William Hill Sports
SURREY V DERBYSHIRE at the Kia Oval (LVCC1), 29 AUGUST - 1 SEPTEMBER 2013

Surrey have been talking about their next championship game being a "must win" for ages. Yet the Oval outfit are one of only two sides in the country without a four-day victory this season; the other being Leicestershire, whom they appear to be odds on to meet home and away in next summer's County Championship, in the depths of Division Two.

At the start of the season I predicted Derbyshire would stay up. Mind you, I also forecast Durham and Yorkshire would go down. Change the subject, Hook, and quickly... But what it tells us is the quality of the cricket in Div One is as good as it has ever been, which means any failing or dip in confidence is leapt upon ruthlessly.

If Derbyshire have a weakness with the ball, it is that their new ball pairing of Tim Groenewald (36 championship wickets at 31.11 runs apiece) and Mark Footitt (26 at 34.50) have carried an attack bereft of a viable spin option. But in recent matches the Peakites have benefited from the back-up seam of 21-year-old all-rounder Alex Hughes and 22-year-old Matt Higginbottom.

Derbyshire's batting boasts the first man to one thousand runs in this season's LVCC - skipper Wayne Madsen (1,091 runs at an average of 54.55) - and the second rated batsman in Test cricket, currently; namely Shivnarine Chanderpaul, whose only hundred this term came against Surrey at Derby, back in late May. Chesney Hughes's average of 32.21 would be a paltry 19.00 were it not for his unbeaten 270 at Headingley at the start of the campaign. That said, Richard Johnson, who has been relieved of the wicketkeeping gloves of late, and Peter Burgoyne are proving to be thorns in the side of opponents with the bat.


Gareth Batty and Steven Davies will start this contest with 494 first-class wickets and 394 f-c dismissals respectively.


With Jade Dernbach and Gary Wilson on international duty, Zafar Ansari and Tom Curran are named in Surrey's 13-man squad, which also includes George Edwards and Dominic Sibley.

OPPONENT DATE RESULT VENUE SURREY OPPONENT
Durham 22-25 Aug 2013 Lost By An Inns & 144 Runs The Riverside 108 & 169 421
Nottinghamshire 8-11 Jul 2013 Match Drawn The Oval 198 & 395-8d 410
Yorkshire 21-24 Jun 2013 Match Drawn Headingley 353-7d & 4-0 433-9d & 254
Sussex 12-15 Jun 2013 Match Drawn Arundel 456-9d 295 & 201-2d
Warwickshire 5-8 Jun 2013 Match Drawn Guildford 274 & 234-4 631-9d


Three of the four previous four-day games at the Oval this season have ended in a draw. But a decent weather forecast and the requirement, on Surrey's part, to obtain a positive outcome means we are looking at a result by way of a change. However, Surrey's confidence is at rock bottom following their heaviest innings defeat in nearly ten years coming on the heels of a thumping loss in the final of the Twenty20. Derbyshire, meanwhile, have won on their last two championship outings, against sides that were flirting with a title push. All things considered, the Peakites start favourites simply because it's hard to make a case for Surrey claiming 20 wickets.


B Slater, C Hughes, W Madsen (capt), S Chanderpaul, R Johnson, A Hughes, T Poynton (wk), P Burgoyne, M Higginbottom, T Groenewald and M Footitt.


Nick Cook and Steve Gale.

DATE RESULT VENUE TOSS DECISION SURREY DERBYSHIRE
30 May - 2 Jun 2013 Match Drawn Derby Derbyshire Bat 553-8d 452 & 164-3
12-14 Sep 2011 Won By An Inns & 126 Runs The Oval Surrey Bat 468 190 & 152
29 May - 1 Jun 2011 Won By 7 Wickets Derby Surrey Field 358 & 142-3 400-9d & 99
28 Jun - 1 Jul 2010 Won By 42 Runs Chesterfield Surrey Bat 391 & 253 237 & 365
9-12 Apr 2010 Lost By 208 Runs The Oval Derbyshire Bat 352 & 165 451 & 274-6d
6-9 Aug 2009 Match Drawn Whitgift School Surrey Bat 362 & 320-4d 334 & 232-5
22-25 Apr 2009 Lost By 5 Wickets Derby Surrey Bat 131 & 360 274 & 220-5
20-23 Sep 2006 Won By 5 Wickets Derby Derbyshire Bat 275-8d & 273-5 385 & 162-8d
19-22 Apr 2006 Match Drawn The Oval Derbyshire Bat 308 & 476-8d 492
16-17 Aug 2000 Won By An Inns & 45 Runs The Oval Derbyshire Bat 260 118 & 97
7-9 Jun 2000 Lost By 7 Wickets Derby Surrey Bat 138 & 218 191 & 167-3
24-27 Aug 1999 Won By 9 Wickets Derby Derbyshire Field 350-9d & 1-1 154 & 196
6-8 Aug 1998 Won By 226 Runs The Oval Surrey Bat 333 & 238-9d 139 & 206
7-10 May 1997 Match Drawn Derby Surrey Bat 267 158-3
30 May - 3 Jun 1996 Match Drawn The Oval Derbyshire Field 477 & 345-3d 469 & 246-9
24-26 Aug 1995 Won By 7 Wickets Derby Derbyshire Field 350 & 167-3 181 & 333
12-16 May 1994 Won By An Inns & 138 Runs The Oval Surrey Field 570-6d 208 & 224
19-21 Aug 1993 Lost By 6 Wickets Ilkeston Derbyshire Field 205 & 332 438-9d & 100-4
2-4 Jun 1992 Match Drawn The Oval Derbyshire Bat 253-9d & 69-3 249 & 244-1d
21-24 Jun 1991 Lost By 3 Wickets Derby Derbyshire Field 137 & 184-4d 80-3d & 242-7

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