For a club with the financial and playing resources like Surrey, winning the County Championship Division One title constitutes the bare minimum they should be achieving. This may be a tad harsh, but the Manchester City of the South showed their continued excellence in the four-day game and were never seriously challenged for prolonged periods by the chasing pack. In the white ball arena, they reached finals day in the Vitality Blast only to succumb to a Matt Henry inspired Somerset side who went to take the title.
Understandably, in the One Day Cup, they struggled due to the considerable number of first team regulars at the Hundred or on England duty. They have retained the same squad as last season, so the Brown Caps will expect to challenge on all fronts once again.
A surprising element of their red ball success in 2023, was that no single batter reached 1,000 runs. They have a top order partnership with international experience in Rory Burns and Dom Sibley who both put up underwhelming numbers for players of their ability. They have strengthened the batting unit for 2024 with the signing of England test batter Dan Lawrence who has made the move from Essex, he will have a point to prove as he continues to remain on the periphery of international playing time.
The seam bowling unit is a high-quality, and reliable group, with the likes of Dan Worrall, Jordan Clark, Tom Lawes, and Gus Atkinson supplemented by overseas signings such as Kemar Roach, and Sean Abbott. Hopefully, Jamie Overton is over the worst of his injury problems and can get on the park more often this season too. Many of these are high quality performers who sit just below international recognition so many should be spending the majority of the season at the club.
They do lack a high-quality spinner, despite the continuing development of Will Jacks. Jacks’ omission from the winter tour of India surprised many and may cause him to seek more opportunities away from the red ball game, I hope not as he is a seriously talented cricketer with bat and ball. The only departure was in the shape of left arm spinner Dan Moriarty, who moved to Yorkshire in search of more regular opportunities in all formats.
The club still also retain some top-quality white ball cricketers, including the likes of Jason Roy, Chris Jordan, Laurie Evans, as well as overseas signings Sean Abbott and Aaron Hardie. It is no surprise that they were challenging in the Vitality Blast, and I would expect them to do so again. The One Day Cup is an excellent breeding ground for young players, so it will be interesting to see what the next generation of Brown Caps look like.
My predictions for 2024? I expect Surrey to continue to seriously challenge in the County Championship once again, while being a strong contender for the T20 Blast. The One-Day Cup may be a struggle once again unless the club can add some experience to help the youngsters.
Transfer Business
In: Dan Lawrence (Essex), Kemar Roach (West Indies, first seven County Championship games), Aaron Hardie (Australia, mid-May until late July), Sean Abbott (Australia, May-June)
Out: Dan Moriarty (Yorkshire)
Key Player
West Indian veteran Kemar Roach is a canny signing who will be a handful in early season English conditions, so will form a vital cog of the bowling attack. However, Jordan Clark looks to be a very underrated cricketer who made valuable contributions with bat and ball last year in all formats, he was joint top wicket taker with 48 wickets in the County Championship, as well scoring over 400 runs. In the batting unit, it will be interesting to see how Dan Lawrence performs in his new home at the Oval, a change of scenery often gives a new lease of life to a cricketer, especially one with a point to prove to the England selectors.
One to Watch
With the stellar bowling attack they have, it is for someone like Tom Lawes to slip under the radar. He is only 21 and looks a serious prospect who has already achieved England Lions recognition. Not short of pace and skill, he topped the red ball bowling averages for Surrey last year with 39 wickets at 19.76. He is also a handy lower batter, so has many of the tools to be a three-dimensional cricketer.
