LANCASHIRE V SURREY at Old Trafford (VCC)
5-8 APRIL 2024

The reigning champions travel to Manchester to face last year's fifth-placed team, Lancashire, who were the draw specialists of 2023. The Red Roses only lost one championship game last summer - to Essex at Blackpool, in July - but 10 of their other 13 outings ended in stalemate.

Judging by the weather forecast, this one could suffer a watery fate (day three looks decidedly dodgy), which might not be a bad thing for Surrey, who have triumphed just once over four days at Old Trafford since 1994.

Josh Bohannon furthered his case for higher honours by racking up 1,257 championship runs at an average of 59.85 last term. Skipper Keaton Jennings (52.93) and 23-year-old George Balderson (50.14) also scored heavily, but in the closing week's of the campaign Matty Hurst, 20, announced himself with eye-catching half-centuries against Notts and Kent.

Lancashire's bowling attack was led by seamers Tom Bailey (50 championship wickets at 22.66) and Will Williams (39 at 23.17) in 2023 and will benefit in the opening rounds of the Champo from having Nathan Lyon around. The 36-year-old off-spinner's 129 Tests for Australia have brought 530 wickets, which puts him 7th in the all-time list of Test wicket-takers.

Surrey v Lancashire - First-Class Records Sheet

This will be Surrey's 100th first-class outing at Old Trafford. Dan Lawrence will be making his debut for the Oval outfit. Lancashire's Tom Bailey looks set to make his 100th f-c appearance, while, if they play, Tom Aspinwall and Josh Boyden will be making their first-class debuts. Aspinwall, 20, has played 8 times in List A, but Boyden, 19, is yet to take a bow professionally.

Dan Worrall starts the season with a neck issue, while Conor McKerr misses out due to a groin injury. As an ECB contracted player, Gus Atkinson is unavailable due to workload management. But Kemar Roach is back as overseas player and fellow quick Matt Dunn has been named in the South Londoners' 13-player squad, alongside Ryan Patel and Cam Steel.

As has been said, the weather looks set to play a big part, so call my predictable, but chances are there won't be enough time for either side to force a win.

L.Wells, K.Jennings (capt), J.Bohannon, T.Bruce, M.Hurst, G.Balderson, G.Bell (wk), A.Hartley, T.Bailey, N.Lyon and W.Williams.

Peter Hartley and Paul Pollard.

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