7 (40) |
25 Apr 1995 |
B&H |
Lost By 93 Runs |
Canterbury |
Kent |
Bat |
225-7 (55) |
318-8 (55) |
GO TO:
BACK TO:
|