As we head into the New Years week, our look at the Greatest Surrey Cricketers of the 21st century enters its final stages as we look at the top five (ish) men’s players since the turn of the century
5 Saqlain Mushtaq
Pakistan’s magician, an off-spinner capable of turning the ball the other way, was key to Surrey winning three County Championships in four seasons. In partnership with leggie Ian Salisbury and Martin Bicknell, Saqlain’s unrelenting accuracy put opposition teams into a straitjacket while being a vital cog in the attack which earned the county a number of white ball successes too.
4 Rory Burns
In his typically understated way, Rory Burns has become a Surrey legend. Captain of four County Championship-winning teams at the Kia Oval – only Stuart Surridge remains ahead of him – the opener’s contribution with the bat has been immense. He
has scored more than 12,000 runs for his county at 43 – including 24 centuries – as well as proving a safe pair of hands with 200 dismissals, as both keeper and outfielder. Burns played 32 Tests for England from 2019-2022 with three centuries.
3 Alec Stewart & Graham Thorpe
Stewart: England’s most capped player when he retired in 2003 after a triumphant farewell Test at The Oval, Alec Stewart had scored 26,165 runs in all, 15,016 for Surrey over more than two decades. He also collected three Championship medals, plus a host of one-day titles, playing for his county whenever an increasingly frantic international programme permitted. Top-order bat or wicketkeeper, his all-round skills strengthened any team. Returning as director of cricket, he rebuilt the team to achieve a new era of success.
Thorpe: Quite simply one of the best cricketers to come out of Surrey and to also come out of England. His returning Test century at the Oval in 2003 was one of the grounds great moments in the grounds illustrious history. His form with the bat from 2000 to 2005 was quite simply outstanding – both in the Three Feathers and Three Lions. From 2003 to 2005 he scored 1,511 Test runs at an average of 54 before he played his final Test match at the start of the 2005 summer. Like Stewie, Thorpe also continued to collect medals for Surrey while balancing national team commitments, contributing to 2000 and 2002 County Championships, plus the 2003 T20 Cup and National League wins. Thorpe retired from all cricket in 2005, but did return to the Club as a coach in 2008 for a few years. He went on to have a huge impact on many of the Club’s batters through his years as England’s batting coach.
2 Martin Bicknell
A career of 21 seasons yielded rich pickings for Martin Bicknell. The master of swing claimed 1,026 of his 1,061 first-class wickets for Surrey while his 6,589 runs included three centuries in a batting order which never seemed to end. Alongside Saqlain Mushtaq, he formed the twin spearhead which earned his county three County Championship titles in four seasons at the turn of the 21st century, a once in a generation talent respected by his colleagues and opponents.
1 Mark Ramprakash
Style and industry conjoined in perfect symmetry when Mark Ramprakash arrived at The Oval in 2001. For the next 12 seasons, he scored 61 of his 114 first-class centuries and his final haul of 35,659 runs made him the most prolific bat of his time. Averaging more than 100 in two successive seasons, 2006 and 2007, was the highlight of his Surrey career. It was often said that a day watching Ramprakash was never wasted. Nor were the dozen years in which he dominated Surrey’s batting.
