SURREY V LANCASHIRE at the Kia Oval (LVCC)
25-28 JUNE 2023

The Division One leaders play host to seventh in the second round of championship matches this season in which the red Kookaburra ball will be used.

Lancashire, pre-season joint favourites with Surrey to win the County Championship, have only just got off the mark – their six-wicket victory over Hampshire at Southport ending a run of 5 successive draws. Surrey, who enjoy a 32-point lead at the head of affairs, have won 5 out of six since these sides met in the curtain-raiser at Old Trafford.

For Lancashire, injuries have played their part. But skipper Keaton Jennings (378 runs at 94.50) looks set to return after recovering from the hamstring injury he sustained against Somerset at the end of April. Unfortunately, fast bowler Saqib Mahmood - who also missed much of last season - remains sidelined.

In Jennings' absence, New Zealand's Daryl Mitchell has proved something of an overseas white knight for Lancashire, with a batting average of 62.33 coming on top of five wickets at 15.60 in the championship.

Josh Bohannon has been the glue, scoring 547 runs in 10 four-day innings, and Phil Salt delivered a century in the Red Rose's last championship outing.

With James Anderson on England duty now, the bowling is headed by seamers Will Williams (19 victims at 21.84) and Tom Bailey (21 at 22.47). But others have had their struggles, in particular Luke Wood (2 wickets at 67.50) and slow left-armer Tom Hartley (7 at 52.14).

Ben Foakes could be a key figure for the hosts. Five batters have now hit four-day hundreds for Surrey this summer, but Foakes, who made 76 and 103 not out against Lancashire back in April, is the only one with two – the other (124) coming in the colossal run chase at Canterbury.

Surrey v Lancashire - First-Class Records Sheet

Will Jacks (1,990) is just ten runs shy of a 2,000th in first-class cricket, while Dan Worrall (988) needs 12 more for his 1,000th. Lancashire's George Balderson currently has 885 f-c career runs and Luke Wood 1,882, while Daryl Mitchell will start with 96 first-class wickets.

Sam Curran has been named in the Oval outfit's 14-strong squad, along with Tom Lawes, Ryan Patel and Cameron Steel. Meanwhile, Dan Moriarty and Conor McKerr have gone out on loan to Yorkshire and Derbyshire respectively.

Surrey have won 9 of their last 10 championship games at the Oval; the only slight blot on their copybook being the draw Kent held them to 12 months ago. Also, Lancashire haven’t enjoyed a four-day success in SE11 since 1997. But even though the formbook is pointing to one outcome, the reality is Lancashire will be determined to make life difficult for the South Londoners over the next four days. Prediction: Draw.

K.Jennings (capt), P.Salt (wk), J.Bohannon, L.Wells, G.Balderson, D.Mitchell, G.Bell, T.Hartley, T.Bailey, W.Williams and J.Blatherwick.

Mike Burns and Michael Gough.

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