Surrey will make the short journey to Lord’s in their quest to defend the London Cup against Middlesex on Friday.
This will be the ninth edition of the annual London Cup, a competition which was initiated by Ebony Rainford-Brent, Surrey’s former Culture and Values Board Chair, in 2015. The first ball on Friday will be bowled at 3:15 pm, with tickets for the match available here.
Entry is free for MCC and Middlesex members and for everyone under the age of 16. Ground admission charge for an adult is £5 and for anyone over the age of 65 is £2.50.
TEAM NEWS
Surrey have named a 12-strong squad for their visit to Lord’s.
SURREY
Amy Gordon’s team was optimistic about their chances for last week’s Vitality Women’s County T20 Finals Day, which was unfortunately washed out. But the London Cup will offer Surrey’s young side another opportunity to showcase their T20 cricket skills.
It will be the assignment of batters such as Maddie Blinkhorn-Jones, wicketkeeper Hannah Burridge, Thea Brookes, Izzy Berry, Laxmi Johal, and Emily Burke as well as skipper Gordon herself, to put runs on the board, or chase down the target set by their London rivals.
Blinkhorn-Jones has enjoyed impressive form this season, scoring her maiden Surrey century against Middlesex in the London Championship as well as reaching triple figures for South East Stars in a warm-up fixture against The Blaze. There will also be expectations from senior batters like Gordon and Brookes to guide Surrey’s young batting line-up. Gordon was the Club’s leading run-getter in the 20-over competition while Brookes, who debuted for the Three Feathers this season, boasts of a vast domestic career, having appeared in over 100 T20s and reached fifty on 11 occasions.
A feature of Surrey’s T20 wins this season has been their impressive spin bowling. Off-spinner Claudie Cooper – who made her South East Stars debut this in the Charlotte Edwards Cup and returned four wickets at an average of 21.75 – as well as finger spinners Bethan Miles, Anjali Ketan and Priya Khatkar will be hoping to make their mark in the London Cup. Khatkar, who previously played in Haryana, India, has been brilliant for the Three Feathers in her first season. She was the highest wicket-taker in the County T20, amassing nine wickets from three outings while going at an unbelievable economy rate of 3.5.
Charlotte Stubbs will be heading Surrey’s pace bowling department, alongside Gordon. Stubbs claimed three wickets at an average of 21 in the group stages of the 20-over tournament. When Surrey faced Middlesex in the London Championship, the pacer delivered a sublime spell, picking up four for 17 from her seven overs.
"To be back-to-back champions would be fantastic!" 👊
Hear from skipper @amy_gordon21 ahead of the London Cup at Lord's.
🤎 | #SurreyCricket
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) July 14, 2023
LAST LONDON CUP
Last year, having welcomed Middlesex to The Kia Oval in July, the Three Feathers reclaimed the London Cup in convincing fashion, defeating the visitors by nine wickets with 11 overs to spare.
Asked to bowl first, Surrey put in a dominant display in the field, limiting Middlesex to merely 68 all out. England international Alice Capsey was in a great rhythm as she took the new ball and returned incredible figures of 3/6 from her four overs, which also included a maiden over.
While Capsey posted the best figures, it was an outstanding game for every Surrey bowler. Dani Gregory (2/14), Miles (1/6), Lambert (1/7), Bryony Smith (1/9), and Eva Gray (1/17), were clinical with the ball, allowing only three Middlesex batters to reach double figures, with the top score being Iqraa Hussain’s 21.
The Three Feathers knocked down the target with great ease as openers Smith (28*) and Kira Chathli (28) swayed Surrey to 60 before Capsey (7*) arrived and completed the job with her captain.
MIDDLESEX
Middlesex were the joint winners of the Vitality Women’s County T20 as the final between them and Kent was washed out last week at Mill Hill School.
They were the side to beat in the group stages, having finished at the top of the table on 18 points, winning all their matches except the two fixtures against Kent that were abandoned due to bad weather.
Batter Saskia Horley, who scored 112 runs and remained unbeaten in all her outings, was the highest run-scorer in the 20-over competition. Bowlers Kate Coppack and Naomi Dattani also played an essential role in Middlesex’s excellent campaign, collecting eight and five wickets respectively.
In the London Championship, Middlesex’s only outing till now has been against Surrey, where they were comfortably defeated by 161 runs.
