Surrey have named a squad of 13 to take on Somerset in our final Group 2 match in this year’s LV= County Championship, starting on Sunday 11th July at The Kia Oval.
Following this fixture, the three groups will split into three divisions based on their positions. They will play a further four matches in these divisions, as this explainer piece details.
Surrey will require a big victory over Somerset, who currently top Group 2, to have any hope of making Division One for the final portion of the 2021 campaign.
Indian all-rounder Ravi Ashwin will join the group for this match only. Sean Abbott was originally expected to be Surrey’s second overseas player in this fixture, alongside Hashim Amla, but a hamstring injury sustained during the LV= County Championship meeting with Gloucestershire ended his time at The Kia Oval early.
He was replaced by New Zealand’s Kyle Jamieson, who suffered a glute injury on the first day of Surrey’s match with Hampshire last week and will play no further part on the field.
Once the extent of Jamieson’s injury was understood, Director of Cricket Alec Stewart began the process of recruiting Ashwin for this fixture. At that stage, two victories in Surrey’s final two group matches would have seen them into Division One. While the draw with Hampshire now makes finishing in the top two very difficult, both the Club and Ashwin have agreed to this one-off arrangement.
Ashwin had remained in the country following India’s World Test Championship final last month. He will meet up with India’s Test squad following this match ahead of their Test series with England, which is not due to start until the 4th August. The fourth match of that series will be played at The Kia Oval between 2nd – 6th September, still more than seven weeks away.
With 413 Test wickets in 79 matches, the 34-year-old brings a raft of experience that will be of great benefit to young spinners Amar Virdi & Daniel Moriarty.
Sam Curran, Tom Curran & Jason Roy are isolating after a Covid breakout in the England white-ball camp while Will Jacks is part of the group called up to replace them. Ollie Pope’s thigh injury means he will not be available until England’s series with India. Ben Foakes (hamstring), Reece Topley (side) and Liam Plunkett (calf) are still not available for selection.
This match will be live streamed on kiaoval.com and the Club’s official YouTube channel with commentary from the BBC’s Mark Church. We will also provide updates throughout on our Twitter & Instagram pages.
Tickets for all four days are available to Members and non-Members here. Please note this fixture is limited to 25% capacity due to government restrictions.
FULL SQUAD
Rory Burns (c)
Hashim Amla
Ravi Ashwin
Jordan Clark
Rikki Clarke
Ben Geddes
Conor McKerr
Daniel Moriarty
Jamie Overton
Ryan Patel
Jamie Smith
Mark Stoneman
Amar Virdi
