Surrey’s Strong Batting Performance
Ollie Pope’s 103 and Jamie Smith’s 166 left promoted Leicestershire reeling in their County Championship match.
Midway through the fifth day of the first match in the second round of fixtures, Ollie Pope became the 11th player to score a century in the First Division this season – with five of those centuries belonging to Surrey players. Jamie Smith already has two centuries this season. Surrey, pre-season favourites for the title, may have drawn their opening game, but they are showing ominous form in this match and overall. At stumps, Surrey were 412 for six.
Conversely, things look challenging for Leicestershire as they adjust to the top flight following last year’s promotion. After being beaten by Sussex in their season opener, by the second session here, as Smith and Pope approached their centuries, Leicestershire appeared under-resourced in confidence, ideas, and quality. They managed to take a couple of late wickets but gained little consolation from the scoreboard.
A crowd of 4,700 gathered at The Oval on a bracingly cold early spring day, which felt far removed from Test cricket despite the venue. Given that Surrey’s top six have all played international cricket, this match was always expected to be scrutinized for potential international implications. The surprise was that the first player to make a significant impact was Leicestershire’s Josh Hull.
Josh Hull’s Progress
Now 21, Hull will mark the second anniversary of his only international appearance in September. He appeared raw when selected just days after turning 19 against Sri Lanka at this ground in September 2024 but has since matured, suggesting his initial selection was mistimed rather than misguided. While this performance did not make a compelling case for an immediate recall, Hull has improved in pace and reliability. Physically, he remains the same towering 6ft 7in, and on one occasion, an attempt to prevent a boundary resulted in a tangle of limbs as the ball rolled to the rope. Having missed the Sussex game, Hull began his season by taking a wicket in his first over, dismissing Dom Sibley lbw with an excellent delivery.
At that stage, the game had yet to find its rhythm, but by the afternoon, Surrey had gained a position of growing dominance. With catchers positioned across the leg side, Hull beat Pope with a short ball that struck the batter on the helmet and induced an edge from Smith with a delivery that moved away. However, no further wickets fell during that spell, and Hull was replaced after an over in which both batsmen drove boundaries and reached their centuries. When Hull returned for a fourth spell late in the final session, Smith greeted him with a powerful low pull for six, surpassing 150 runs.
Jamie Smith’s Patient Approach
For Smith, this match was a stark contrast to Test cricket in both climate and quality, as well as his role. Coming in at number three, he initially played cautiously, scoring one run from his first 10 balls and making only four scoring shots in his first 25 deliveries, three of which were singles. Pope came to the crease 13 overs later after Rory Burns was caught by Tom Scriven at mid-on. Pope soon overtook Smith, having scored 24 runs to Smith’s 22, but with half as many balls faced.
Shortly before lunch, Ben Green’s bowling helped Smith settle. Green, 28, is in his fifth first-division season and has already bowled more overs this year than in any previous season. Bowling defensively to protect the short boundary, Green offered some loose deliveries, allowing Smith to hit three fours in as many balls and accelerate his innings. Although Smith occasionally benefited from luck, he continued to impress and entertain until Green found an edge, caught by Patel in the 90th over, by which time Smith had scored 166 runs from 240 balls.
Ollie Pope’s Return to Form
Other than scores of 100 and 90 against the Lions at Lilac Hill in the Ashes warm-up—a match that was neither highly competitive nor a strong indicator of future success—Pope endured a difficult winter. Adding a couple of cheap lbw dismissals to Warwickshire’s Ethan Bamber last week, more than seven months had passed since his last first-class 50. His previous century was against India at Headingley in early June, 21 first-class innings ago.
Despite this, no one at The Oval doubts Pope’s ability. Both he and Smith appeared supremely comfortable at the crease. The length of time Dan Lawrence took to emerge from the dressing room after Pope nicked Ajaz Patel to the gloves of Ben Cox—Smith’s century-sealing boundary off Hull turned out to be his last scoring shot—suggested that no one expected a wicket to fall soon. Ben Foakes ended the day on 62 and has been dismissed only once this season, maintaining an average of 226. Leicestershire will need to produce some surprises if they are to change the course of this match.
