SURREY V NORTHAMPTONSHIRE at the Brit Oval (LVCC2), 9-12 SEPTEMBER 2009

When Northants learnt at the start of the season that David Sales would not feature at all this summer, due to an injured knee, everyone wrote off the chances of the Wantage Road outfit gaining promotion in the County Championship, including me. But thanks to their bowling attack, Northamptonshire have punched above their weight this term and go into this match with some solid form behind them.

Surrey's professional cricket manager, Chris Adams has described this as a "must win" game for the Brown Caps - not because he thinks the Brit Oval outfit are still in with a chance of returning to the top flight, though - he just doesn't want the end of the season to go from bad to worse.

Starting with Northants' bowling, then, three bowlers are currently averaging under 25.00 with the ball. Left-arm seamer, David Lucas is Northamptonshire's leading wicket-taker, with 47 victims at 20.89 runs apiece. Andrew Hall has been used sparingly, but effectively, while Johann van der Wath is, arguably, the man in form at the moment. The spin department could be in better fettle, though. Skipper Nicky Boje has only picked up 19 wickets this season, while Monty Panesar is averaging 59.21 runs per victim.

Just three Northants batsmen have hit championship hundreds this summer. Stephen Peters (1,006 championship runs at an average of 50.30) has led the way, but his manager David Capel does appear to have a problem knowing the best option in terms of an opening partner for Peters. Niall O'Brian has been promoted in two out of the last three matches, only to fail abysmally. But, for the balance of the side, it looks as though Rob White, who opened with Peters when these two sides met back in June, will continue to come in when the shine has disappeared from the new ball. Along with Peters, Hall and Alex Wakely are the batsmen to have reached three figures this year. In the case of the 20-year-old Wakely, since making an unbeaten 113 against Glamorgan in June he has only scored 334 runs in 15 innings.

James Anyon is poised to make his Surrey debut. Usman Afzaal goes into this contest with 99 catches in first-class cricket, while Jonathan Batty has 496. With the bat, Stewart Walters has 961 first-class career runs. Of the Northants contingent, Johann van der Wath has 297 first-class wickets. There is also an interesting stat relating to Northamptonshire's Stephen Peters - in four of his last five championship games he has been dismissed by the same bowler in both innings.

Surrey's 13-man squad for this game consists of seamer James Anyon - who is on loan from Warwickshire - all-rounder Matthew Spriegel plus the eleven that lost at Bristol.

Even though Northants have not managed to beat Surrey away from home since 1994, they come into this match with two wins out of their last three. In stark contrast Surrey's recent form in the championship has been woeful. Just about the only positive has been the way the tail has wagged in the last two matches. The weather forecast looks good, with the Test strip Bill Gordon has proved that he can produce result wickets, so my tip for this clash simply has to be Northamptonshire.

S Peters, N O'Brien (wk), A Wakely, R Wessels, R White, N Boje (capt), A Hall, J van der Wath, D Lucas, M Panesar and L Daggett.

Nick Cook and Vanburn Holder. See also The Dreaded Finger

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