SURREY V HAMPSHIRE at the Kia Oval (LVCC)
14-17 APRIL 2022

Hampshire put down a serious marker in their season's opener - in terms of their bid for a first County Championship crown since 1973 - by trouncing Somerset inside three days. Meanwhile, Surrey made a decent start against defending champions Warwickshire before the life went out of the Edgbaston pitch completely.

If there was a slight concern coming away from Birmingham, it was that Surrey's attack lacked a cutting edge after the ball went soft. But credit where it's due, they plugged away and didn't surrender the initiative until it became impossible to fashion a result. In contrast to last summer's curtain raiser, their discipline extended to conceding just 2 no-balls in 171 overs, compared with the 16 in 131 against Gloucestershire 12 months ago.

In the destructive Mohammad Abbas and the ever dependable Kyle Abbott, Hampshire have the best new ball pair in the country for my money. Across two summers at Leicester and a season and a bit at the Ageas Bowl, Abbas has bagged 126 championship victims at just 18.52, while Abbott's first-class record for Hampshire reads 267 wickets at 19.65.

With Keith Barker at first change, Joe Weatherley making a magnificent start to the campaign with the bat (168) and the arrival of keeper-batter Ben Brown from Sussex, Hampshire will be full of confidence as they travel to the Oval. 

Surrey v Hampshire - First-Class Records Sheet

Rory Burns (10,854) is starting to eye 11,000 first-class runs, while Kemar Roach just needs 4 more for 2,000. Meanwhile, Hampshire's Kyle Abbott (497) looks set to record a 500th f-c wicket over the next four days and Joe Weatherley (1,995) a 2,000th first-class run. 

Surrey's 13-man squad sees Cameron Steel added to the twelve who travelled to Birmingham last week. That means Sam Curran remains on the road to recovery following a back injury. Others who are unavailable are Tom Curran (back), Matt Dunn (side strain), Chris Jordan (IPL), Conor McKerr (fractured rib), Jason Roy (who is taking a break from all cricket) and Dan Worrall (who is yet to arrive in the UK from Australia due to family issues).

With the weather set fair over Easter, it looks as if we're in for a fascinating contest. Hampshire will start as favourites, but it all depends what sort of pitch is served up. If last season is anything to go by, the batsmen are in for a productive four days - the first Champo game at the Oval in 2021 produced 1,342 runs for the loss of 21 wickets (average 63.90). I'm therefore fully expecting a draw. That said, three Surrey v Hampshire games in recent memory have been decided by an innings - Hampshire winning at Arundel in 2020, and Surrey being victorious in the other two - in 2018 at the Ageas Bowl and last summer in SE11.

J.Weatherley, I.Holland, N.Gubbins, J.Vince (capt), L.Dawson, B.Brown (wk), F.Organ, K.Barker, J.Fuller, K.Abbott and Mohammad Abbas.

David Millns and Tim Robinson.

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