SURREY V NORTHAMPTONSHIRE at the Brit Oval (FCC1), 28 APRIL – 1 MAY 2004

Under normal circumstances this week’s encounter with Northamptonshire would not be as critical a fixture as it now appears to have become. But, such has been their poor start to the season, Surrey are now 8/1 to win the Frizzell County Championship.

Man for man Northants are no match for the home side, but, a week ago, the same could be said of Middlesex. New skipper David Sales, Martin van Jaarsveld and talented wicketkeeper-batsman Gerard Brophy must fill the void in the batting created by the departures of Mike Hussey and Phil Jacques. The unpredictable Usman Afzaal is a potential ace card, but according to Nottinghamshire his problems were less to do with talent and more to do with attitude.

If the pitch is up to taking spin, Jason Brown and Graeme Swann could come into their own, but if not the Surrey batsmen will be licking their lips at the prospect of devouring the bowling of Ben Phillips and ex-Somerset seamer Steffan Jones.

Heavy rain tonight is likely to put back the start, but the medium-range weather forecast suggests that days two, three and four should be largely uninterrupted.

Potential milestones – If he plays, Martin Bicknell will making his 250th championship appearance. Jimmy Ormond needs three wickets for 100 in the County Championship for Surrey. Graham Thorpe requires another 151 runs for 5,000 f-c runs for Surrey at The Oval, and 189 runs to register 1,000 in his f-c career against Northants. Alistair Brown needs another three-figure score to register a fifth championship ton against the Wantage Road outfit.

My success rate so far is three predictions and three wrong guesses, which probably underlines the extent to which Surrey are under-performing right now. I honestly believe the results will start to come, and if Surrey could have chosen who to play next Northants would probably have been high on their list. The odds-setters make the visitors 6/4 to win this encounter. Maybe I should predict one outcome and bet on the other. On that basis, as Northants are decent value, I’m saying: “Surrey win”!

Surrey welcome back Graham Thorpe (rested against Middlesex on the instructions of the England management) for his first start of the new season, but Mark Butcher is still unavailable. Martin Bicknell has been added to the Ovalites’ squad in the hope that his hamstring problem has cleared up. Tim Murtagh is on standby just in case, even though Alex Tudor came through a 2nd XI game without any ill effects.

M Powell, T Huggins, T Roberts, U Afzaal, D Sales (capt), G Brophy (wkt), G Swann, J Louw, B Phillips, S Jones and J Brown.

18-20 Jul 2001	Won By An Innings & 55 Runs	Guildford
9-12 May 2001	Match Drawn	Northampton
28 Apr - 1 May 1999	Won By 8 Wickets	Northampton
17-21 Apr 1998	Match Drawn	The Oval
23-26 Jul 1997	Match Drawn	Northampton
3-6 Sep 1996	Won By 225 Runs	The Oval
18-22 May 1995	Lost By 9 Runs	Northampton
19-23 May 1994	Lost By 3 Wickets	The Oval
22-26 Jul 1993	Lost By 304 Runs	Northampton
30 Jun - 2 Jul 1992	Won By 5 Wickets	The Oval
7-11 May 1992	Match Drawn	Northampton
23-26 Aug 1991	Lost By 138 Runs	Northampton
3-6 Jul 1990	Won By 147 Runs	The Oval

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