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Surrey 229 for 1 (Davies 127*, Smith 74) beat Hampshire 228 (Ansari 4-46) by nine wickets

If it’s a Monday then it must mean that it’s The Oval. And so after living it up at Lord’s on Saturday, the call came out on Bank Holiday Monday of:

To South London!

…for the ‘rrey at home to Hampshire to start off the YB40 season at The Oval.

Fitting for any Bank Holiday, Monday was christened by the corporate types at The Oval as Family Fun Day.

Fuck that.

Bank holidays are all about booze and bat ‘n’ ball. The conversation in the queue to collect tickets turned towards carrot cake. Since when did Family Fun Day mean that cricket became the preserve of poncification of South London? I bagged a bag of chips from the Claylands Fish Bar, before offering up my excess saveloy sausage to a Yummy Mummy in The Oval queue.

Surrey were 9-0 as I took my seat in the Peter May alongside the sun drenched South London boys. These were Golden Days in South London. The combination of cricket and Carlsberg suggested a lively Bank Holiday ahead.

A pre-season fixture away at Hampshire had seen both sides batting in balaclavas (TRUE!) and temperatures of minus three degrees. When Will I See You Again, etc? Preferably in the more tropical South London conditions. Don’t forget the factor 50.

Hampshire won the toss and put the ‘rrey into bat for the first YB40 fixture of the season in South London. Dernbach’s line and length took the early wicket of Carberry.

Five overs in and Surrey were spinning it to win it. The introduction of Keedy into the attack coincided with the first appearance of the Family Fun Day balloon donkey.

Twists, turns and a lot of hot air.

And that was just the spin bowling of Keedy, etc.

A superb catch from Solanki saw off Vince for a useful 21, leaving Hampshire on 52-2. Cambridge undergraduate Ansari gave Hampshire a lesson in turning the ball, whilst a Captain’s catch from Smith in front of the OCS saw Surrey looking strong on 89-4.

A boundary from Ervine brought up the 100 for Hampshire at the halfway stage. A par score of 220 looked half decent. A parallel par score of eight cans of Carlsberg being demolished within the required run rate was also making steady progress.

The Ervine / Dawson partnership was finally broken when Ansari had Dawson caught on 36. Wheater fell for five in the 28th over, upsetting the natural balance in the Bank Holiday booze per over alternative scorecard.

Wood was run out for a 21, leaving the visitors on 188-7. Ervine slogged to 63, finally bowled by Ansari, now set up with a career bowling best of 4-37 in the limited overs game.

“They call him Domingo,”

…remarked a boozed up wag in the Peter May.

“He’s very placid.”

Boom boom.

It’s the way he tells / drinks them.

Hampshire were skittled out for 228 in an innings that neither threatened nor embarrassed the visitors. It was as non descript as the smuggled in alcohol. Part pleasing, part piss poor. But half decent, all the same.

A Captain’s knock from Smith settled the Surrey response. A fantastic 50 from only 36 balls - a shame that Davies at the other end just beat the South African skipper to the half-century.

Both batsmen reached 73 as Mr Duckworth and Lewis also showed the exact same score on The Oval scoreboard. If this was a boxing match then white towels would be thrown into every corner of the old ground, long before I had time to welcome the opening of can number eight of Carlsberg.

Smudger Smith finally came a cropper, caught on a fantastic 74 with the ‘rrey on 162-1. The Davies century soon followed off only 81 balls and with Surrey on 195-1.

Booze kinda clouded the remainder of the play, but no surprises that Surrey bagged their first YB40 win of the season, just as the sun was setting over the splendour of the OCS.

It’s beer festival cricket at The Oval next weekend, Comrades.

Same as it ever was.

C’mon the rrey!