Surrey’s 2020 season saw us struggle to get going in red-ball cricket before a sweep of momentum in T20 cricket carried us all the way to the showpiece final.
We take a look at the how each player did in the truncated summer.
Although COVID-19 ensured only two months of cricket were possible this year, an intense schedule saw an incredible amount played over August & September.
Surrey managed one victory from five Bob Willis Trophy clashes but then a run of nine consecutive wins carried us through the South Group and to Vitality Blast Finals Day before a heartbreaking defeat to Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston last Sunday night.
Below we’ll look at the second set of players listed alphabetically in our squad and the impact they had on the side this year.
You can read last week’s look back at Rory Burns through to the Curran brothers here.
MATT DUNN
Three Bob Willis Trophy appearances and four T20 matches for the experienced right arm seamer with nine wickets from more than 82 overs across those fixtures.
His stand out spell in first-class cricket came in the Arundel clash with Hampshire – a 3/53. The final South Group fixture was where he claimed his best Vitality Blast numbers – a 2/24 against Kent.
LAURIE EVANS
A truly incredible impact from the academy graduate after his return to The Kia Oval. Originally on loan for red-ball cricket, Evans later joined for the remainder of the season and signed a permanent deal that came into effect at the end of the season.
Missing only the two matches against parent club Sussex on our way to the Vitality Blast final, Evans became the linchpin in the batting lineup.
His 363 runs at an average of 45.37 and a strike rate of 153.16 was our standout batting display in the tournament with huge run chases at Essex and Hampshire particularly memorable.
BEN FOAKES
After what seemed like an eternity in the England bubble without making it on to the field of play, Foakes returned to Surrey and immediately got back to the peak of his powers.
He hit 118 in his first match back in the Three Feathers and remained consistent with the bat throughout the six weeks that followed whether against a red or a white ball. That’s not even to mention the glovework, which was as exemplary as ever.
Lockdown reeked havoc with the hairstyles of most of us but Foakes’ new locks, like something straight out of a shampoo advert, seemed only to enhance his game.
WILL JACKS
Perhaps a surprise inclusion in England’s original mammoth training group of 55 back in May for many who haven’t followed his progression closely; no-one would now bat an eyelid at Jacks keeping that sort of company.
Often opening the batting and the bowling for Surrey in T20 cricket, the academy graduate was at the heart of everything positive. And with nine consecutive wins on the way to a final, there was a lot that was positive.
Voted the Vitality Blast Player of the Year, Jacks scored 309 runs at an average of 34.33 and took 13 wickets with his off-spin variations. 248 runs at 31 also made his Surrey’s most consistent batsman in the Bob Willis Trophy.
You can read last week’s look back at Rory Burns through to the Curran brothers here.
NICHOLAS KIMBER
A frustrating start to life in South London for the promising youth international seamer, with a knee injury keeping him sidelined when the availability issues throughout the squad would have undoubtedly seen him make his debut.
CONOR MCKERR
Like Kimber, McKerr’s 2020 season was one to forget. The giant fast bowler sustained a knee injury that required surgery and is now hard at work with the Club’s medical support staff to be back fit and firing for 2021.
DANIEL MORIARTY
Debut seasons hardly come better than this. 17 wickets in both the Bob Willis Trophy and the Vitality Blast; Surrey’s second best and best respectively for the slow left-arm bowler.
The youngster was signed last winter from the MCC Young Cricketers programme and was immediately given the opportunity to impress.
He took it, with a five-wicket haul in the second innings of his first match before making it three consecutive five-wicket hauls in his next red-ball appearance. We’ll see if he can extend that next season.
As far as T20 cricket goes, he was one of only three ever presents; alongside Burns and Jacks. Bowling 45 out of a possible 52 overs across the competition shows just how much he was trusted to fulfil his role by on-field captains Batty & Burns.
MORNE MORKEL
Our great South African fast bowler was not immune to the travel restrictions experienced by many in 2020.
When he did get to the UK from his home in Australia, Morkel went straight into the red-ball side to face Hampshire. He put it all in over the match that followed and looked ready to kick it up a notch against Kent the following week.
Instead, an injury in the warm-up just moments before the toss ended his season prematurely and he remained with the team in support from that moment on. He’s currently holed up in a hotel in Australia, sitting out the required quarantine period.
JAMIE OVERTON
Talk about an immediate impact! Overton was signed as a powerful all-rounder, not just capable of bowling at high speed but able to send the ball out of the ground too.
It was that batting that really came to the fore as soon as he pulled on his Surrey shirt for the first time. 103 runs from just 53 balls faced in the Vitality Blast with a high score of 40* and 55 from his one and only Bob Willis Trophy innings.
You can read last week’s look back at Rory Burns through to the Curran brothers here.
RYAN PATEL
All-rounder Patel hit 78 runs in three Bob Willis Trophy matches and was in the squad to face Sussex in the Vitality Blast opener before a knee injury requiring an operation ended his day and season.
Our 2020 player reviews will continue next Friday with the final nine players, in alphabetical order, from our professional squad.
