GLAMORGAN V SURREY at Cardiff (Royal London One-Day Cup), 28 APRIL 2019

Surrey travel to Cardiff having made their worst start to a one-day campaign since 2016; which, peversely, will give Rory Burns' men a bit of confidence - three years ago, Surrey reached the final of the Royal London after losing three of their opening four games. However, they then went unbeaten before being stopped in their tracks, at Lord's, by Warwickshire.

The only stand-outs with the bat for Glamorgan this season have been David Lloyd (180 Royal London runs at an average of 60.00) and Graham Wagg, who averages 43.33; although Marchant de Lange has swung the willow effectively when called upon. The bowling hasn't been much for the Welshmen to write home about either. De Lange (with 5 victims at 39.40 runs apiece) is their leading wicket-taker after four one-day outings and only Wagg has offered new skipper Chris Cooke any semblance of restraint.

A number of batsmen in Surrey's likely line-up for tomorrow have prospered against Glamorgan - Rory Burns averages 82.00 against them in List A, Dean Elgar 73.50, Mark Stoneman 50.50 and Will Jacks' solitary innings against the Welshmen was a 57-ball 80 at the Oval last season. Gareth Batty is the leading one-day wicket-taker against Glamorgan, of Surrey's current roster, with 18 victims at 21.11 runs apiece; followed by Jade Dernbach with nine poles at 28.66.

Surrey v Glamorgan - List A Records Sheet

This match will be Surrey's 999th in List A one-day cricket, so, barring a wash-out tomorrow, the 1,000th will be Tuesday's clash with Hampshire at the Oval. Glamorgan's Graham Wagg (1,983) is closing in on 2,000 List A career runs.

Ollie Pope faces missing the vast majority of the season after putting out a shoulder, his left, while fielding in last Tuesday’s Royal London One-Day Cup win over Essex at the Oval. A Surrey CCC press release said: "Having since visited a specialist, Ollie has been advised that surgery would be the best course of action. It is hoped he will return to first-team cricket towards the back end of the current domestic season." Pope added on social media: "Gutted that the 2019 season has started like this. Time to get the surgery done and be back stronger. Wishing the lads all the best."

Despite all-rounder Jordan Clark having fully recovered from a knee problem, the following are all sidelined - Scott Borthwick (side strain), Rikki Clarke (dislocated finger) and Jade Dernbach (calf). Meanwhile, on top of Surrey losing Tom Curran, Ben Foakes, Liam Plunkett and Jason Roy to England duty, Sam Curran remains assigned to Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League, the final of which takes place on 12 May.

Yet another must-win game for the Oval outfit, who now cannot afford any more slip-ups in this year's Royal London. Even a weakened Surrey side looks stronger in the batting department than Glamorgan, plus, with the ball, there's Morne Morkel. On paper, the visitors should triumph, but as head coach Michael Di Venuto said the other day: "We've got some serious quality in that dressing room. On paper we've got a terrific team, but you don't win games on paper. You got to put all those names together, take it out on to the park and play as a team."

C.Hemphrey, J.Lawlor, M.Labuschagne, D.Lloyd, W.Root, K.Carlson, C.Cooke (capt, wk), G.Wagg, M.de Lange, L.Carey and T.van der Gugten.

Jeff Evans and Russell Warren.

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