SOMERSET V SURREY at Taunton (Royal London One-Day Cup), 28 APRIL 2017

Surrey's last List A One-Day fixture to fall in the month of April was way back in 2010, when Whitgift School played host to a nail-biting 40-over clash with Lancashire. Surrey won it by 2 wickets, thanks to (their then overseas player) Iftikhar Anjum squirting the penultimate ball down to the third man boundary for four. So, for a start, it feels a bit strange to be thinking in terms of limited-overs cricket before the start of May.

Surrey will no doubt be hoping it will be a case of third time lucky, having reached the final of the Royal London in each of the last two seasons. Last year, Somerset lost just one group match en route to the semis. Indeed, they might have reached the final had they not gone to pieces to the off-spin of Warwickshire's Jeetan Patel. Surrey came good when it mattered, having lost three out of their first four group outings. However, the less said about the Oval outfit's performance in the final, the better. Alec Stewart described it as finishing "third or fourth in a two-horse race".

Surrey go into the month-long break from four-day cricket heading Division One of the Specsavers County Championship. With Somerset and Glamorgan first up in the Royal London - two sides that are already licking their wounds - Surrey would appear to have a great opportunity to get their 50-over campaign off to a bang as well.

Somerset have barely been able to buy a run in the championship. Perhaps the change of format is just what Tom Abell, their new skipper, and Steven Davies, recently arrived from the Oval, could do with in a bid to rediscover their form. At just 23, Abell's appointment as Somerset skipper is an interesting one. Clearly, it’s with a view to the long-term; which, actually, is refreshing to see in an age where the county game invariably seems to opt, on a variety of levels, for taking care of today before paying any attention whatsoever to tomorrow.

If Dean Elgar, who, in his last 20 one-day innings, has hit 992 runs at an average of 52.21, is the danger with the bat, then Somerset's trump card with the ball would appear to be slow left-armer Roelof van der Merwe, who bagged 14 scalps at 23.07 in last summer's Royal London, conceding just 5.22 runs per over.

Surrey v Somerset - List A Records Sheet

Somerset's Roelof van der Merwe will start eight runs shy of 2,000 List A career runs.

Ollie Pope and Ravi Rampaul are named in Surrey's 13-man squad, while Mark Footitt is a notable absentee. Stuart Meaker, who, with 17 wickets at 24.29 runs apiece, had a decent Royal London campaign in 2016, looks the most likely to come in for the former Derbyshire man.

With the weather forecasters saying there's a 40% chance of rain tomorrow, obtaining a positive outcome, either way, could prove to be a challenge. But, if you think that's discouraging, just look at the forecast for Cardiff on Sunday! Anyway, the Oval outfit appear to have the edge in this one, not least because Somerset have made a dreadful start to the season. So, I'm quietly confident the visitors can walk away with the spoils; which is rare for me, given the number of disappointing Surrey performances away to the Cidermen that immediately come to mind.

D.Elgar, S.Davies (wk), P.Trego, T.Abell (capt), J.Hildreth, L.Gregory, J.Davey, C.Overton, R.van der Merwe, J.Overton and T.Groenewald.

Jeff Evans and Alex Wharf (3rd umpire Jeremy Lloyds).

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