SURREY V LANCASHIRE at the Brit Oval (LVCC1), 16-19 APRIL 2008

How can this encounter possibly match last season's finale, which Surrey won by the slender margin of 24 runs to hand Sussex, rather than Lancashire, the championship title? To cut a long story short, the Lankies will be be out for revenge. As if to prove it, they have drafted Andrew Flintoff into their squad. The England all-rounder has made just four championship appearances in the last two seasons. Even though it was six years ago, the home fans will shudder at the memory of Flintoff's whirlwind 137 off 106 balls against the Brown Caps which appeared, at one point, to be the difference between the two teams. As it was, a superb century from Mark Ramprakash carried Surrey to victory by three wickets. Now the great man is homing in on his hundredth hundred.

Second in the betting to lift this season's crown (Surrey are fourth by the way), Lancashire appear to have everything needed - except perhaps a decent second spinner - in order to mount a serious challenge on this year's County Championship. But every year one of the three top-rated sides fails to turn up for the party. Much depends, therefore, on everyone getting behind Stuart Law in a way they perhaps didn't under Mark Chilton, who has gone from skipper to back-up batter.

Iain Sutcliffe, who made 2 and 3 when these two sides met at Old Trafford last summer, and drifted out of the Lancashire side shortly thereafter, is preferred as opening partner to the promising Paul Horton, who needs to worry about his prospects for this season simply because I have included him in my Oval World Fantasy Cricket team! But there aren't many middle orders in the country as strong as Loye, Hodge, Law and Flintoff.

With James Anderson under instructions from the England management to rest and Dominic Cork out with a side strain, the visitors will need Flintoff to be fit to bowl a reasonable amount of overs. Glen Chapple and Oliver Newby are steady seam-up operators, but Sajid Mahmood can blow hot and cold. For all his natural talent, it seems astonishing that he has only collected two 5-wicket hauls in 38 f-c appearances for the Red Rose county. Gary Keedy, who averaged over thirty for the first time in five years last term, provides the spin threat for the visitors.


Pedro Collins is set to make his first-class debut for Surrey. Of those in the Lancashire side, Andrew Flintoff goes into this clash with 297 first-class wickets against his name, while Mal Loye is 83 runs away from notching up 5,000 in f-c cricket for the Lightning.


The surprise omission from the hosts' line-up is Alistair Brown, who turned down a lucrative offer to join the Indian Premier League in favour of winning back a place in Surrey's first team. Two spinners - Saqlain Mushtaq and Chris Schofield - are named in the twelve. Given Alan Butcher's pre-season comments about the need for twirlers at the Oval, it looks as though Jimmy Ormond will be the one to miss out. Chris Jordan and James Benning, who took 37 wickets for Perth in Western Australian Grade cricket last winter, will act as first and second change.

OPPONENT DATE RESULT VENUE SURREY OPPONENT
Lancashire 19-22 Sep 2007 Won By 24 Runs The Oval 427-9d & 295-5d 234 & 464
Warwickshire 6-9 Sep 2007 Won By 9 Wickets Edgbaston 373 & 179-1 285 & 264
Hampshire 30 Aug - 2 Sep 2007 Won By An Inns & 37 Runs Rose Bowl 556 221 & 298
Sussex 21-24 Aug 2007 Abandoned The Oval - -
Durham 13-16 Aug 2007 Match Drawn The Riverside 183 & 198-3 232 & 397-7d


With rain forecast for Friday and Saturday, two strong batting line-ups, a pitch tailor-made for batting (no doubt) and the reduction in the number of overs to be bowled in a day, er... let me see... Draw? Even though it's 10/11 on with Betfair that still sounds like generous odds to me.


P
Horton, I Sutcliffe, M Loye, B Hodge, S Law (capt), A Flintoff, L Sutton (wk), G Chapple, S Mahmood, O Newby and G Keedy.


Peter Hartley and George Sharp.

DATE RESULT VENUE TOSS DECISION SURREY LANCASHIRE
19-22 Sep 2007 Won By 24 Runs The Oval Surrey Bat 427-9d & 295-5d 234 & 464
2-4 May 2007 Lost By 7 Wickets Old Trafford Surrey Bat 284 & 120 315 & 90-3
2-4 Sep 2004 Won By 147 Runs Old Trafford Surrey Bat 369 & 185 278 & 129
11-13 Aug 2004 Won By An Inns & 55 Runs Whitgift School Lancashire Bat 525 210 & 260
26-29 Aug 2003 Lost By 8 Wickets Old Trafford Surrey Bat 337 & 138 341 & 135-2
18-21 Apr 2003 Match Drawn The Oval Lancashire Bat 280 & 379-6 599
31 May - 3 Jun 2002 Match Drawn Old Trafford Surrey Bat 382 & 246-6d 194 & 112-3
8-11 May 2002 Won By 3 Wickets The Oval Lancashire Bat 216 & 309-7 320 & 200
29 Jun - 2 Jul 2001 Match Drawn The Oval Surrey Bat 248 & 320-9d 276 & 170-2
25-28 Apr 2001 Abandoned Old Trafford No toss - - -
13-16 Sep 2000 Match Drawn Old Trafford Lancashire Bat 359 324 & 304-9d
2-5 Aug 2000 Won By 272 Runs The Oval Surrey Bat 310 & 227-4d 120 & 145

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