NOTTINGHAMSHIRE V SURREY at Trent Bridge (RCC)
8-11 MAY 2026

The leaders (and defending champions) play host to second. Only these two can boast being undefeated in Division One after 4 matches of the campaign. Last week Surrey registered their first victory (over Sussex), while Notts added a 10-wicket win at Leicestershire's expense to their 132-run success over Glamorgan.

Reflecting on his side's 8-wicket victory over Sussex, Surrey's head coach Gareth Batty said: We have had some very good batting surfaces so far this season, on which it has been difficult to get wickets, but in this game we had a much more even contest between bat and ball.

"Jordan Clark bowls a wonderful line and makes it hard to know what to play and what not to play but it’s always the group of bowlers who are important, rather than the individual, and this group keep going to the well.

"Any England talk is far above my pay grade but Dom Sibley showed in this match how as an opener he can lay the foundations - as he did brilliantly with Rory Burns - but then also go through the gears and take opportunities to score more frequently.

"His 187 was an exceptional innings while young Adam Thomas, on debut, played with such composure for his hundred."

For Notts, Joe Clarke (the leading run-maker in the country with 546 at an average of 78.00) and Ben Slater (464 at 66.28) have both hit the ground running this season with the willow, while Ben Duckett (258 at 51.60) has chipped in when available and Jack Haynes has demonstrated he's a man for a crisis, hitting a hundred when his side were 104-6 against Glamorgan first dig.

Slow left-armer Liam Patterson-White is perhaps the Trent Bridge outfit's surprise wicket-taker with 15 at 25.66 runs apiece. Seamers Dillon Pennington and Only Stone have taken 11 and 10 respectively, while Fergus O'Neill, in his only outing so far, took 5 at just 13.20.

Surrey v Nottinghamshire - First-Class Records Sheet

Both Gus Atkinson (968) and Matt Fisher (963) are approaching 1,000 first-class runs, while Ollie Pope is 45 runs shy of 9,000. Meanwhile, Jordan Clark will start with 290 f-c wickets. Turning to Notts... Ben Ducket (11,871 runs), Haseeb Hameed (8,849 runs), Jack Haynes (3,985 runs) and Liam Patterson-White (1,916 runs) are all nearing first-class landmarks.

Ben Foakes and Tom Lawes are ruled out by injury once again, but Dan Worrall looks set for his first outing in 2026. Gus Atkinson is also available. Meanwhile, James Taylor has gone on loan to Kent for 2 rounds of championship matches.

I can't help looking at Notts' start to the season and concluding they're still the cream of Division One, so perhaps Surrey would settle for the occasional showers being forecast and bank on remaining unbeaten. Prediction - draw.

H.Hameed (capt), B.Slater, B.Duckett, J.Clarke, J.Haynes, K.Verrynne (wk), L.James, L.Patterson-White, O.Stone, J.Tongue and D.Pennington.

Ian Blackwell and Nigel Llong.

GO TO:




BACK TO: