Author: Marcus Hook

It has been a frustrating winter for Surrey’s Curran brothers, with both Sam and Tom sidelined since the end of last season with back injuries.

So, week three and for Surrey it’s a case of top versus bottom. Now who, at the start of the season, could possibly have envisaged the South Londoners topping Division One at this stage with perpetual bridesmaids Somerset propping it up?

‘The County season has already started you know…’ If mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun, it should be added that, in April, and where cricket’s involved, they go equipped with at least five layers of clothing and a flask of soup.

New Surrey head coach, Gareth Batty was encouraged by the positive starts the Oval outfit made with both bat and ball in the opening game of the season.

Alec Stewart has defended the County Championship, in terms of it being a finishing school for future England Test players. Surrey’s director of cricket was also quick to point out that its critics only seem to pipe up when England are struggling, rather than when everything’s rosy.

Reece Topley is targeting the early rounds of the County Championship to state his case for a return to the international fold, following a 2021 season that was derailed by injury.

Last weekend, Surrey’s Nat Sciver became the first cricketer – male of or female – to hit a hundred for England in a World Cup final. But with Australia winning by 71 runs in Christchurch, it was bittersweet; much as it was when Sciver made an unbeaten 109 in England’s opening group game, which Australia also won, albeit narrowly.

Jamie Smith raised a few eyebrows by turning down the chance to play in The Hundred last summer, opting instead to remain with Surrey for the Royal London Cup, which ran alongside the new high-profile domestic tournament. It proved a wise move.

Surrey’s final game of the 2021 season, against Glamorgan, proved to be a run-laden draw – so much so the County Championship Division Two clash at the Oval produced 1,394 runs over four days for the loss of just 10 wickets.

Surrey fielded a staggering 34 players this summer due to international calls, injuries, Covid-19 and, of course, The Hundred.

Surrey’s Alice Capsey, Aylish Cranstone and Bryony Smith led the way as South East Stars chased down a target of 139 to become the inaugural winners of the Charlotte Edwards T20 Cup at Southampton yesterday (Sunday).

With this week’s championship game against Durham being cancelled due to covid, Surrey will not have played any competitive cricket for 18 days when they rock up at Northampton on Sunday.

South East Stars have marched into this Sunday’s final of the 20-over Charlotte Edwards Cup at Southampton, where they will face the winner of the second and third place play-off between Northern Diamonds and Southern Vipers.

Surrey’s four-day clash with Durham, due to get underway at Chester-le-Street yesterday, has been cancelled following a case of Covid-19, prompting confusion over how the covid protocols are being applied to County Championship fixtures by the England and Wales Cricket Board.

Now that the dust has settled on The Hundred, county cricket can return to normal, or can it? The Hundred proved a success, which will come as a relief to the England and Wales Cricket Board, which, despite making a 16.5million loss in 2020-21 – prompting more than 50 redundancies – is committed to investing £180m in the tournament over five seasons.