Still searching for their first victory of the new season, Surrey travel to Lord's, where they haven't tasted success in the County Championship since 1997, to play Middlesex, who have started the season with a record of Played 2, Won 2. Let me know you start to get the picture...

That's right, the North Londoners are currently the team to beat. A shoulder injury to Gareth Berg will come as a blow, plus Neil Dexter and Dawid Malan are struggling for form with the bat, but Middlesex will be competitive as long as they possess a top order of Chris Rogers, Sam Robson and Joe Denly. The early season form of wicketkeeper John Simpson, who couldn't buy a run in 2012, has been an added bonus.

With the ball, Middlesex's likely seam quartet for this contest have all been amongst the wickets. Lagging behind, comparatively speaking, is Tim Murtagh with 11 championship scalps at a cost of 19.54 runs apiece. Since Dexter is leading the way with a championship bowling average of 9.66, the clever money is on the hosts going into this contest with the extra batsman.

Vikram Solanki looks set to make his 300th first-class appearance, while, for Steven Davies it will be his 125th. Rory Burns will start the London derby with 930 f-c career runs and Chris Tremlett, if he plays, will go into it with 392 first-class wickets. For Middlesex, Toby Roland-Jones currently has 144 f-c scalps to his name.

Stuart Meaker's name is missing from the 13-man squad announced today, which can only mean one thing - the thigh strain he picked up on the final day of the Somerset game is still niggling. Jon Lewis is named for the first time this summer, but it would be harsh to omit Tremlett or Linley after just one outing. Looking at the batting, Arun Harinath is likely to reclaim the number three spot, after missing last week's clash with Sussex with a hand injury.

Sorry, but I've got to go with Middlesex. They're top of the pile, the game is a Lord's, Surrey haven't won an away from home in the championship since September 2011, Stuart Meaker remains sidelined... need I go on? The weather forecasters are saying there could be some rain around on days three and four, but not enough to prevent a positive outcome being reached.

C Rogers (capt), S Robson, J Denly, D Malan, N Dexter, A London, P Stirling, J Simpson (wk), T Roland-Jones, T Murtagh and S Finn.

Michael Gough and David Millns.

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