NORTHAMPTONSHIRE V SURREY at Northampton (LVCC2), 18-21 MAY 2015

Third plays host to fifth in Division Two. While Northants did well to hold on for the draw in their last game, against Derbyshire - which ended with the last two batsmen at the crease - Surrey were powered to victory by Kevin Pietersen's mammoth 355 not out in the first dig against Leicestershire, who ultimately had no answer to Steven Davies (115* off 69 balls) and Jason Roy (67 in 39 deliveries) on the final evening.

Life in Division One must have been a chastening experience for Northamptonshire. Their 12 defeats in 2014 were second only to the 14 Glamorgan suffered in 2005 (in terms of being the most suffered in a campaign under a two-divisional format). However, there were some crumbs of comfort, most notably Adam Rossington's coming of age. The 21-year-old keeper batsman, who left Middlesex for greater opportunities with the gloves, averaged 44 in the championship last term.

Ben Duckett also whetted the appetite by hitting an unbeaten 144 against Somerset at Taunton, which he followed up at the beginning of this season with a hundred at Fenners against Cambridge MCCU. With Wakely nursing a hand injury plus Coetzer, Levi and Newton struggling with the willow at the moment, it seems astonishing that the 20-year-old Duckett is being kept waiting in the wings.

The return of skipper Alex Wakely, who sat out the whole of last season with an Achilles tendon, makes a big difference to the look of Northamptonshire's top order and David Willey remains a key player with both bat and ball. But Northants' main strength is their ability to bat deep. Steven Crook is averaging 77.66 in this summer's champo. However, given that he's in the side for his bowling, the fact that Crook's wickets are costing 57.50 runs apiece suggests they should look to play the extra bowler. But, whom?

Azharullah (18 championship wickets at an average of 25.77) badly needs support, not just from Willey, who is averaging 32.27 with the ball, and Rory Kleinveldt (39.53). Josh Cobb appears to have been tempted away from Leicestershire as much for his leg-spin as anything else. So, who is Northamptonshire's new James Middlebrook? Well, the jury is out. Cobb's victims are costing 73.50, while the less said about Rob Keogh's off-spin the better.

Rory Burns goes into this contest with 2,937 first-class career runs under his belt. For Northamptonshire, Adam Rossington (952) is approaching one thousand f-c runs, while Rory Kleinveldt (293) is closing in one 300 first-class career wickets.

Kevin Pietersen (calf/IPL) and Chris Tremlett (hamstring) have dropped out of the reckoning, so Surrey's 13-man squad sees four added - new loan signing Notts' seamer Luke Fletcher, along with James Burke, Stuart Meaker and Dominic Sibley.

Surrey have not only won on each of their last four championship visits to Northampton, but, in recent times, have really enjoyed themselves with the bat against Northants - regularly racking up 320+ in the first dig. But, if the weather forecast is to be believed, we'll be fortunate to see more than two days' play overall, which is unlikely to be long enough for anyone to grab the spoils. Prediction - prepare yourself for a damp and overcast stalemate.

S Peters, R Levi, A Wakely (capt), R Newton, R Keogh, A Rossington (wk), D Willey, J Cobb, O Stone, Azharullah and R Kleinveldt.

Neil Bainton and Michael Gough.

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