Surrey County Cricket Club, in 2005, played their cricket in the First Division of the County Championship and the Second Division of the totesport League. The 2004 season was a disappointment for Surrey under the captaincy of Jonathan Batty, who was replaced by Mark Butcher in 2005. However, Butcher was out for most of the season due to an injury to his left wrist, leaving Mark Ramprakash as interim captain – one of the few, maybe the only, man to captain both Surrey and their arch-rivals Middlesex.
Surrey is 10–3 second-favourites for the County Championship – and started their season with a damp draw against neighbours Sussex. In the totesport League, they lost their first game in a high-scoring match at the Oval against Yorkshire, which showed how long the Surrey tail is.
After these games, they then took on the students of Bradford/Leeds UCCE and to their surprise, and the students' credit, Surrey lost by 4 wickets. More concerning though were the injuries picked up by Martin Bicknell, Ian Salisbury and Rikki Clarke, which meant none of these three bowled in the final innings. It got no better for Surrey the following Sunday, when they lost heavily to Durham.
Surrey then went to Cardiff to play Glamorgan. The game was won by a combination of Jimmy Ormond, who made a career-best 7 for 63, and Mark Ramprakash who scored a century on the way to notching up his 25,000th first class run. They didn't play until the May Day Bank Holiday, when they were humbled away in Somerset.
On 4 May they were run hard by Staffordshire in the C&G Trophy, who at times threatened to repeat Ireland's humbling of Surrey in 2004, but ultimately the Lions prevailed. They then lost heavily to Nottinghamshire, who went to the top of the Division One table as a result, before beating Divisional whipping boys, Glamorgan convincingly at the Oval.
They were then whipped themselves in the Second Division of the National League, as Leicestershire County Cricket Club beat them by 60 runs. On 17 May they beat defending champions Gloucestershire in the Second Round of the C&G Trophy, and three days later won their first totesport League match of the year against Scotland. They then hung on for a draw in the Championship against Kent. It was during this match that it was announced that Surrey was to lose 8 points because of ball-tampering in the match against Nottinghamshire. This left them fifth in Division One at the end of May.
The first game in June was a 4-day draw with Warwickshire at Whitgift School, before losing by 49 runs to the same team on the same ground the next day. They then went on to Lord's where they took 12 points in a high-scoring draw against Middlesex, before defeating one of the favourites, Hampshire, by an innings and 55 runs. Surrey started their Twenty20 campaign with two victories, over Kent and Middlesex, and despite a loss against Hampshire they looked on course for more Twenty20 success. Indeed, they won their next three games, and despite two losses on the end of the campaign to Essex in a 5-over game and Sussex, they finished top of the South Division. In the County Championship, they squandered a 325-run first innings lead against Gloucestershire, failing to bowl them out in 157 overs of the second innings and having to settle with a draw, before getting only their second win of the National League season – a three-run squeeze against Yorkshire. However, they were knocked out of the C&G Trophy by Hampshire shortly afterwards, before enduring a big loss to Derbyshire in the National League. In the quarter-final of the Twenty20 Cup, shortened by rain, their game with Warwickshire was tied on the Duckworth–Lewis method so the captains agreed to have a bowl-off, which Surrey won 4–3, thus progressing to the semi-final.
Their Championship cricket was less impressive, as they lost sight of the leaders after a four-wicket defeat to Kent, where they conceded 232 in 35 overs to lose the match, and their one-day form was as woeful as usual, as they conceded 219 runs in 22 overs to Sussex in a shortened Sunday League game at Guildford, which they lost by 48 runs. A draw – their sixth of the Championship season – with Nottinghamshire followed, to leave them fourth in the table, twenty points adrift of the leaders Nottinghamshire. The Twenty20 Cup semi-finals and final was hosted at Surrey's home ground The Oval, but the home fans were disappointed in the team as Surrey went out in the semi-finals to Lancashire Lightning.
August began with a five-wicket Championship loss to Sussex, before winning two successive National League games, against Kent and Leicestershire. A virtual second XI, nevertheless including Mark Butcher and Saqlain Mushtaq, drew with Bangladesh A. The fourth day of their Championship match with Gloucestershire was rained off, meaning that Surrey had to endure their seventh draw of the season, and were still in the relegation zone. Even in one-day cricket, rain haunted them, as the National League clash with Kent was rained off, and they suffered their eighth Championship draw of the season against Hampshire, as relegation became an all the more imminent threat. Two matches in the National League followed before the end of August, which both ended in losses, to Somerset and Sussex.
September, however, began well for Surrey, as they recorded an eight-wicket League victory over Derbyshire. Their winning ways didn't last long, however, as they drew with Warwickshire in the Championship before losing in the National League, and on the second day of their "relegation play-off" with Middlesex Surrey were confined to relegation in the Championship, as they had conceded too many bonus points. Despite going on to win by an innings and 39 runs, and also recording a victory against Scottish Saltires in the National League, the season ended on a glum note for Surrey.
Players Azhar Mahmood Harbhajan Singh Mohammad Akram Jonathan Batty James Benning Martin Bicknell Ali Brown Rikki Clarke Richard Clinton Jade Dernbach Nayan Doshi Andrew Hodd Danny Miller Tim Murtagh Scott Newman James Ormond Mark Ramprakash Neil Saker Ian Salisbury Phil Sampson Graham Thorpe Tables
Championship
+ 2005 County Championship – Division One Pos Team Pld W D L Pen BP Pts 1 Nottinghamshire 16 9 4 3 0 94 236 2 Hampshire 16 9 4 3 0.5 92 233.5 3 Sussex 16 7 6 3 0 102 224 4 Warwickshire 16 8 3 5 0.5 86 209.5 5 Kent 16 6 7 3 8.5 99 202.5 6 Middlesex 16 4 7 5 0.5 98 181.5 7 Surrey 16 4 9 3 8.5 97 180.5 8 Gloucestershire 16 1 5 10 2 72 104 9 Glamorgan 16 1 1 14 0 71 88.5
totesport League
+ 2005 totesport League – Division Two Pos Team Pld W L NR T Pts 1 Sussex Sharks 18 13 4 1 0 54 2 Durham Dynamos 18 12 4 2 0 52 3 Warwickshire Bears 18 10 6 2 0 44 4 Leicestershire Foxes 18 10 7 1 0 42 5 Derbyshire Phantoms 18 9 7 1 1 40 6 Somerset Sabres 18 9 8 1 0 38 7 Surrey Lions 18 7 10 1 0 30 8 Kent Spitfires 18 6 10 2 0 28 9 Yorkshire Phoenix 18 5 13 0 0 20 10 Scottish Saltires 18 2 14 1 1 12
Match details
Surrey v Sussex (13–16 April)
Surrey (12pts) drew with Sussex (9pts)
Sussex won the toss at the Oval and elected to bat. Mark Ramprakash captained Surrey as Mark Butcher has still not recovered from the injury that saw him miss England's winter tour. Only 49 overs could be bowled on the first day, as rain delayed the start till after lunch, and bad light brought an early conclusion. Cloud cover helped the bowlers, but Sussex, thanks to Michael Yardy's 44 not out, finished the day on 171 for 4. The second day saw 61 overs. Yardy, again under cloud-covered skies, progressed to 111, which will have gone a long way to helping him cement a regular first team place. Rikki Clarke, who took 4 for 91, appears a yard quicker than last season, and to have improved after his poor season last year. Sussex finished the second day on 370, and Surrey on 6 for 1.
Only 13.3 overs were possible on a rain-affected third day, as Surrey moved to 33 for 1, with a draw a virtual certainty. The day was enlivened by the sight of a fox on top of one of the famous gasholders. It presumably went onto the top when the gasholder was low, and was trapped as the level rose. On the fourth day, Surrey's stand-in captain Ramprakash made an impressive 152, as Surrey elected to prolong their first innings until they reached 402 for 5 declared, to claim maximum batting points. The game ended there as a draw.
Surrey v Yorkshire (17 April)
Yorkshire (4pts) beat Surrey (0pts) by 43 runs
At the Oval, Yorkshire Phoenix won the toss and batted. Matthew Wood anchored the innings with 111 off 127 balls, Australian Ian Harvey plundered 69 from 48, and Harvey's compatriot Phil Jaques took 49 from 39. Yorkshire ended on 334 for 5, a record score for them in the Sunday League against Surrey Lions. In reply Surrey tried to knock off their target in sixes, with 9 coming in their innings. Ali Brown scored 5 of them as he plundered 86 off 46. But wickets fell, and Surrey's specialist bowlers were not renowned for their batting abilities. When Brown was out, Surrey were 261 for 6, and still leading on Duckworth-Lewis. However, with no recognised batsmen left, only a Yorkshire victory was likely. When Mohammad Akram was stumped off a no-ball, Surrey were 291 all out, 43 runs in arrears. The pick of the Yorkshire bowling was captain Craig White with 4 for 14 in 4 overs. (BBC scorecard)
Surrey v Bradford/Leeds UCCE (20–22 April)
Bradford/Leeds UCCE beat Surrey by 4 wickets
The first day at the Oval went according to the script. Surrey piled on 433 for 7 declared, with Richard Clinton scoring a century, and then Bradford/Leeds UCCE got to 31 for 2 by stumps. Rikki Clarke twisted his ankle, and would not bowl again in the match.
On the second day, the match changed. Bradford/Leeds UCCE, thanks to Adam Patel (54), James Duffy (64) and a defiant last wicket partnership of 86 between Tom Glover (42*) and Simon Crampton (42), took their score to 333, a deficit of 100. Even worse news for Surrey was a tear to Ian Salisbury's intercostal muscle which put him out of the rest of the game, and a re-aggravated hamstring injury to Martin Bicknell that stopped him bowling further in the match. Surrey then faltered with the bat, finishing the game on 132 for 6.
On the last day, Surrey were dismissed for 217 (although Ian Salisbury was absent hurt), with Glover taking 4 for 47. This left the students with a target of 318 runs off 70 overs. Very much to their credit, they went for it. Thomas Merilaht (56), Duffy (49 in 41 balls), Ryan Bradshaw (89* in 95 balls) and Mohammad Ali (27* off 22 balls) treated the sparse crowd to the sight of a UCCE team consistently finding the boundaries against a spread out field. Bradshaw hit 5 sixes and 8 fours in a match-winning innings. Whilst it was against a second-string Surrey attack (Clarke, Salisbury and Bicknell did not bowl) Bradford/Leeds UCCE were delighted to win with 2.1 overs remaining. (BBC scorecard)
Durham v Surrey (24 April)
Durham (4pts) beat Surrey (0pts) by 138 runs
Durham Dynamos continued their perfect start to the season with an emphatic win at Chester-le-Street. Surrey Lions chose to bowl first, and Tim Murtagh with 3 for 12 performed well. But Dale Benkenstein and Gordon Muchall put on 100 together to help the Dynamos to 224 for 8. For the Lions it all went wrong between the sixth and eighth overs, during which they lost four wickets for two runs to plummet to 27 for 4. Liam Plunkett and Benkenstein took 4 wickets each as Surrey were dismissed for 86 in 30.1 overs. It is early in the season, but already Surrey are looking weak after their fourth successive match without a victory. (Cricinfo scorecard)
Glamorgan v Surrey (27–30 April)
Surrey (18pts) beat Glamorgan (5pts) by five wickets