Surrey v Leicestershire: Metro Bank One Day Cup – Full Preview

Surrey will kickstart their 2025 Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign at Guildford, going up against Leicestershire Foxes.

Gates open at 9:30 am, with the 50-over match starting at 11 am in Woodbridge Road. Due to limited capacity, tomorrow’s fixture is strictly a ticket-only event. Please note, there is no access to the Pavilion, which is strictly held for players and match officials.

SQUAD

The Three Feathers have named a 13-player squad for the competition opener.

Ryan Patel has been named Surrey’s new Metro Bank One Day Cup captain.

As the competition starts, Dom Sibley and Matt Fisher are unavailable due to injuries sustained in the last two Rothesay County Championship rounds.

15 members of Surrey’s squad will feature in The Hundred competition this season.

HOW TO FOLLOW THE MATCH?

The match will be available to watch via the Surrey Live Broadcast on YouTube.

Surrey’s social media channels will post regular in-game updates, with highlights and a report being published at the end of the match at KiaOval.com.

METRO BANK ONE DAY CUP

Surrey feature in Group A of this year’s competition.

The Three Feathers will play four home matches, starting with the visit of Leicestershire Foxes tomorrow. Gloucestershire visit Guildford two days later on Friday, 8 August.

Defending champions Glamorgan will travel to the Kia Oval on Wednesday, 13 August, before the home campaign finishes on Monday, 18 August against Hampshire at the Kia Oval.

Surrey head to Chelmsford to face Essex on Friday, 15 August, before the trip to Derbyshire on Friday, 22 August. The Three Feathers will stay in the East Midlands to face Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge on Sunday, 24 August, before finishing the group stages with a trip to New Road, Worcester, on Tuesday, 26 August.

SURREY

Previewed by Mark Baldwin, ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay

Captain: Ryan Patel

2024 Position: Eighth (Group B)

2024 Most Runs: Ryan Patel (363)

2024 Most Wickets: Cameron Steel (17)

Why they can win the competition: It will be a tough ask given the absence of 15 leading players at The Hundred, but as in previous seasons Surrey will be approaching the Metro Bank One-Day Cup with a positive vision of the competition giving precious first-team experience to a raft of youngsters. There is still a hard core of senior players, too.

Player to watch: Cam Steel will be looking at this year’s competition as the perfect opportunity to showcase his proven all-round talents as a middle-order stroke-maker and leg-spinner with a knack of taking important wickets. A comparative lack of game time in Surrey’s Rothesay County Championship side this summer will only add to that desire.

Young gun: Ollie Sykes has already been blooded in all formats, including making 11 appearances to date in the Vitality Blast. But it was in last year’s One-Day Cup, when the big-hitting 20-year-old left-hander made his first three starts in the competition, that he initially gave notice of his huge promise with 87 not out against Essex at Chelmsford.

Final thought: With no overseas player available, Surrey will be relying on the international experience of the likes of skipper Ryan Patel, Rory Burns, and Ben Foakes, among others, to steer a predominantly youthful line-up in which the performances of the likes of Sykes, Josh Blake, James Taylor and Yousef Majid will be carefully monitored.

LEICESTERSHIRE FOXES

Previewed by Jon Culley – ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay

Captain: Peter Handscomb

2024 Position: Semi-finals

2024 Most Runs: Peter Handscomb (539)

2024 Most Wickets: Tom Scriven (18)

Why they can win the competition:Winners in 2023 and semi-finalists last year, Leicestershire are a side brimming with confidence and no shortage of quality. Current man-of-the-moment Rehan Ahmed will be otherwise engaged, but overseas batting stars Peter Handscomb and Shan Masood and explosive opener Sol Budinger will compete for the spotlight in his absence. Why would they not fancy themselves for more 50-over glory?

Player to watch: After a relatively modest contribution to the Foxes’ Vitality Blast campaign, Pakistan Test captain Shan Masood will be keen to make his mark in this competition, playing a format in which he has enjoyed considerable success, averaging 52.48 with 15 hundreds. That could make the left-hander a dangerous opponent.

Young gun: Josh Hull may be unavailable due to The Hundred, but Leicestershire can replace him with another 6ft 7ins fast bowler in Alex Green, who may still be growing at just 18 years old. Genuinely quick, Green took four wickets in three appearances in the competition last season and has further underlined his potential for England Under-19s against their India equivalents this summer.

Final thought: The 2023 Metro Bank One-Day Cup Final will be forever remembered for wicketkeeper-batter Harry Swindells producing the match of his life, making a career-best 117 not out to rescue his side from 89 for six and set up an unlikely Foxes victory. It is a little poignant then, on the eve of this year’s tournament, that the Leicester-born player has had to announce his retirement from cricket at the age of just 26 because of a persistent finger injury.