SOMERSET V SURREY at Taunton (SSCC1), 18-21 SEPTEMBER 2018

Second plays host to the newly-crowned County Champions. Surrey have now won the County Championship twenty times, 19 of them outright. Mind you, they are some way off Yorkshire's record of 33 titles. Both have shared the crown on one occasion - Yorkshire in 1949 and Surrey in 1950.

From mid-season Somerset were the only side threatening to spoil Surrey’s party, but their defeat at the hands of the Oval outfit at Guildford in June was a key battle lost. In the last fortnight, the Cidermen have conceded ground at a crucial time - being held to a tie by Lancashire and losing away to Hampshire by six wickets. To make matters worse, their talismanic slow-left armer, Jack Leach, has a suspected broken thumb.

Somerset's batting continues to be built around the evergreen James Hildreth - who has made 886 championship runs (including three hundreds) at an average of 42.19 this season - and skipper Tom Abell, whose recent form has mirrored that of his side. Since the resumption of the County Championship schedule, the 24-year-old has made scores of 70, 27, 12 and 132 not out in the two games Somerset have won and, more recently, 14, 7, 3 and 2 in the two they didn’t get over the line in.

Steven Davies and Marcus Trescothick have chipped in with the willow, but, to be honest, Somerset's lower order - the likes of Bess, Gregory and Craig Overton - have proved more reliable than George Bartlett and Ed Byrom, who continue to show little more than promise as batsmen.

In terms of the bowling, wickets have been shared around. Lewis Gregory is currently Somerset's leading wicket-grabber with 32 victims at 26.78 runs apiece, followed closely by Josh Davey (24.03) and Overton.C (27.86), both of whom have 30 poles to their name. However, with this game being at Taunton, expect to see a fair amount of spin. Jack Leach, if he plays, is not only a handful in his own backyard, but very much in the thoughts of the England selectors still.

Surrey v Somerset - First-Class Records Sheet

Somerset's Tom Abell (2,971) is approaching 3,000 first-class runs and team-mate Lewis Gregory (1,932) two thousand. Gregory also wants just one more wicket for the 200th of his f-c career. For the season, in first-class, Rikki Clarke has 43 wickets, Ollie Pope 914 runs; and, of the hosts, James Hildreth, with 886 runs, in bearing down on another four-figure campaign.  

Surrey are pretty much as you were. Sam Curran is rested; and while Gareth Batty, Conor McKerr, Ryan Patel and Jason Roy have all been named in the 15-man squad, chances are the visitors will stick with the formula that worked for them at Worcester.

Surrey's three-wicket win over Worcestershire was their ninth victory on the trot, something they had not done since 1957. However, the Oval outfit have only won one County Championship game at Taunton since 1962. Their solitary success there in the last 56 years was back in 1986. But, not for the first time, my thinking is dominated by the weather forecast - which doesn't look at all promising for days two and three. So, predictably, my prediction is for a weather-affected draw.

M.Trescothick, B.Green, Azhar Ali, J.Hildreth, T.Abell (capt), S.Davies (wk), D.Bess, L.Gregory, C.Overton, J.Overton and J.Davey.

Tim Robinson and Alex Wharf.

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