This week, Ollie Pope will be the fourth Surrey player to captain England at The Kia Oval. Richard Spiller focuses on the fortunes of the three previous Surrey players in charge in Oval Tests
Douglas Jardine – 1931
Surprisingly, it took 51 years before a Surrey player captained England at The Oval, home of the first Test in England in 1880. After a Bradman-led pounding in 1930, Douglas Jardine had been identified as the man to win back the Ashes in 1932-33, although Percy Fender was still the county’s skipper.
The international programme was much sparser in those days – partially by necessity given teams were still travelling by boat – and his first series was relatively straightforward. He came up against a fledgling New Zealand side who were regarded as being sufficiently weak that only three days were allocated to each Test. They drew the opening match at Lord’s but across the River Thames England dominated from the start. Even though Jack Hobbs had retired the previous year, the hosts possessed a stellar batting line-up and it showed as Herbert Sutcliffe (117), Duleep (109) and Wally Hammond (100 no) all made centuries.
So dominant was England’s batting that they could declare early on day two with 416-4, Jardine – no mean performer given he averaged 48 over his 22 Tests – having dropped down to number six and barely getting in.
The Kiwis found life much harder, skipper Tom Lowry’s 62 the best as they could only muster 193, paceman Gubby Allen – collecting 5-14 in 13 overs – sweeping through them. The follow-on didn’t go much better, Giff Vivian (51) and Roger Blunt (43) the best in a total of 197 as Maurice Tate (3-22) and leg-spinner Ian Peebles (4-63) took heavy toll. That gave England victory by an innings and 26 runs, sufficient to earn them a 1-0 win in the three-match series.
By the time England next played at The Oval – two years later – Jardine had won back the Ashes in Australia in the 1932-33 series but his “Bodyline” strategy remains notorious to this day, not least down under. And in the second Test of the 1933 series against West Indies, the tourists employed similar tactics, to which Jardine stood up magnificently in scoring the only century of his international career, Wisden declaring that he faced it “probably better than any man in the world was capable of doing”.
It meant, though, that he had to miss the Oval Test and would never appear for England again in his home country, realising support from the establishment had ebbed away.
Peter May – 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958 & 1961
Peter May was heir apparent to two captains – the England skipper Len Hutton and Surrey’s buccaneering leader Stuart Surridge. It was the international job which he gained first, Hutton’s faltering health and fitness giving way after he had led England to retain the Ashes in Australia in 1954-55.
The Yorkshireman, along with Denis Compton, had largely carried England’s batting since cricket resumed after the Second World War and the strain told. Part of that was being his country’s first professional captain, amateurs having been regarded as more suitable for leadership. And there was still a considerable body of opinion in the conservatively-minded cricket establishment that it should remain that way, the distinction between the two not being abolished until early 1963.
May was an amateur but in mindset probably closer to the cautious Hutton than the adventurous Surridge. He was also the finest bat to emerge since the war – some believe that still remains the case – and by 1955 had become one of the finest strokemakers in the world. All went well for his leadership – although it was still hoped Hutton would be fit to return – when England won the opening two Tests against South Africa, by an innings and five runs at Trent Bridge and 71 runs at Lord’s, May scoring a century in the latter.
South Africa struck back, though, squeezing home by three wickets at Old Trafford – despite another May ton – and 224 runs at Headingley.
At The Oval England recalled Jim Laker for his first Test of the summer, teaming up with Surrey colleague Tony Lock on home turf, but they were dismissed for 151 on day two – the first had been shortened by rain – with temporary opener Brian Close’s 32 the highest score. Trevor Goddard claimed 5-31.
That was still sufficient to earn a first innings lead, the tourists being shot out for 112 with Lock taking 4-39 and Laker 2-28. May’s unbeaten 89 in the second innings proved key, his side making 204 all out and finding scoring almost impossible against the off-spin of Hughie Tayfield, whose 53.4 overs yielded a remarkable 5-60.
Conditions were getting progressively harder for batting, though, a target of 244 to win the match and series never looking realistic as the South Africans were bowled out for 151 despite wicketkeeper John Waite’s fighting 60, this time Laker taking the lead (5-65) and Lock’s 4-62 completing a solid match.
A year later, May’s authority had been buttressed by retaining the Ashes won under Hutton at The Oval in 1953 and then kept 18 months later. Regarded as favourites, England had gone behind when they lost by 185 runs at Lord’s, responding with an innings and 42 run triumph at Headingley. Then came Laker’s match, the Surrey off-spinner’s 19-90 at Old Trafford securing a margin of an innings and 170 runs.
Ashes secured but a series still to win, the home side might well have made it 3-1 but for losing almost half the playing time to rain. England were looking serene at 222-3 on the opening day thanks to a partnership of 156 between May (83) and Compton, making 94 in his first Test since having his right knee cap removed. But in fading light they fell apart to Ron Archer (5-53) and Keith Miller (4-91), ending up with just 247.
Overnight rain made batting difficult, Miller’s 61 picking up Australia from 111-7 to 202 all out, Laker’s 4-80 taking him past Alec Bedser’s record of 39 wickets in an Ashes series. England were batting again on the third day when a storm arrived of such ferocity that no play was possible until after lunch on the final day – a gap which included the rest day – but May’s decision to wait until tea to declare at 182-3, with David Sheppard making 62, seemed conservative.
He must have regretted it when Australia slumped to 27-5 at the close, Laker claiming three more, but both Ashes and the series were secure.
May was at the peak of his powers in 1957, having finally succeeded Stuart Surridge as Surrey captain after five successive County Championship titles, going on to lead them to two more. His England side crushed West Indies 3-0 that summer, their final victory – by an innings and 237 runs – coming just after lunch on day three.
It had looked less rosy in the opening match of the series when England were bowled out for 186, Sonny Ramadhin continuing his mastery over them from the 1950 tour by taking 7-49, before the tourists made 474. But May’s unbeaten 285, adding a record 411 for the fourth wicket with Colin Cowdrey (154) – using their pads to nullify the leg-spinner – changed all that, the declaration at 583-4 being followed by West Indies collapsing to 72-7.
They suffered innings defeats at both Lord’s and Headingley, divided by hanging on for a draw after being made to follow on at Trent Bridge, so by the time the teams reached Kennington the tone was well set.
By now, just about everything was going against the visitors, who were faced with a dusty pitch but missed spinners Alf Valentine and Denis Atkinson through injuries. Paceman Roy Gilchrist was absent with flu, which also struck skipper John Goddard after day one and put him out of the match.
England’s 412 all out after winning the toss was largely due to opener Peter Richardson (107) and Tom Graveney’s 164, Ramadhin claiming 4-107.
A team reduced in numbers and down on their luck were just waiting to be gobbled up. Surrey’s spin pair Lock and Laker duly obliged and once a second wicket partnership of 61 was broken the rest followed in a rush to be all out for 89. Lock’s 5-28 included 5-10 in 21 balls and four wickets in seven deliveries to finish the innings.
Returning on day three, West Indies this time were dismissed for 86, young all-rounder Garry Sobers (42) and Clyde Walcott (19) the only ones to make double-figures.
“They just melted away” concluded John Arlott after watching Lock take 6-20 and Laker finish with five in the match.
That peak form was maintained by England in 1958, reaching The Oval 4-0 up against a weak New Zealand side and aiming for a whitewash.
Yet after dismissing the Kiwis for 161 and reaching 30-0 overnight, there would be no more play until day five as one of the filthier summers on record stayed true to form. Top-scorer when the action restarted was tailender Fred Trueman (39no), May declaring at 219-9 and leaving time for 55 overs, in which the tourists made 91-3.
Perhaps the rain was crying for England, who headed off to Australia as hot favourites yet suffered a 4-0 thrashing by Richie Benaud’s side. It was never quite the same for May, who missed much of the following two years through ill health and only returned to the Test side during the 1961 Ashes series.
He played under Cowdrey in the second Test at Lord’s, England losing it by five wickets, taking charge at Leeds for a win by eight wickets, but the prevailing image of the series was the picture of May being bowled behind his legs for a second-ball duck by Benaud at Old Trafford, during a collapse which saw the match lost by 54 runs and the Ashes with it.
That left the Oval Test as a dead rubber, May making 71 out of England’s 256 all out. Norman O’Neill (117) and Peter Burge (181) earned Australia a massive lead as they made 494 and all the hosts could do was aim for survival. They achieved it thanks to Raman Subba Row’s 137 and 83 from Surrey’s Ken Barrington, ending the match at 370-8.
Not only was it Subba Row’s last Test – in typically modest style, May let it be known he would no longer be available for England, having captained his country in a record (then) of 41 Tests and winning 20 of them. He played just one more season for Surrey before retiring aged 32.
Alec Stewart – 1998
Unlike Jardine and May, Alec Stewart already had experience as Surrey’s captain when he was chosen to lead England. He had taken over from Ian Greig at The Oval in 1992, the middle years of that decade bringing much internal strife but joy being unconfined when Surrey ended 14 years without a trophy in 1996, winning the Sunday League.
Stewart’s international commitments had become so heavy that it made sense to hand over to Adam Hollioake the following winter and in 1998 – having narrowly missed out to Mike Atherton five years earlier – he finally became England captain. His first series was initially a struggle against South Africa, going behind in the second Test and just averting defeat in the third before winning the last two, England’s first victory in a major series since 1986-87.
It offered encouragement for the forthcoming winter’s Ashes tour but there was another challenge first – a one-off Test against Sri Lanka at The Oval.
Armed with Saqlain Mushtaq and Ian Salisbury, Surrey were relishing dry pitches which turned but England’s attack was seam-based and they were up against a team whose main weapon was Muttiah Muralitharan, alongside Shane Warne as the world’s leading spinner but streets ahead of him in the controversy stakes.
“As long as ICC remains satisfied by its legitimacy, it is an unorthodox action that we are privileged to witness,” intoned Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack in its report of a match in which he would finish with 16 wickets for 220, passing 200 Test wickets on the way to a final tally of 800.
Stewart’s opposite number, Arjuna Ranatunga, was the captain in the spotlight initially after his decision to insert England saw them make 445 in almost two days. Jockeying for the final batting place in Australia, Graeme Hick seemed to have booked his place by scoring 107 only for chief rival John Crawley to trump that with what proved a decisive 156 in much more fluent style. Neither of them, nor anyone else, found it easy against Murali as he ran through 59.3 overs in claiming 7-155.
Sri Lanka ended day two at 79-1 and would make the hosts sweat buckets on the third as they advanced to 446-3, the seam attack of Darren Gough, Angus Fraser and Dominic Cork looking impotent as Sanath Jayasuriya played seemingly without a care in the world to make 213. He added 243 for the third wicket with Aravinda de Silva, whose 152 was full of typically impish shots, both finally falling to Surrey all-rounder Ben Hollioake while his county colleague, leg-spinner Ian Salisbury, ended the innings at 591 when he bowled Muralitharan for 30.
Batting again on the fourth afternoon, England were now fighting to save the match and lost two wickets before the close, one of them Mark Butcher (15) – the fourth Surrey player in the side – and Hick for a duck.
With Stewart unfortunately run out for 32, the final day turned into a long battle of patience, Mark Ramprakash battling to keep England afloat over 246 minutes as he made 42. It seemed he might, Gough (15) keeping him company through 52 overs but both finally swallowed up by the off-spinner as he returned 9-65 from 54.2 overs.
That left Sri Lanka to make just 36 for their first win on English soil, victorious by 10 wickets although it had taken them into the final hour of the match to achieve it.
