Surrey Stars prepare to succeed by balancing spin assets with South African imports

KSL TEAM GUIDE: Defending champions Surrey certainly look in a good place to keep hold of their title... but how will the KSL season pan out?

Overseas players: Lizelle Lee (South Africa), Dane Van Niekerk (South Africa), Marizanne Kapp (South Africa)

Titles: 1 (2018)

Finals Days: 2

Coach: Richard Bedbrook. The 41-year-old has been in charge of Surrey’s KSL team since its inception in 2016 and is also responsible for coaching the county’s age-group teams. A former minor counties batsman with Wiltshire, last winter he spent time working with Hobart Hurricanes in Australia’s Big Bash tournament.

Captain: Nat Sciver. The England all-rounder, 26, broke into international cricket on the back of some impressive county performances for Surrey in 2013. She has gone on to play 131 times for her county across all formats, scoring more than 3,000 runs and taking 91 wickets. She led Stars to their first Kia Super League title in 2018.

Past performances

In the 2016 KSL, Surrey Stars secured a fourth-place finish after winning two of their five games.

However, their 2017 campaign was a much improved one with the Stars finishing second in the group stage after winning four out of their five games. They then lost to Western Storm in the semi-final by three wickets in a low-scoring game.

Surrey's 2018 campaign was their most successful to date as the Stars lifted the trophy after a 66-run win over Loughborough Lightning. 

^{Lizelle Lee, left, and Nat Sciver with the KSL trophy}

Players to watch

The players to watch for the Surrey Stars in their 2019 KSL campaign are South Africa’s Lizelle Lee and Marizanne Kapp.

Lizelle Lee is a hard-hitting opening batter who has consistently performed for South Africa on the international stage and for Surrey Stars in the KSL over the last few seasons.

She was the Stars’ best player during last year’s successful KSL campaign and her 104 in the final against Loughborough Lightning won the tournament for her team.

Lee’s attacking play has helped South Africa become one of the world’s strongest teams and Surrey Stars become one of the teams to beat in the KSL.

This has been especially helped by her strike rate of over 100 which has ensured her team put runs on the board at a dominant tempo.

In her 62 T20Is for South Africa, Lee has hit 1,358 runs at an average of 25.14. She has also been in fantastic form recently, scoring 193 runs in five T20Is against Pakistan at an average of 48.25.

Kapp is one of the world’s most experienced allrounders, having represented South Africa in 75 T20Is and 102 ODIs. In her 75 T20Is she has taken 56 wickets at an average of 20.50, an economy rate of 5.39 and with best figures of 4-6. She has also scored 857 runs at a strike rate of just under 100.

One of Kapp's key strengths is her raw pace, more often than not being too quick for the batter. She has transformed the South African attack to make it one of, if not the most threatening in the world. Thus her role with the ball and the bat in the Surrey Stars team is vital if they are to retain their title this year.

Strengths

A key strength of the Surrey Stars is their spin bowling options. The Stars have up-and-coming young talent Mady Villiers, South Africa captain and legspinner Dane Van Niekerk, young offspinner Bryony Smith and England’s most experienced spinner Laura Marsh.

No other team in the competition has spin options like the Stars and that is very likely to play to their advantage.

Their attack is a perfect mix of youth and experience and all four bowlers are a threat to any batter in the competition. 

^{Marizanne Kapp}

Weaknesses

The occasional lack of partnerships in the top order. In some of the games last season, Lee and Smith didn’t quite find their form as a pair and thus didn’t get their team off to the desired start.

Chances

The Stars have had a successful time in the KSL so far and with their mix of experience and youth they have the perfect balance in their team to make KSL a memorable year. 

Expect to see them at Finals Day, and challenging for the title once again.

Did you know?

Captain Natalie Sciver has her own shot named after her, the ‘Natmeg’.

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