Surrey head coach Solanki far happier with display against Leicestershire

BY MARCUS HOOK

Vikram Solanki welcomed the improvement his Surrey players showed against Leicestershire last week even though, once again, they found one of the unfancied sides in Group Two of the County Championship tough nuts to crack.

Surrey amassed 672-8 declared – their 10th highest total in first-class cricket – with Ollie Pope (245) and Jamie Smith (123) central. But despite leaving themselves more than a day to bowl Leicestershire out a second time, their opponents lost just three wickets before honours were shared.

“Across the four days, as far as a performance is concerned, we showed the attitude and everything you want in response to having been beaten at Bristol,” said head coach Solanki.

“It was exactly what we had asked of everybody, with bat, ball and in the field. They kept going across the four days, right until the finish.

“If you think about having lost the toss on a good surface, we kept control throughout the first day and were rewarded on the second day, getting the last seven wickets for 77. It was all through the work the bowlers did on the first day that allowed us to hold the game.

“Then, when we got our opportunity with the bat, it was always our intention to go past their score and go past significantly, so that we could put Leicestershire under pressure. We always knew we had to go a long way past them in our own first innings if we were to force a win. It wasn’t to be, but our effort was good.”

The final day was not, however, without incident. Surrey’s captain Rory Burns appearing unhappy when umpires Graham Lloyd and Paul Pollard chose to change the ball in the 35th over, with Leicestershire on 89-2 and soon after they had lost Sam Evans and Harry Dearden to successive balls from Jordan Clark.

“The match referee [Steve Davis] is in discussions with the umpires about the ball change,” said Solanki immediately after the game. “We will also have a chance to speak with him.

“The ball hitting the boundary boards and getting damaged is the only thing that can explain it from my position.

“We were bowling cross-seamers, throwing it in on the bounce, which is all legitimate, in an effort to get something going with reverse-swing on an abrasive surface and it was frustrating for us, having just got a breakthrough.”

Pope, 23, has 10 first-class hundreds to his name. Solanki said: “He’s a very fine player, isn’t he? You’re right to point out his hunger for runs. He set his stall out when he came in to bat a long time and get a significant hundred.”

And of Smith, 20, Solanki added: “A first championship hundred, it’s a good achievement. Long may that continue. Jamie has worked hard on a lot of aspects of his game.

“Part of the challenge we as a coaching group have put to him is to score hundreds and make significant runs, and he played beautifully.”

While it could be said Surrey were also defeated by an Oval pitch that yielded just 21 wickets over four days, Solanki is of the opinion that good pitches produce better players.

“Part of county cricket’s remit is to produce England players,” said Solanki, who played 54 times for England.

“If you’re having to work harder for your wins or if you are able to salvage a situation where you are behind in a game, that instills good qualities in our players – both from a county point of view but also for those guys who might go on and be lucky enough to play for England.

“The ideal for me is you play a four-day game on a good pitch that challenges the skillsets of batters as well as bowlers. And if the game goes to a fourth day the point about encouraging spin is a well-documented one.

“To be able to score big runs, to be able to bowl people out on good pitches and bat against spin – all those things are entertaining in their own right as well as developing players for England.”

MIDDLESEX v SURREY

KEY PLAYERS
Hashim Amla (Surrey) – His three first-class innings against Middlesex read 161, 26 and 84, plus he averages 56.80 at Lord’s. The ball tends to nip around there, so it’s imperative Surrey lay a foundation for the likes of Pope, Foakes and Smith.
Tim Murtagh (Middlesex) – Since joining Middlesex from Surrey in 2007, Murtagh has taken 770 first-class wickets for the north Londoners and Ireland, including 306 at an average of just 23.03 at Lord’s, where he has turned bowling from the Nursery End into an art form.

FORM GUIDE
The Oval outfit sit third in Group Two of the championship, with one draw and a defeat, while Middlesex have lost both of their season’s openers – by four wickets to Somerset and by 249 runs to Hampshire. But since Surrey’s victory by an innings at Lord’s in 1997, their four-day record in NW8 reads: P11, W0, D7, L4.

STAT
Ollie Pope and Jamie Smith have now added 624 runs in partnership with one another across six first-class innings – which works out at 104 per alliance.

STAR MAN
Ollie Pope. The 245 against Leicestershire last weekend took his tally of first-class runs at the Oval to 1,242 at an average of 103.50. Surrey’s 10th highest total in first-class cricket.

BEST MOMENT
Jamie Smith launching Colin Ackermann’s slow left-arm spin over long-off for six to bring up a 131-ball century – Smith’s first in competitive cricket.