BIG MATCH PREVIEW: YORKSHIRE V SURREY CCC – CC

By Graham Hardcastle, Jonathan Doidge and Paul Dyson.

Duanne Olivier could be the key to helping Yorkshire break a recent winless record at Scarborough, but he mustn’t get carried away with the extra pace and bounce on offer at North Marine Road says bowling coach Rich Pyrah.

Former South Africa Test quick Olivier is fit to face Surrey from Sunday having sat out last week’s defeat to Warwickshire at York with a hip injury.

The 27-year-old has made a healthy start to life in the White Rose’s Specsavers County Championship side, taking 21 wickets from six appearances so far, including a best of 5-96 on debut in the season-opening draw against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.

But, added to his wickets, he has helped team-mates such as Ben Coad and Steve Patterson break through by ruffling the feathers of many a batsman with his hostile short-pitched mode of attack.

“Luckily, Duanne’s injury has not been as bad as we first thought,” explained Pyrah ahead of the clash with the defending champions.

“He would have bowled alright at York had he got his lengths right because it carried nicely. It will be interesting to see what he does at Scarborough. I’m sure he’ll be steaming in down that hill.

“He won’t be shy of bowling a few bouncers there, that is for sure. But, as we know at Scarborough, you can have pace, but it’s about the lengths that you bowl. Duanne has got to make sure that he doesn’t get carried away with the bounce and carry to the keeper.”

Yorkshire are searching for their first win in five Championship matches at Scarborough having been beaten twice in each of the last two summers.

Last June, Surrey won by seven wickets on the way to a title they will do well to defend this year having only won one of their first seven matches – against Warwickshire at the Oval earlier this week.

Yorkshire trained at North Marine Road on Tuesday and Wednesday in a bid to re-acclimatise to conditions or, in the case of Olivier and new spin signing Keshav Maharaj, acclimatise.

“It’s a completely different surface to anywhere else in the country,” said Pyrah. “We have to adapt to that quicker.

“The last couple of years haven’t gone to plan. Before that, we played really well at Scarborough. So we need to get back on track there.

“Surrey have got a decent attack which suits Scarborough, especially with (Morne) Morkel.

“We get decent crowds there, and it might even help that we’ve played at York beforehand with similar crowds. They felt on top of you, which is very much the case at Scarborough.

“It’s an important fixture, but it always is there because it’s such a traditional place for us to play. We just have to get back to enjoying playing cricket there and using it to our advantage.”

While Yorkshire have had a week away from action, Surrey faced Warwickshire at the Oval from Sunday, winning by 74 runs.

England Test bowling all-rounder Sam Curran, playing only his second Championship match of the season, took five wickets in the match and scored a second-innings half-century.

Curran has just recovered from a hamstring injury and was restricted to bowling 30 overs in the match at the request of the ECB.

Yorkshire and Surrey drew a rain-affected fixture at Guildford earlier this month, which the hosts had the better of.

The White Rose are aiming to get back to winning ways – what would be their third in eight in 2019 – having lost their unbeaten start against Warwickshire last week.

Team news

Yorkshire quick Duanne Olivier has fully recovered from a hip injury sustained in the drawn fixture against Surrey at Guildford. He underwent an MRI scan, missed the fixture against Warwickshire at Clifton Park, York, but has now been passed fit for this fixture.

Matthew Waite (ankle) will step up his bowling work next week with a view to being available for selection the following week.

Tim Bresnan (calf) is fully fit from a medical point of view with the coaches looking to build his match fitness in the Second XI.

Jared Warner (side) is scheduled to play club cricket this weekend as he continues his comeback from a side strain injury and looks to build match fitness.

13-man squad to face Surrey at North Marine Road, Scarborough

Gary Ballance
Harry Brook
Tom Kohler-Cadmore
Ben Coad
Will Fraine
Jack Leaning
Adam Lyth
Keshav Maharaj
Duanne Olivier
Steven Patterson ©
Jonathan Tattersall (W)
Jordan Thompson
David Willey

The thoughts of Graham Hardcastle

The next three games, starting against Surrey, represent a crucial phase in Yorkshire’s County Championship campaign prior to the break for T20.

Surrey is followed by meetings with Essex at Chelmsford and Somerset at Emerald Headingley, the top two sides in Division One at present.

Win two, say, and draw another, and Yorkshire are likely to be in the thick of the title race, something the coaching staff have consistently played down over the last few months.

Yorkshire and Surrey are two different forces from this time last year.

When the two sides met at Scarborough in 2018, Yorkshire were faltering and heading towards a relegation fight during the second half of the season (thankfully things worked out fine in the end). Surrey, meanwhile, were a freight train struggling to be stopped on the route to glory.

Now, Yorkshire are a more confident side after an encouraging start to the season, with two wins and only one defeat from seven. Surrey have been unable to replicate their ruthless form, winning only once.

There has, however, been an upturn in fortunes during their last couple of matches, including against the White Rose at Guildford when they had the better of a heavily rain-affected clash.

But Yorkshire have the tools to give them some more headaches.

In Duanne Olivier, they have an A grade bowling weapon. Rich Pyrah has spoken about him needing to make sure he does not get carried away with the pace and bounce on offer. And I think he has all the class and experience to ensure he gets the best out of himself and the conditions.

The signing of Keshav Maharaj is a good one, those over the other side of the Pennines will tell you that after a productive 17 wickets in three games towards the end of last season. Fingers crossed, he can replicate that kind of form.

The thoughts of Jonathan Doidge…

While a first championship defeat of the season is nothing to celebrate, the first half of the campaign would have to be considered a good one for the Tykes. Third place in the table, none of those relegation concerns of a year ago, and for all of that, still the feeling that the team can do significantly better when all the stars align.

With the obvious exception of the result, what a fabulous experience Clifton Park, York was for the visit of Warwickshire. The organisation of the event was first rate, and much credit must go to club secretary Nick Kay and all those who assisted for that, while the pitch held up very well in its first test at that level, and congratulations to my old school pal (of MANY years ago!) Jonathan Corcoran and his team for providing a very good ‘cricket wicket’.

From the media perspective, we were very well looked after and huge thanks on a personal note from me to York CC for that. I know the cuisine was a big hit with my colleagues, and the staff could not do enough to help us all. I look forward to future visits.

In the more immediate future is another trip to look forward to, the first of two this season to Scarborough, where the visitors are our recent Guildford opponents and last year’s champions, Surrey.

There are lessons for Yorkshire to learn from both the recent foray south, where they followed on and had the worse of a draw, and last week’s defeat to the Bears. In addition to those lessons, it is also worth remembering that the team has not been at full strength for either game. Had Duanne Olivier been fit to bowl more at Guildford, things may have been different, while of course the team missed his pace and hit-the-pitch style of bowling at York.

Hopefully Olivier will be fit for Scarborough and the prospect of him running in there is an exciting one. If he can play, then someone will have to make way for him, while there is also now the presence of South African Test left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj on a three-match red ball deal, which commences with the trip to North Marine Road, and could prove very useful during a pivotal part of the season.

Jordan Thompon did not let anyone down in his recent two matches, while left-armer James Logan came in and bagged a ‘four-for’ against Warwickshire, so there are interesting selection calls to make. Meanwhile, the batsmen should all be looking forward to their opportunities on a ground that usually offers good value for stroke play.

In opposition, Morne Morkel offers an obvious threat with the ball, his extra bounce having already caused problems at the venue in last year’s seven wicket Surrey win there. The visitors are not champions for nothing, as they reminded us at Guildford. They may not have had the best first half of the season, but Yorkshire will need to play well if they are to win and maintain pressure on the top two in this year’s competition.

Match statistics

• Eight of the last 12 County Championship matches between these two teams have ended in draws.
• The double which Surrey performed over Yorkshire in 2018 was their first instance since 2002.
• The visitation to Scarborough by the same county in two consecutive seasons last occurred in the first decade of this century. Durham played at Scarborough in 2004 and 2005 and Warwickshire did so in the two succeeding years.
• Yorkshire second innings total of 152 in 2018 is its lowest score against Surrey at Scarborough. Surrey’s lowest on the ground is 130 made in 1972.
• Two Yorkshire batsmen – Kevin Sharp in 1983 and Bradley Parker in 1994 – have scored centuries at Scarborough against Surrey in the County Championship. The highest score for Surrey at Scarborough in the Championship is the 97 made by Rory Burns in 2018.
• Morné Morkel’s innings (five for 39) and match figures (seven for 102) in the 2018 game both broke the records for Surrey at Scarborough. Yorkshire’s best against Surrey on the ground are six for 66 by Darren Gough in 1994 and seven for 76 by Tony Nicholson in 1972, respectively.

Specsavers County Championship Division One table

Specsavers County Championship Division One statistics

Potential Milestones

Potential batting milestones in Yorkshire v Surrey on 30th Jun 2019

• GS Ballance needs 12 runs to reach 11000 runs in First-class matches

• GS Ballance needs 14 runs to reach 500 runs in First-class matches against Surrey

• M Morkel needs 19 runs to reach 2000 runs in First-class matches

• TT Bresnan needs 21 runs to reach 6500 runs in First-class matches

• R Clarke needs 35 runs to reach 1000 runs in First-class matches against Yorkshire

• JA Leaning needs 45 runs to reach 3000 runs in First-class matches

• SC Meaker needs 55 runs to reach 1500 runs in First-class matches

• AU Rashid needs 58 runs to reach 500 runs in First-class matches against Surrey

• RJ Burns needs 82 runs to reach 8500 runs in First-class matches

• BT Foakes needs 84 runs to reach 500 runs in First-class matches against Yorkshire

• JM Bairstow needs 119 runs to reach 500 runs in First-class matches against Surrey

• JE Root needs 119 runs to reach 500 runs in First-class matches at Scarborough

• LE Plunkett needs 124 runs to reach 4500 runs in First-class matches

• A Lyth needs 127 runs to reach 1000 runs in First-class matches at Scarborough

• JW Dernbach needs 129 runs to reach 1000 runs in First-class matches

• A Harinath needs 130 runs to reach 4000 runs in First-class matches

• MD Stoneman needs 130 runs to reach 11000 runs in First-class matches

• BO Coad needs 133 runs to reach 500 runs in First-class matches

• T Kohler-Cadmore needs 146 runs to reach 3000 runs in First-class matches

• GJ Batty needs 148 runs to reach 7500 runs in First-class matches

• JM Bairstow needs 148 runs to reach 11500 runs in First-class matches

• A Lyth needs 150 runs to reach 10500 runs in First-class matches

Potential bowling milestones in Yorkshire v Surrey on 30th Jun 2019

• TT Bresnan needs 2 wickets to reach 550 wickets in First-class matches

• SA Patterson needs 3 wickets to reach 400 wickets in First-class matches

• GS Virdi needs 4 wickets to reach 50 wickets in First-class matches

• R Clarke needs 4 wickets to reach 50 wickets in First-class matches against Yorkshire

• SA Patterson needs 5 wickets to reach 50 wickets in First-class matches at Scarborough

• TK Curran needs 5 wickets to reach 200 wickets in First-class matches

• SM Curran needs 8 wickets to reach 150 wickets in First-class matches

• JE Root needs 10 wickets to reach 50 wickets in First-class matches

Yorkshire’s County Championship Statistics

YORKSHIRE v SURREY RECORDS

in first-class cricket – 1863-2019

Correct to June 20th, 2019

Highest innings totals

• Yorkshire 704 The Oval 1899
• At Home 582-7dec Sheffield (BL) 1935
• Surrey 634-5dec The Oval 2013
• Away 516-7dec Headingley 2017
• At Scarborough Yorkshire 379 1994
• Surrey 356 2000

Lowest innings totals

• Yorkshire 26 The Oval 1909
• At Home 54 Sheffield (BL) 1873
• Surrey 31 Holbeck 1883
• At Home 44 The Oval 1935
• At Scarborough Yorkshire 152 2018
  158 2000
• Surrey 130 1972

Highest individual innings

• Yorkshire 255 W Barber Sheffield (BL) 1935
• Away 232* GH Hirst The Oval 1905
• 232 H Sutcliffe The Oval 1922
• Surrey 273 TW Hayward The Oval 1899
• Away 177* KP Pietersen Headingley 2013
• At Scarborough Yorkshire 129 K Sharp 1983
• Surrey 94 Younis Ahmed 1969

Highest partnerships

• Yorks 372 (4th) JE Root (213) & JM Bairstow (198) Headingley 2016
• Surrey 448 (4th) R Abel (193) & TW Hayward (273) The Oval 1899

Best bowling in an innings

• Yorkshire 8-5 E Peate Holbeck 1883
• Away 8-21 W Bates The Oval 1879
• Surrey 9-47 T Richardson Sheffield (BL) 1893
• At Home 8-40 J Beaumont The Oval 1888
• At Scarborough Yorkshire 6-66 D Gough 1994
• Surrey 5-39 M Morkel 2018

Best bowling in a match

• Yorkshire 14- 77 (6-47 & 8-30) E Peate Huddersfield 1881
• Away 14-123 (7-41 & 7-82) FS Trueman The Oval 1960
• Surrey 15-154 (7-55 & 8-99) T Richardson Headingley 1897
• At Scarborough Yorks 7-76 (4-31 & 3-45) AG Nicholson 1972
• Surrey 7-102 (2-63 & 5-39) M Morkel 2018

Most dismissals in an innings by a wicket-keeper

• 6 (4 ct, 2 st) EW Pooley Surrey The Oval 1870
• 6 (5 ct, 1 st) D Hunter Yorkshire Sheffield (BL) 1891

Most dismissals in a match by a wicket-keeper

• 8 (2 ct, 6 st) D Hunter Yorkshire Bradford (PA) 1898

Most catches in an innings by a fielder

• 5 D Wilson Yorkshire The Oval 1969

Most catches in a match by a fielder

• 6 J Tunnicliffe Yorkshire Sheffield (BL) 1893

A century and five wickets in an innings in the same match

• GH Hirst 232*; 5-43 & 1-6 Yorkshire
• The Oval 1905
• PGH Fender 177; 6-116 Surrey
• Bradford (PA) 1928
• KF Barrington 158*; 5-51 & 2-54 Surrey
• The Oval 1967

The opposition

• Director of cricket: Alec Stewart, Head coach: Michael Di Venuto
• Captain: Rory Burns (CC/RL50), Jade Dernbach (T20)
• 2018: CC Winners Div 1, RL50 5th in South, T20 5th in South