T20 Blast 2022 team guide: Surrey

The Cricketer takes a look at Surrey's setup ahead of the new season, going in-depth on batting strength, bowling variation, key players, and problem areas

Coach: Gareth Batty

Surrey were caught on the hop when Vikram Solanki accepted the call from the Indian Premier League, leading to Batty being installed as interim coach ahead of a recruitment process at the end of the season. The former England spinner couldn't have done much more to ensure he will be part of that, after leading Surrey to the top of the LV= Insurance County Championship.

Granted, few know the inner workings of The Oval club better and there are no shortage of options available to him, but few expected him to run hot so quickly in what is essentially his first senior coaching role. Part of the squads that were runners-up in 2013 and 2020, looking to go one better from the dugout. "I'm very confident in my skills as a coach, I really am - far much more than I ever was as a player," he said last month. It is certainly showing.

Captain: TBC

Overseas stars

Kieron Pollard

The former West Indies captain will grace county cricket for the first time since 2011 after signing up for the majority of the competition. Pollard's reputation as one of the great winners in the format, most destructive lower-order hitters and natural leaders in T20 history go before him.

His 15 20-over titles include five IPLs and two World Cups, the first of which he won alongside fellow overseas player Sunil Narine. Only Chris Gayle and Shoaib Malik have scored more runs in the format than Pollard, while his 773 sixes are only eclipsed by the former.

And with 308 wickets via his right-arm seamers, he adds value with the ball. A box office signing that will ensure south London is one of the go-to hot spots in the Blast once again.

^{Gareth Batty has started well at the helm (Ben Hoskins/Getty Images)}

Sunil Narine

Another Caribbean recruit that will get bums on seats. He is not exactly a surprising addition after playing for Oval Invincibles last summer. Narine is another serial winner who has left an indelible mark on T20 cricket.

A multiple IPL, CPL and Bangladesh Premier League champion, only two spinners have more wickets in T20s than him (438) with Imran Tahir within touching distance. As well as his skill with the ball a strike rate of 147.34 will see him given prominence in the batting order, adding to the abundance of allrounders available to Batty.

English stars

Jason Roy

One of England's greatest white-ball batters. Set for his return to cricket after taking a break from the sport, withdrawing him his £200,000 Gujarat Titans contract in the IPL, and being handed a suspended two-game ban and a £2,500 fine from the ECB for undisclosed reasons.

His 3,322 runs makes him Surrey top Blast run-scorer by some considerable distance and though he finished at the tournament's leading run-scorer in 2014 he is yet to go all the way as a player. A 50-over world champion with five centuries in the format - four of them for Surrey - he is one of the most dominant top-order batters in the sport.

Injuries have hit of late, not least during last year's World Cup, but there is little sign of him slowing down as he approaches 32.

Sam Curran

A key figure in Surrey's T20 outfit, who bats in the top four and takes the new ball. There has been a genuine upturn in Curran's T20 returns since his maiden IPL campaign in 2019, developing into a two-dimensional, in his own words "impact" cricketer, at just 23.

A stress fracture to his back means he starts the Blast light on bowling - he's only delivered 17 Championship overs - but four fifties in five innings gives him a good base from which to build. Injury ruined what should have been a fruitful winter, but what he lost in missing the World Cup, Ashes, West Indies tour and the IPL, he gained in taking a welcome break from the sport to refresh and regroup.

Jason Roy (Jordan Mansfield/Getty Images)

Reece Topley

If you've not been pulling for Topley over the last few years you've not been doing cricket right. The left-armer suffered four stress fractures and had a bout of surgery across a four-year injury battle and was sidelined again last summer with a side problem.

After mounting another return during The Hundred and Big Bash League he recaptured his England place, playing in four of the five Windies T20s at the end of January, where he was the pick of the quick bowlers. Can expect to be part of the white-ball side again, assuming lady luck is on his side fitness-wise, but in the meantime, he'll play a key role in Surrey's Blast title hopes.

BATTING

Power hitters

Will Jacks

The latest superstar off the Surrey production line. In 19 T20 innings (The Hundred and Blast) last summer he finished with a strike rate in the 170s and an average a touch below 30.

Had a tough time in Australia on his first franchise assignment with Hobart Hurricanes but bounced back in familiar climes before going to the Bangladesh Premier League, where he announced himself to an international audience, finishing as the leading run-scorer with 414 runs.

On Surrey's run to the 2020 final, he was named PCA MVP. Having burst onto the scene in 2019 with a 25-ball century in Dubai in Lancashire, a performance which for too long was considered the exclamation point on his young career, he is building a fine body of work.

Laurie Evans

What is generally referred to as a late bloomer. But 34, it feels as though Evans is reaching his peak years. The former Harlequins rugby union scrum-half broke through for Sussex Sharks in 2018, finishing as the leading run-scorer for the eventual runners-up.

Franchise exposure helped develop his skills and reputation and by the time he returned to Surrey on a permanent basis, he was a polished top-order batter. Runs came at a sedate rate last summer but he rose to his biggest challenge so far in his maiden BBL season with champions Perth Scorchers.

Evens left his most illuminating performance for the final, top-scoring with an unbeaten 76 to inspire a 79-run win over Sydney Sixers and claim the player of the match award. The player Surrey welcome back this summer is on a new level.

Laurie Evans was named player of the match after the BBL final (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Anchor

Good luck trying to find a batter to take the heat out of Surrey's innings this summer. Jamie Smith will get the chance to build on an impressive One-Day Cup campaign, when he captained Surrey, kept wicket and averaged 63 with the bat. He averages 30.23 in T20s with a strike rate of 116.61, which makes him ideally suits to shepherd the innings away from danger if the power-hitters fail. When available, it might be that he is partnered by fellow-keeper Ben Foakes, whose 856 T20 runs have come at 124.05.

Finisher

When the history of T20 finishers is eventually written, reams will be devoted to Pollard, one of the greats to ever grace the role. The Trinidadian isn't just an intimidating presence to bowl at due to his large frame, he is a brutal hitter of a cricket ball with a particular prowess against yorkers.

Indeed, facing him in the closing overs is one of the most intimidating tasks in white-ball cricket. While he can't even remotely rival Pollard's contribution to the game, Jamie Overton will fancy he can replicate last season's return when his 134 runs came at 167.50, particularly after reeling off successive half-centuries in the Championship.

Problem areas

Years past, you might take a look at this Surrey batting line-up and wonder who was going to grind out a score when the going got tough. But throwing selective caution to the wind is the name of the game nowadays.

When a player of Ollie Pope's ability isn't particularly missed you get a good idea of the calibre of this side. As ever, it'll be about getting their stars on the field at the same time as often as possible and ensuring their biggest hitters see enough deliveries.

BOWLING

Speed merchants

Chris Jordan

Back at Surrey for a second spell after becoming the latest to depart Sussex's sinking ship. Jordan has a wealth of experience with 274 wickets in 268 T20 outings - the most by any English seamer.

Jordan is a three-dimensional cricketer, one of the best fielders in the world, good for runs down the order and a seamer who thrusts himself into the game's high-pressure moments. That said, Jordan's recent form leaves a lot to be desired. He was taken apart in the West Indies, finishing with a single wicket and an economy rate of 10.46.

Things, to his credit, improved in the Pakistan Super League with Islamabad United but his IPL jaunt with Chennai Super Kings undid that progress. Nevertheless, Jordan would walk into any side in the Blast as a dependable allrounder but he can't afford to get it wrong at the death on traditionally flat pitches at The Oval.

Jamie Overton (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Jamie Overton

News that the younger Overton brother (by three minutes) has been hitting 90mph in the Championship this season will undoubtedly have made England's newly-assembled leadership group sit up and take note. But the reality is that Overton's ability to test the speed gun is nothing new.

It is his relatively injury-free run that sees him thrust back into the international picture, inevitably helped by moving to Surrey in 2020. A hostile quick who bowls hard and hits hard down the order fits the bill for T20 cricket perfectly.

His returns have been shaky since taking 24 wickets for Somerset in the 2018 competition. Nevertheless, he is a talent worth investing in, possessing a vicious bouncer from his 6ft 5ins frame.

Gus Atkinson

The relentless Surrey talent factory deposited Atkinson in 2020 in the Bob Willis Trophy and the Chelsea youngster hasn't looked back since. His progress has been gradual, with Surrey refraining from burning him out with too much cricket, too early.

His 15 wickets at an economy rate of 8.36 was the best return by a Surrey bowler last season, earning him a Southern Brave deal for The Hundred, though he didn't get a runout.

A diet largely of second XI cricket this season was broken in early May with just a fourth first-class outing against Northamptonshire, where he took three wickets and scored a career-best 66*. 

Variation

Sunil Narine

The West Indian mystery spinner will prove a menace in the Blast this season. Able and willing to bowl at any time during the innings, he has an eye-watering economy rate of 6.02 - no player to have played more than 56 T20s can claim to have a better one.

With an ability to spin the ball both ways, challenge both sides of the bat with his multiple variations and deceive batters with his high-arm action, he is problematic to pick or dominate. Five wickets at 14.80 in The Hundred at The Oval for the Invincibles is an ominous sign.

Dan Moriarty celebrates (Alex Davidson/Getty Images)

Dan Moriarty

A left-arm spinner who has enjoyed a fine breakthrough since the 2020 Bob Willis Trophy. He picked up 17 wickets in his maiden Blast campaign to help Surrey reach the final, carrying a handy knack of breaking partnerships at key intervals.

Last term saw him claim another 11. Thirty-five wickets in his first six first-class matches suggest he is a red-ball future talent.

Has an ally in head coach Batty, who has helped developed his tactical outlook, particularly around attacking bowling. He told The Cricketer in 2021: "He’s so experienced and he understands cricket back to front. He leaves no stone unturned with me."

Line and length

Tom Curran

The second Curran brother to suffer a stress fracture in his back over the winter that has seen him sidelined for the start of the season. The 27-year-old has lost his way a little in recent years, slipping out of the England picture and being picked off at the death.

Before flying home, his BBL returns over the winter of five wickets and an economy rate of 10.14 was his poorest return yet. But at his best, Curran's lengths and accuracy make him a real asset. He'll have good support from Pollard, while Dan Worrall and part-timer Ryan Patel complete a varied seam attack.

Problem areas

Only two of Surrey's six wins last term came fielding second, beating Middlesex after scoring 223 and defending 147 against Hampshire. But, as with the batting, it is about maximising their resources, getting the right blend in the attack and ensuring the 20 overs are used effectively. Their bowling threatens to be hit harder by England call-ups than the batting, so that might be the real test of their title aspirations.

Jamie Smith (Ashley Allen/Getty Images)

FIELDING

Who takes the gloves?

Foakes' hamstring tear meant Smith took the gloves last term, claiming four dismissals in 12 innings. There is a distinct possibility that both players make the XI, when available, but with Fokes in Test action Smith will start the season, so there is a decision for Batty to make. Pope is the reserve option.

Fixtures: May 27 - Glamorgan (h, 6:30pm), May 31 - Gloucestershire (h, 6:30pm), June 2 - Hampshire Hawks (h, 6:30pm), June 3 - Kent Spitfires (a, 7pm), June 5 - Glamorgan (a, 2pm), June 8 - Sussex Sharks (h, 6:30pm), June 9 - Middlesex (a, 6:15pm), June 17 - Middlesex (h, 6:30pm), June 19 - Hampshire Hawks (a, 2:30pm), June 21 - Somerset (h, 6:30pm), June 23 - Sussex Sharks (a, 7pm), June 24 - Essex Eagles (a, 7pm), July 1 - Kent Spitfires (a, 6:30pm), July 3 - Somerset (a, 6:30pm)

Squad: Gus Atkinson, Nathan Barnwell, Rory Burns, Jordan Clark, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Matthew Dunn, Laurie Evans, Ben Foakes, Ben Geddes, Will Jacks, Chris Jordan, Nick Kimber, Tom Lawes, Conor McKerr, Daniel Moriarty, Jamie Overton, Sunil Narine, Ryan Patel, Kieron Pollard, Nico Reifer, Jason Roy, Jamie Smith, Cameron Steel, James Taylor, Reece Topley, Amar Virdi, Daniel Worrall

Possible XI: Jason Roy, Will Jacks, Laurie Evans, Sam Curran, Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Jamie Smith, Jamie Overton, Chris Jordan, Gus Atkinson, Dan Moriarty