Marcus Hook’s Surrey CCC column: This could be the perfect time to face Essex
With Hampshire overcoming second-placed Warwickshire and Durham beating leaders Notts by seven wickets – and with just 10 balls to spare – Surrey’s innings and 28-run win against Yorkshire sees the side that are going for a fourth County Championship title in a row move up to a close second.
Few envisaged Essex losing to lowly Worcestershire, let alone by a margin of 225 runs. But it suggests now is a great time to play Essex, who have dropped to eighth in Division One.
The only concern for Surrey was losing Dan Lawrence (pictured) to a back spasm halfway through the Yorkshire game.
The former Essex man has performed a vital role with his off-spin, so it’s fairly safe to say that if Lawrence is sidelined for this weekend’s clash against his former employers the strip at The Oval will favour seam.
The former Surrey batter Ali Brown says he now sees four in four as a real possibility.
In the ‘Oval And Out’ podcast that followed on the heels of the crushing of Yorkshire, he said: “It’s definitely on the cards and the potential to emulate the great Surrey side of the 1950s and be seven in seven, for me, that could happen.
“Yes, there’s going to be some hard work when we play away.
“We’ll need to work out the best way to play on those flat wickets, but, at home, Surrey are a very difficult side to beat and I’m sure that will be the case throughout the year.”
The club will be hoping for another bumper crowd this weekend. The visit of Yorkshire produced the biggest attendance for a County Championship match this century – 14,853 over four days.
Steve Elworthy, Surrey’s chief executive, said: “We were blown away by the support we’ve had this year and can’t wait to welcome thousands more this weekend for the Festival of Red Ball Cricket.
“The County Championship is the pinnacle of the domestic game in this country and we want to encourage as many people as we can to turn up and enjoy two top teams going head-to-head.”
With the championship under threat of being reduced to 12 games a season, Elworthy added, pertinently: “The red ball game is part of the club’s DNA and we will do everything we can to ensure it stays that way. We’re calling on all Surrey Members who cherish the red ball game to get behind the event”
