Durham's decision to relieve Dale Benkenstein of the captaincy and hand it to Paul Collingwood appears to have worked, with them registering their first championship win of the season, against Middlesex a couple of weeks ago. However, just two of Durham's batsmen have made championship hundreds this term - Ben Stokes and Will Smith. Also, no one is averaging over thirty. With Michael Di Venuto retiring, Gordon Muchall has enjoyed more opportunities than he might have had otherwise, but a record of 104 runs from 11 innings is as woeful as it gets for a front-line batter.

The key to this contest will be the performances of the respective seam attacks. In that regard, Durham must go into this encounter confident in Graham Onions's ability to get amongst the wickets. The 29-year-old seamer has 40 championship wickets at 14.02 runs apiece to his name. Hot on his heels is Chris Rushworth, who boasts 19 scalps at an average of 14.10. With Callum Thorp also enjoying a return to form, the hosts are likely to start the game narrow favourites.

Jade Dernbach goes into tomorrow's contest with 197 first-class wickets, while Gareth Batty is two away from one hundred f-c wickets for Surrey. Arun Harinath has 958 first-class runs as a Surrey batsman. For Durham, Graham Onions has 48 f-c wickets this campaign.

No real surprises in the Surrey line-up. Stuart Meaker is on England Lions duty for the next fortnight. Matthew Spriegel has been added to the squad, but had George Edwards been fit, it's likely he would have made the trip.

History isn't on Surrey's side. They haven't won at the Riverside since 1998, and even that was a declaration affair. The absence of Stuart Meaker is huge and if Gareth Batty is asked to step down due to the conditions, Surrey's leading wicket-taker on show will be Jon Lewis, who is averaging 29.39 runs per wicket in the championship. With the amount of rain that's been around, you would have to think the pitch will start damp. Call me pessimistic, but I think the next four days, if it goes that far, will prove a severe test for the visitors.

M Stoneman, W Smith, G Muchall, B Stokes, D Benkenstein, P Collingwood (capt), M Richardson (wk), S Borthwick, C Thorp, G Onions and C Rushworth.

Jeff Evans and Michael Gough.

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