Evison’s rescue in Kent gets spotlight from Crawley-Foakes Ashes subplot

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Surrey 88 for 1 (Sibley 35*) course knows 278 (Evison 77*, Lawes 3-41) with 190 runs

The oldest game in county cricket. The Brown Caps vs. the Spitfires. Defending champion versus relegation candidate. Actual South London vs claiming to be South London.

It has been 314 years since this match between Surrey and Kent took place, and it has rarely lacked a story. Even the first game in 1709 was £50. But even given the history and contrasting presentations of these two teams, the focus on this opening day at the Kia Oval has been dominated by two cricketers in particular.

It’s been two days since Surrey’s Ben Foakes was dropped from the squad for the first test of the summer. Ultimately for Jonny Bairstow, but essentially for Kent’s Zak Crawley.

If you’re unaware of the situation, search “Foakes” and “Crawley” on Twitter and let the discourse wash over you and dissolve the flesh of your bones. Essentially: Bairstow always came back. Foakes had done a lot of good. And a side doing things differently could have done things differently by promoting someone to open at the expense of a lead-off batting average of 25.86 over 12 Tests under Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum.

Whatever your opinion on it all, the relief of real cricket provided a refuge. Foakes would certainly have regarded it as such. Had he kept his England spot, chances are he would have opted to sit out to save his back ahead of the Ireland Test which begins on June 1. Instead, he went on with his life.

Crawley, the same way. This was a chance to focus on the things that really matter. And when Surrey chose to bowl first after winning the toss, it was the perfect opportunity to move to the center and away from the noise. On the ground where his unbeaten 69 took England to a run-winning goal of 130 against South Africa late last summer, no less.

Shortly after the Test announcement on Tuesday, Crawley was interviewed by the BBC as criticism of Foakes’ disapproval had already gone from zero to 100 on social media. Presented with the response, the opener gave in to a well-known misplaced swipe – this time at “the average gambler” and their opinions, “which of course I don’t care [about] Anyway”.

Your heart sinks a little bit when you read that, because it’s a little out of character, and very much done with condemning a man. He went on to explain that hundreds are actually not all they are meant to be. “I could play brilliantly for 20 and get a good ball,” he said. “You could play terrible for 100 and everyone says ‘well beaten’ when actually I played better for 20.”

It was a pity, then, that he only managed 19, pushing Jordan Clark into third after tucking Dan Worrall out for a pair of fours with a square leg. The bat came down at an angle, offering up the outside half when it might have gone for length.

At the time, Kent had 30 for 2. Worrall had pocketed Ben Compton with a perfect delivery from around the wicket that clipped the top after the southpaw chose to leave. Clark was promoted to open the bowling alongside Worrall after Kemar Roach had to end his spell at Surrey to return home for family reasons.

There is an argument to be made that Clark is one of the club’s best signings. The extra bounce of a length to snare Crawley was replicated to get Jack Leaning off two balls after the lunch break for his 100th first-class wicket for Surrey.

Two overs from that end later, Clark Jordan Cox bowled, widened the crease and snuck one through the right-hander’s defence. Up the count ticked to 101 and down went the average by a sliver under 30 (29.99).

There was a feeling that this was all a bit too one-sided for Division One. But for a few times at the top, Kent was powerless to stop Surrey from stomping all over their top and mid range. The sight of skipper Sam Billings vetting Tom Lawes for Foakes dove over first slip to get his second catch felt like a key indicator of a batting group in disarray. With 118 for 7 the end seemed near. Then Joey Evison happened.

And he really happened. A remarkable unbeaten 77 dragged Kent to a wildly improbable 278, picking up only their third batting run of the season. Since moving to Canterbury from Nottinghamshire last summer, the mild-mannered 21-year-old has put on the kind of fight you would normally associate with a much louder person.

Stands of 74 with Wes Agar and 82 with Michael Hogan, for the eighth and tenth wickets respectively, started with the all-rounder protecting the bowlers until they were comfortable enough to hold their own. Even while protecting them, Evison indulged in some outrageous shots, driving up, flashing six times over midwicket, and occasionally stepping out and firing so straight across the ground that he threatened to blow a hole through the standing umpire. One, of his 77th delivery, took him to a second half-century of the season.

The first was a four-hour act of defiance against Warwickshire, which ended with Evison being sacked for 99 by Hasan Ali. Not only was it Kent’s last wicket in the second innings, but it confirmed defeat deep into the final day. Nevertheless, this knock was much needed and it upheld its reputation as the fourth emergency service for Kent.

The addition of 160 for the last three wickets was particularly frustrating for Surrey, as it delayed tea until 4:39pm, before Lawes tied Hogan halfway through the first over of the restart for Foakes’ third catch. With momentum a little more towards Kent, Hogan dismissed Surrey captain Rory Burns at the start of the eighth over.

However, that was not too bad for the visitors. Fresh off his official appointment as vice-captain of the Test, Ollie Pope strolled out looking as comfortable as you’d expect on his favorite ground. Teamed up with an enthralling early evening practice from Dom Sibley, the pair left Surrey 190 behind heading into Friday, with plenty of room to take the lead into the second half of this game.

There was another bright spot for Kent in the field. Sear Arafat Bhuiyan, who had signed until the end of the season on Wednesday, sent in his first five overs for the province.

Born in Bangladesh and based in the UK, Bhuiyan was one of three South Asian Cricket Academy (SACA) graduates to make his first-class debut on Thursday, along with Zaman Akhter for Gloucestershire and Zain-ul-Hassan for Glamorgan. The work SACA has already formed ahead of the 2022 season to correct the under-representation of British South Asians in the professional set-up is remarkable given the standing start.

Bhuiyan is the seventh player to move from the schedule to a full-time deal, and he bowled cleanly from the Vauxhall End after coming on for the 12th over. Earlier in the day, his first run was cheered by the Kent dressing room, with applause eventually rippling to the floor.

His spell with the ball started with a virgin for Sibley, which eased the nerves, bowling at a decent pace. Given the caliber of Surrey’s XI, a first wicket is likely to be a remarkable wicket, and any incision he can make will be vital if Kent are to push back on their more vaunted opponents.

Even for a match with so much history and one with plenty of talking points, Bhuiyan and his story were welcome additions.

Vithushan Ehantharajah is an associate editor at ESPNcricinfo



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