The jostle for position is well underway

SAM DALLING: A clutch of contenders for an England Test call-up all attempted to catch the eye. But the day probably belonged to white-ball international Lewis Gregory

Championship Digest: Friday, May 14, 2021

Taunton (second day of four): Surrey 191-4

Scorecard

With England’s Test summer getting underway in less than three weeks, cricket badgers are scrambling for their notepads and jotting down prospective starting XIs. There will be names crossed out, red pen added, circled, question marked. And then to our friends, we will justify selections by reeling out a raft of statistics and character assessments.  

But it boils down to who is on Chris Silverwood’s bit of paper. The exact details of the squad – both in terms of timing and size– are unknown but now that the County Championship is six rounds old, it is time for every fan’s favourite pastime: baseless theories.  

Somerset v Surrey at Taunton, when the skies eventually cleared long enough to allow action to get underway after lunch on day two, was ripe for such games.  

Cast your mind back to April and the man whose credit rating was just starting to creep onto Experian’s radar was Rory Burns. Twenty-three Tests into his career, and the left-handers average had dipped below 31. His latest showings, at home against Pakistan and then, following the birth of his first child, in India on the sub-continent, were at best indifferent. He made just 78 runs in eight innings.  

Having averaged just 14.50 across his two India Tests Burns came into the Championship in a perilously yet slightly odd position. More failure could be fatal, but his destiny was very much in his own hands.

Ninety balls into his innings today, Burns drove Lewis Gregory to mid-on. Marchant de Lange misfielded and a single was burgled to bring up his half-century: a fifth in eight innings.

It was typically resolute showing, punctuated with some classy strokes. All his busyness at the crease still left him watching the ball whistle past the outside edge frequently with Josh Davey and Gregory testing patience in friendly bowling conditions. With all the rain and the pitch a shade of green barely distinguishable from the outfield, it was a bowl first toss.

But there were plenty of classy stokes in Burns’ knock. When he is good, he’s very, very good, highlighted by a checked punch through the onside. Likewise, there was a beautifully curled drive from de Lange that whistled through his less-favoured off-side.   

He had moved onto 55 – 36 of which had come off his legs - before the most unfortunate of dismissals. A solid forward defence bounced into the ground and back onto his off-peg. Despite the ignominious ending, it was another job well done, and while there are more than a dozen men with more County Championship runs this season, Burns has almost certainly done enough to ensure his Lord’s berth.

In contrast, Ollie Pope has already brought up 500 this term. He made a fluent 33 before being bounced out by Tom Abell of all people. But it matters little: Pope looks primed for the summer.

The other Surrey man on the England Test radar is incumbent gloveman Ben Foakes, who was 13 not out at the close. None of his eight red-ball outings so far have come on home soil, and his position will largely be dictated by Jos Buttler’s availability. James Bracey’s form will not help his cause, either.

For Somerset, two contenders were conspicuous by their absence. In-form Craig Overton has been rested at the ECB’s behest and has been denied a meeting with brother Jamie. While his 32 wickets have cost less than 14 apiece, he has already bowled 206 overs on the clock, 40 of which came against Hampshire last week.

^{Ben Foakes will look to push on come day three}

It does not take Hercule Poirot to deduct that Overton is almost certain to be named in the squad for New Zealand. His last Test came back in 2019 but far better judges than I all concur he is a significantly improved cricketer. The good news for Somerset fans is that he will be unleashed again in next week’s westcountry derby, where hopefully his recently departed big toenail will have partially regrown.

Jack Leach too missed out by dint Somerset’s selectors. The left-spinner is undoubtedly England’s premier tweaker but has bowled less than 130 overs in his five games so far this season. It’s not that he’s underperformed: April and May are not traditionally a spinner’s halcyon days, and in light of Overton’s absence Roelof van der Merwe batting was preferred.

One man highly unlikely to feature in Silverwood’s big reveal is Gregory. But he is not underappreciated in Taunton, and it was a milestone day for the Devonian. The scorebook will show Hashim Amla as his 300th first-class wicket, although it was far from his finest: a short long-hop pulled down the grateful throat of Eddie Byrom a fine leg.

"I probably got it with one of the worst balls I bowled, but it was still Hashim Amla and that means something," he admitted afterwards. "Three hundred poles seemed a long way off at the start of my career and I only wish I could have scored more runs to go with them." 

Surrey finished 191 for 4 but with the forecast grim for the next few days this one may soon turn into a bonus point battle.

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