5 hours ago
10
Key events
Blast Fixtures
Men
Bristol: Gloucestershire v Worcestershire Rapids
Taunton: Somerset v Warwickshire Beats (3.30pm start)
Stanley Park: Lancashire Lightning v Glamorgan
Grace Road: Leicestershire Foxes v Yorkshire
Trent Bridge: Notts Outlaws v Derbyshire Falcons (3pm start)
Hove: Sussex Sharks v Kent Spitfires
Merchant Taylors’ School: Middlesex v Essex (3.30pm start)
Women
Chelmsford: Essex v Hampshire Hawks
Newport: Glamorgan v Kent
Blast Results
Women
The Blaze (135-9) BEAT Lancashire Thunder (120) by 15 runs
Somerset (126-5) BEAT Warwickshire Bears (123-8) by five wickets
Gloucs (102-3) BEAT Worcestershire Rapids (101-6) by seven wickets
Leicestershire Foxes (108-7) BEAT Northamptonshire Steelbacks (109-5) by five wickets
Middlesex (154-3) BEAT Derbyshire Falcons (90-9) by 64 runs
Sonny Baker returns from the pavilion end and Lawrence shovels his last ball down to third man for four. Surrey, 130-3, starting to loosen the shackles.
After picking up four through the slips, Ollie Pope trills four off Fuller, legside, gorgeous shot. And now a wild play and miss.And an even better flick off his boots to the midwicket boundary to finish the over. Apparently Pope averages 90 against Hampshire, the county against whom he has scored the most runs.
WICKET! Sibley lbw Fuller 39 (Surrey 98-3)
No century for Sibley today- slips, bowler and umpire in agreement that he was hit right in front of his stumps by Fuller. He slopes off and there is warm applause for Surrey’s favourite son, England’s discarded (for now) Ollie Pope.
As well as this game, and the now-finished Test at Lord’s, there is lots of cricket around the grounds.
England Lions are again faltering against South Africa A, this time in the second one-day match at New Road. Caleb Falconer (45) is the only man out of the twenties in England’s 166-7 in 41 overs.
At Kibworth, the Disability Premier League is back, with the Black Cats, Pirates Hawks and Tridents fighting for dominance, and there are seven mens and seven womens Blast games – some underway, others due to start at 2.30pm
Afternoon session
A very tasty vegetarian curry for lunch. Hundreds of people scattered over the outfield during the interval, including a tiny tot in a Wimbledon cap who smacked his dad into the stands for six. Surrey and Hants have now resumed, Lawrence cutting Kyle Abbott’s first post-lunch ball to the boundary with a mellifluous crack.
Five pound entry at The Oval for any Lord's Test ticket holders
Any ticket holders from the Lord’s Test can continue their day of cricket at The Oval, where they will be able to get in for just a fiver. (Gary Naylor, they heard you!)
Ticket holders can direct message the Club’s social media channels with proof of their day four ticket to obtain a code, or they can turn up to The Oval ticket office.
Lunch - Surrey 85-2
Lunch: Surrey 85-2 (Lawrence 15, Sibley 35) Abbott finishes the morning with a corker that beats the studious Sibley. Honours fairly even and time for something to eat.
England beat New Zealand by 115 runs
All over at Lord’s, where Gus Atkinson has finished with 5-30, New Zealand bowled out for 138. At least the bad weather allowed this game to trickle into day three. Shame about the pitch.
Tim de Lisle is here with the last rites.
Fuller gets one to lift and pass the outside edge of the groping Sibley. And the next springs awkwardly off the pitch. Lawrence comes down from the non-striker’s end to prod the offending bit of grass down.
Finally have enough charge on my computer to sit outside, where the grass looks even greener and there is a gentle pre-prandial buzz around the ground. Abbott bounds in for his eighth over of the morning – I’m a big fan of whatever fitness regeime he’s on. Surrey 79 for two with 15 mins left till lunch.
Dan Lawrence marches in and trips his second ball for four, and next over Sibley glances a wayward Baker for another.
WICKET! Jacks c Organ b Potgieter 10 (Surrey 53-2)
A second wicket of the morning for Potgieter, as Jacks launches into a full ball and is caught at point by Organ, with arms high over his head
Sibley is looking solidly Sibleyish, trolling any bowler who strays onto his pads by sending the ball singing to the boundary. Now 19 not out.
Division One table
1 Nottinghamshire P6 W2 L0 D4 91 points
2 Warwickshire P6 W2 L1 D3 86 points
3 Glamorgan P6 W2 L1 D3 83 points
4 Essex P6 W3 L2 D1 80 points
5 Sussex P6 W3 L1 D2 79 points
6 Somerset P6 W2 L2 D2 79 points
7 Surrey P6 W1 L1 D4 71 points
8 Yorkshire P6 W2 L2 D2 71 points
9 Leicestershire P6 W0 L4 D2 46 points
10 Hampshire P6 W1 L4 D1 40 points
Surrey injury roll-call
The reason for this unusual-looking Surrey side, apart from IPL returnees and England call-ups, is a roll-call of injuries: Sean Abbott (hamstring, picked up in a Blast game), Lawes (ankle, Blast ), Worrall (knee) and Ben Foakes (tors0), still out of action after bowling two overs at the fag end of that dull draw against Essex in April.
Lancashire charged with breaching pitch regulations
The match officials who stood in Lancashire’s low-scoring Championship game against Middlesex in early May reported the pitch as “below average.” Lancs have therefore been charged with breaching pitch regulation and matters have been referred to the Cricket Discipline Panel.
Visa issues for Chahar
Surrey were hoping to play Indian legspinner Rahul Chahar, who signed for the last eight Championship games of the season, but he’s been delayed by visa issues.
Will Jacks is batting at No. 3 for Surrey in his first Championship outing this summer after a period with Mumbai Indians in the IPL. In England’s winter Ashes stumble down the stairs, Jacks collected 363 runs and took six wickets in his four games.
WICKET! Burns b Potgeiter 14 (Surrey 27-1)
Burns prods obediently forward and the ball skits through the gate and sends the off stump tumbling
Good morning Gary Naylor.
“An idea. The Oval’s marketing team hardly need advice from the likes of me, but they should think about getting an announcement out here at Lord’s that tells the (very decent) crowd that their tickets will be accepted for free admission for Surrey vs Hampshire just a few Tube stops away. There’s only so many ducks to feed in Regent’s Park after all.”
I like it! Will pass it on if I can find anyone.
The wicket is very green, spearmint surrounded by peppermint on all sides, and behind the slips the pavilion is filling up nicely. Music from the church service on the next floor up reverberates through the press box.
2nd over: Surrey 3-0 (Burns 2, Sibley 1) Love Baker’s enthusiasm, strides back after every ball like a boy in a desperate hurry but who has been shouted at not to run down the corridor. Gets a couple to spray up aggressively.
1st over: Surrey 3-0 (Burns 2, Sibley0) Four slips for Kyle Abbott under cloudy Oval skies. Just two from the first over, and Sonny Baker now marches to his mark, released by England to play in this game.
The teams are walking out here at The Oval, and at Lord’s where Tim de Lisle is at the tiller of the OBO.
Did a round of the ground and spotted groundsman Lee Fortis talking to Alec Stewart out in the middle. Fortis, standing in his size 20 boots and on his tree-trunk legs, made Stewart look like a little boy doing up his tuck box as his neatly packed away the Surrey equipment, checking the straps for tightness and tucking in every corner.
Hampshire have won the toss and will bowl
Surrey: Burns, Sibley, Lawrnece, Pope, Jacks, Curran S, Curran T, Clark, Fisher, Taylor, Topley
Hampshire: Albert, Gubbins, Orr, Lehmann, Prest, Brown, Potgieter, Organ, Fuller, Abbott, Baker.
Preamble
Good morning and welcome to The Oval. Hampshire have arrived for a rogue one-off match, out of step with the rest of the Championship, which restarts properly on Friday, and tickled into place because of fixture congestion.
The two teams play keepy-uppy at opposite ends of the ground, the groundstaff hammer a pitch and brush dust into a wheelbarrow and someone bats in the nets to a coach with a dog thrower.
There aren’t many people here yet, lots on the train were obviously on their way to Lord’s, where the weather, as here, looks better today. I don’t think we’ve done a one-off game since the Bob Willis Trophy Finals of 2020 and 2021, so I’ll try and dig around for interesting stories on top of the cricket – do point some my way.
Play starts at 11am, there are plenty of chairs on the patio.
