SURREY V HAMPSHIRE at the Kia Oval (RCC)
11-14 APRIL 2025

Seventh plays host to second and, in recent times at least, home advantage in Surrey-Hampshire clashes have been king in the Champo. Since 2019, Surrey have enjoyed four wins and a draw in the five head-to-heads at the Oval, while Hampshire have had an identical record at their place over the same period.

Unlike the South Londoners, who were under pressure at times in their curtain-raiser at Chelmsford, Hampshire, who finished second last season, suffering just one defeat (to Surrey), put down an early marker by overcoming newly-promoted Yorkshire.

However, Hampshire's and arguably the country's leading all-rounder Liam Dawson is keen not to look too far ahead.

"I'm desperate to try and win the championship," said the 35-year-old, who averaged 59.75 with the bat and 25.14 with the ball in last summer's County Championship.

"This year it will be a bit different with the players we have lost. As a group, we have to be a little bit more realistic with our expectations. We have a lot of younger players coming through and that gives them great opportunities.

"If we can make Southampton a real fortress then, come September, who knows?"

Mohammad Abbas' move to Notts and James Vince's decision to quit first-class cricket are two of the changes in personnel Dawson was referring to.

Mark Stoneman now fills the gap created at the top of the order by Vince's absence. With 907 first-class runs at an average of 45.35 (including three centuries) against Surrey, Nick Gubbins has an excellent record versus the Oval outfit. Fletcha Middleton and Tom Prest both look set to be a key players for Hampshire over the coming decade. And, of course, in addition to Dawson, there's new skipper Ben Brown, who is as consistent a batter as there is around.

Abbas' departure is perhaps a bigger blow. He and Kyle Abbott (55 wickets at 20.36 runs apiece last term) were a Hampshire captain's dream when operating in tandem with the new-ball. New Zealander Brett Hampton comes in for Abbas, initially, with seamers Sonny Baker (ex-Somerset), James Fuller and Brad Wheal completing the supporting cast.

Turning back to Surrey, Dan Worrall was conspicuous by his absence against Essex last week. The 33-year-old seamer was left out, sparking suggestions that he was being rested on the orders of England’s management.

But with the Chelmsford pitch yielding just 22 wickets in four days, the call to keep Worrall under wraps for game two, at the Oval, where he excels, was a shrewd one. In SE11, his 90 first-class victims have come at just 17.87 runs apiece. Kemar Roach averages 22.10 with the ball at the Oval, while Tom Lawes and Jordan Clark average 23.31 and 24.72 there respectively.

Surrey v Hampshire - First-Class Records Sheet

Jordan Clark (247) will start three shy of 250 first-class wickets. Similarly, Ben Foakes is three away from 500 dismissals (catches and stumpings combined) in f-c cricket. For Hampshire, 22-year-old Tom Prest (897) has the landmark of a 1,000 first-class career runs in his sights while Liam Dawson (9,859) approaches 10,000 f-c runs for Hampshire.

Gus Atkinson's workload continues to be managed by England, plus seamer Tom Lawes and spin bowling all-rounder Cam Steel are sidelined by injury. However, Dan Worrall is expected to make his first appearance of the new season, with a view to adding to the 25 Hampshire wickets he's already notched up an average of 16.80 in the championship.  

Although the weather forecast is for increasing cloud cover, there would appear to be little chance of rain over the next four days. Will home advantage continue to be king? Put it this way, in the last 4 seasons Surrey have only lost once at the Oval in the County Championship (to Lancashire in June 2023). The South Londoners' red-ball record in SE11 since the start of 2021 reads W18, D9, L1.

M.Stoneman, F.Middleton, N.Gubbins, T.Albert, T.Prest, L.Dawson, B.Brown (capt, wk), B.Hampton, K.Abbott, J.Fuller and B.Wheal.

Graham Lloyd and Martin Saggers.

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