Match Preview: Surrey v Gloucestershire
26 May 2021
Three weeks after a convincing victory against Middlesex at Lord’s, Gloucestershire return to London this time to face Surrey at The Kia Oval.
Sitting at the head of Group Two in the County Championship with a game in hand, Gloucestershire could put some distance between themselves and the chasing Somerset and Hampshire who currently lie second and third in the group respectively; both with no match this week.
All four days of Surrey v Gloucestershire will be broadcast live on the Gloscricket Match Centre here
In the first meeting between the two sides, Graeme van Buuren and Chris Dent led Gloucestershire to an eight-wicket victory with a successful final day chase thanks to a partnership of 193 coming from just 28.4 overs. James Bracey and Tom Lace also recorded half-centuries in the first innings of the match against a tough bowling unit that included Reece Topley, Jamie Overton and Amar Virdi.
Gloucestershire will be without Bracey for this match due to his call up to the England Test squad for their Series against New Zealand. Ian Harvey will however have loan signing Jonathan Tattersall from Yorkshire to fill in for Bracey behind the stumps.
Surrey will also be without their England stars Rory Burns and Ollie Pope who are also in England’s test squad. Ben Foakes was due to join the England team later this week as well but will miss out due to a hamstring injury.
In other squad news for the London side, Kemar Roach has been stood down in preparation for West Indies test Series against South Africa. That means Australian right-arm seamer Sean Abbott will be eligible to play against The Shire.
Abbott arrives in London in excellent form after a 2020/21 season that saw him take 43 wickets across all formats on top of a maiden first-class century.
Speaking about the upcoming match, Interim Head Coach Ian Harvey said:
“We’ve got some big games coming up against some big teams and Surrey is no exception, they are one of the best in the country. We played a very good game against them earlier in the season so we know what to expect but we know it will be tough and the boys will have to be ready for that.”
Gloucestershire’s 15-man squad for tomorrow’s match:
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