It's astonishing to think it has been nearly three years and 22 games since Surrey last won a four-dayer other than at the Oval, where their record during the same period is a relatively respectable five victories and four defeats from seventeen.

Derbyshire have missed Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was averaging 50.00 with the bat before he had to fly off for the West Indies v New Zealand Test series. Since then, Chanderpaul's temporary replacement, Australia's Marcus North has only eked out 54 runs from four visits to the crease in the County Championship. On the plus side, Wayne Madsen has posted 356 runs at an average of 39.55, Stephen Moore has enjoyed a new lease of life - following his move from Lancashire - and Borrington and Hughes have provided further batting cheer on occasions.

No, the real concern centres around Tim Groenewald's announcement that he no longer wants to remain at Derbyshire, which has resulted in him being dropped indefinitely. Prior to that the 30-year-old was averaging a decent 29.00 with the ball in championship cricket. The fallout is that only Mark Footitt (30 wickets at 19.40 runs apiece) and Tony Palladino look capable of consistently pestering opposition batsmen. With Mark Turner averaging 230 runs per wicket in this season's championship, there's every chance 19-year-old seamer Tom Taylor will be given another opportunity to capture his maiden first-class wicket.

The in form Jason Roy will start the match with 1,912 first-class runs to his name, but, actually, it's skipper Gary Wilson (1,933) who is currently closer to the 2,000-mark. Derbyshire also have a couple of players approaching 2,000 f-c career runs - Paul Borrington (1,945) and David Wainwright (1,960). Meanwhile, with the ball, Surrey's Jade Dernbach (245) is edging closer and closer to his 250th f-c wicket.

Surrey take the same eleven to Derby as started against Gloucestershire plus Tom Curran, who has now completed his A-levels. Curran's recent performances in all formats seem impossible for coach Graham Ford to ignore. In terms of who might be left out, the candidates would appear to be either Jade Dernbach (eight championship wickets at 64.87 runs apiece this term) and Matt Dunn, who has only seven wickets at an average of 47.28 to show from his last three outings. You can bet that whoever misses out won't be "dropped", just "rested".

Surrey's trips to Derby invariably produce a result. Last year's corresponding fixture was hampered by the weather, not to mention a dogged 72 by Richard Johnson; which meant that after two days Surrey had only batted for an hour. But prior to last year's visit, the previous eleven Derbyshire-Surrey clashes at the county ground had yielded four wins to Derbyshire, five to Surrey and just one draw, in 1997. This week, the weather looks set fair, which means I can't just sit on the fence. Despite the fact the hosts go into this game on the back of their first championship victory of the season, Surrey look a much stronger outfit on paper. Prediction - a win for the visitors.

S Moore, P Borrington, W Madsen (capt), M North, S Elstone, A Hughes, G Cross (wk), D Wainwright, T Palladino, T Taylor and M Footitt.

David Millns and Martin Saggers.

GO TO:




BACK TO: