Much water has passed under the bridge since Middlesex followed on against Surrey at Lord's back in early May. Both of these sides have suffered a dip in form. Until last Sunday, it looked as if Surrey's was permanent. In Middlesex's case, a push for the championship title has now become a bid to save face, following back-to-back losses to Derbyshire and Somerset.

Tim Murtagh (53 championship wickets at 19.26 runs apiece) has led a Middlesex attack hampered by the absence of Steven Finn, whose England commitments have limited him to 6 championship appearances. The good news for Surrey is that both Murtagh and Finn will miss the trip across the river to the Kia Oval; Murtagh's unavailability is due to Ireland being in action. Neil Dexter has chipped in to great effect with the ball and Corey Collymore has put his hand up when asked, but both James Harris and Toby Roland-Jones have not bowled with the consistency expected this term.

The batting has also relied heavily on a small band of proven contributors. Chris Rogers (800 championship runs at an average of 57.14) and Sam Robson (1,073 runs at 53.65) probably hold the key to this contest. Dexter has made just one championship hundred this summer and the less said about the form of Joe Denly and Dawid Malan, who is averaging 16.53 in four-day cricket, the better.

Wicketkeeper, Steven Davies goes into the London derby with 495 first-class dismissals, while, for Middlesex, Ollie Rayner is set to make his 75th f-c appearance; having started his career down on the south coast, with Sussex.

With Chris Tremlett likely to be rested, Jade Dernbach comes back in. But also included in the squad is Stuart Meaker, who got through 28 overs in last week's second eleven game against Hampshire at Wimbledon; which suggests he might feature (presumably in place of George Edwards) if his knee injury is now considered a thing of the past.

Surrey have a decent record against Middlesex at the Oval, the North Londoners appear to be running out of steam and Surrey have everything to play for. It's got to be a Surrey win, hasn't it?!

C Rogers (capt), S Robson, J Denly, D Malan, N Dexter, J Simpson (wk), G Berg, O Rayner, J Harris, C Collymore and R Patel.

Trevor Jesty and Jeremy Lloyds.

GO TO:




BACK TO: