ESSEX V SURREY at Chelmsford (Royal London One-Day Cup), 24 JULY 2016

Only two teams in the country won three out of their first four in the Royal London (no side compiled a full set of victories) before it took a bit of a break. Surrey are still to face both, starting with Essex tomorrow. The Eagles are, in point of fact, unbeaten, having also tied with Somerset in a contest reduced to 29 overs. Looking ahead further, Glamorgan, who are three and one, travel to the Oval on Monday, 1st August.

Essex's strength clearly lies in their batting. Jesse Ryder (233 Royal London runs at an average of 58.25) and Tom Westley have already registered hundreds - Ryder (100) against Sussex and Westley (110) against Hampshire. If and when those two have failed to deliver, Ravi Bopara and James Foster have come to the party in their stead. The veteran slow left-arm all-rounder, Ashar Zaidi has featured with bat and ball, while the rest of the bowling has blended David Masters's frugality with the wicket-taking capacity of Graham Napier, Matt Quinn and Ryan ten Doeschate.

Essex's James Foster (236 ct, 62 st) is just two dismissals away from his 300th in List A cricket.

With Sam and Tom Curran on England A duty, and Zafar Ansari sidelined yet again (this time with a back injury) in come 24-year-old slow left-armer Freddie Van den Bergh and Mark Footitt, who, interestingly, has taken five wickets at an average of 13.60 in his two List A appearances against Essex. In fact, Surrey will field a much changed side from the one that lined-up in their last Royal London clash, against Hampshire five weeks ago. Only Batty, Davies, Foakes, Meaker and Roy survive to be represented in the South Londoners' 14-man squad for tomorrow.

Recent history certainly isn't on the side of Surrey, who have lost six one-day games out of seven to Essex heading into this one. It should be pointed out, however, that the two have met on just a couple of occasions in the last eight years in List A cricket. Nevertheless, the Oval outfit will have their work cut out, in the absence of the Ansari and the Curran brothers, against an Eagles side that has no obvious weaknesses. Prediction - Essex to remain top of the South Group.

N.Browne, T.Westley, J.Ryder, R.Bopara (capt), D.Lawrence, R.ten Doeschate, Ashar Zaidi, J.Foster (wk), D.Masters, M.Quinn and J.Porter.

Rob Bailey and Jeff Evans.

GO TO:




BACK TO: