Surrey v Essex
LV= Insurance County Championship
The Kia Oval, London
Tuesday 19 – Friday 22 July
11am start
Essex’s early win over Gloucestershire earned them a rare 5-day break in between fixtures after 6 weeks dominated by the Vitality Blast.
They will head to Surrey coming off the back of three successive victories in the LV= Insurance County Championship and with the prospect of a title race ahead of them.
This game could be a pivotal fixture for Essex as they look to propel themselves towards the top of the table and also halt Surrey’s progress.
Their opposition are, as of yet, unbeaten in red-ball cricket this season, the only side to still be without a loss, and produced a thrilling victory over Yorkshire at Scarborough last week.
However, Essex have hit a fine run of form and recorded a convincing victory of their own last week. Simon Harmer was yet again in imperious form, taking 13/156 in the game and completing back-to-back 10 wicket hauls in the process.
Squad:
Essex welcome Sam Cook back to the squad after two impressive outings for England Lions where he took 1/55 and 3/56.
The Opposition:
Surrey have had an excellent season in all forms of cricket, particularly in the County Championship where they have hogged the top spot in the Division One table.
Of their 9 games so far this season they have won 5 and drawn 4 leaving them on 165 points, 15 clear of second-place Hampshire and 47 clear of Essex – although Essex have a game in hand.
Surrey’s season has been underpinned by their form at The Oval, where they have won all but 1 of their games. Playing on good batting tracks, they have compiled more than 400 runs in 3 of their 4 first-innings totals.
However, Essex have a remarkable red-ball record playing away to Surrey, having only lost once away to their hosts since the 1990s. That came in 2006 when a Surrey side captained by Mark Butcher and including Mark Ramprakash and Mohammad Akram beat Ronnie Irani’s Essex at Whitgift School.
With such a strong record of first-innings scores, it’s unsurprising that plenty of Surrey batters have good numbers behind them this season. Rory Burns’ 570 runs at 47.50 leads the way, but Ben Foakes has the extraordinary average of 130.75 for his 523 runs so far this season.
Jamie Overton is realising his potential this season and his 27 wickets at 22.92 are the most of any Surrey bowler. He is also averaging 45.33 with the bat.
Surrey are likely to be without their England contingent with Jason Roy, Sam Curran and Reece Topley having been selected in England’s ODI squad to face South Africa. However, they recently announced the return of Kemar Roach who will be available in time for tomorrow’s game.
Last time out:
The last time these two sides met in red-ball cricket, the Surrey bowlers were on the receiving end of another Alastair Cook masterclass as his 165 guided Essex to 439 in their first-innings.
In response, Surrey lost two wickets without a run being scored and despite a Hashim Amla 84, they slumped to 161 all out. Simon Harmer and Jamie Porter picked up 3 wickets each, whilst there were 2 each for Sam Cook and Shane Snater.
Rain came to Surrey’s rescue, with the entirety of Day 3 being lost to the weather. Despite Essex enforcing the follow-on, time was no longer on their side and the game finished in a draw with Surrey on 113-2 in their second-innings, still trailing Essex by 165 runs.
How To Watch:
A free live stream of the game will be provided by our hosts. The Essex Cricket Matchzone is also free to view, which includes player stats, scorecards and clips throughout the match.
The broadcast can be accessed via the Essex Cricket Matchzone here.
