365 Sporting Days

I’m going to lay out where I stand before I write about Surrey. I’m an Essex member and fan, but I’m also a Surrey member and have been for around 7 years. I originally bought membership so I could access international tickets; but I’ve enjoyed watching Surrey and the Oval is a great place to watch the game. I’ve always felt very welcome there, even when displaying my Essex colours. So, I have a soft spot for this county too.

This year sees Surrey celebrate their 175th year and they find themselves in a strong position both on and off the pitch. I feel the club is often maligned for their playing squad; in spite of the fact they’ve brought through a good number of young players. With 13 being 22 or younger.

Here’s the squad they had planned for 2020 –

• Rory Burns (29) – Captain, Batsman – List A Debut – Surrey 2012
• Jade Derbach (34) – T20 Captain, Bowler – First Class Debut – Surrey 2003
• Hashim Amla – Batsman – Overseas
• Gus Atkinson (22) – Bowler – Surrey 2nd XI
• Gareth Batty (42) – Bowler – Joined Surrey in 1998
• Scott Borthwick (30) – All-Rounder – Joined Surrey in 2017
• Jordan Clark (29). – All-Rounder – Joined Surrey in 2019
• Rikki Clarke (38) – All-Rounder – Joined Surrey in 2018
• Sam Curan (22) – All-Rounder – FC Debut – Surrey 2015
• Tom Curran (25) – All-Rounder – FC Debut – Surrey 2014
• Matt Dunn (28) – Bowler – FC Debut – Surrey 2010
• Ben Foakes (27) – Keeper/Batsman – Joined Surrey in 2015
• Will Jacks (21) – Batsman – FC Debut – Surrey 2018
• Shadab Khan – Bowler – Overseas
• Nick Kimber (19) – Bowler – Joined Surrey in 2020
• Conor McKerr (22) – Bowler – FC Debut Derbyshire on loan from Surrey 2017
• Daniel Moriarty (21) – Bowler – Surrey 2nd XI
• Morne Morkel – Bowler – Kolpak
• Michael Neser – Bowler – Overseas
• Ryan Patel (22) – Bowler – FC Debut Surrey 2017
• Liam Plunkett (35) – Bowler – Joined Surrey in 2019
• Ollie Pope (22) – Keeper/Batsman – FC Debut Surrey 2017
• Nico Reifer (19) – Batsman – Surrey 2nd XI
• Jason Roy (29) – Batsman – FC Debut Surrey 2010
• D’Arcy Short – Batsman – Overseas
• Jamie Smith (19) – Keeper/Batsman – FC Debut Surrey 2019
• Mark Stoneman (32) – Batsman – Joined Surrey in 2017
• James Taylor (19) – Bowler – Joined Surrey in 2020
• Reece Topley (26) – Bowler – Joined Surrey in 2020
• Amar Virdi (21) – Bowler – FC Debut Surrey 2017

We’re still waiting on news for County Cricket in 2020, but the following players are with the extended England squad. Rory Burns, Sam Curran, Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Ollie Pope and Jason Roy. I’d expect each to play in at least one of the formats.

I received the Annual Report and Accounts last weeks and thought the off field performance worth sharing, in particular the attendances at each game. Accounts first –

Turnover £000

• Membership 2,826
• ECB 1,857
• Domestic Cricket 2,508
• International Matches 9,515
• Advertising & Comm 3,062
• Retail & Cricket Centres 1,188
• Oval Events 24,134
• TOTAL 45,090

Cost of Sales

• Ticketing & Member 815
• Match Day Costs 3,190
• Comm & Marketing 956
• Retail & Cricket Centres 748
• Oval Events 11,166
• TOTAL 16,877

Overheads

• Commercial & Marketing 1,901
• Stadium 4,181
• Admin & Finance 6,147
• Oval `Events 4,092
• Cricket 5,276
• TOTAL 21,597

That all adds up to an operating profit of £6,616,000 with a profit after tax and interest payable of £4,480,000. This will help the organisation weather this Covid storm.

The Oval hosted 5 World Cup matches, the Final World Cup match and a hailed off ODI between England and Pakistan. Approximately 153,000 people attended those World Cup matches 91,705 attended the Ashes and 17,313 the Pakistan ODI.

This is a list kind of post – so here’s another – Attendance by format and game. Those international games saw Surrey play 2 of their 7 County Championship games at Guildford.

Specsavers County Championship – Division 1

Members Public Total

• Surrey v Essex 3,785 2,572 6,357
• Surrey v Somerset (G) 3,314 1,175 4,489
• Surrey v Yorkshire (G) 815 729 1,544
• Surrey v Warwickshire 4,229 2,219 6,448
• Surrey v Kent 3,928 3,992 7,920
• Surrey v Hampshire 4,147 4,502 8,649
• Surrey v Notts 1,837 543 2,380
• TOTAL 22,055 15,732 37,787

Royal London One-Day Cup

• Surrey v Essex 1,926 1,423 3,349
• Surrey v Middlesex 1,420 959 2,379
• Surrey v Hampshire 1,641 4,342 5,983
• Surrey v Kent 1,364 1,649 3,013
• TOTAL 6,351 8,373 14,724

Vitality Blast

• Surrey v Middlesex 3,552 17,259 20,811
• Surrey v Glamorgan 2,773 16,652 19,425
• Surrey v Kent 2,289 13,453 15,742
• Surrey v Gloucs 2,518 16,860 19,378
• Surrey v Sussex 3,011 16,622 19,633
• Surrey v Somerset 3,060 13,958 17.018
• Surrey v Essex 3,613 17.178 20,791
• TOTAL 20,816 111,982 132,798

That’s a total of 447,327 people watching cricket at the Oval in 2019. Next year the Oval will host a test match against India as well as the 100 if that happens. It’ll be interesting to see how the attendances for the 100 compare to the Vitality Blast and if the format has any detrimental effect.