SURREY V NOTTINGHAMSHIRE at the Kia Oval (SSCC1), 23-26 SEPTEMBER 2019

One from bottom plays host to bottom for what will be the 250th first-class meeting between Surrey and Nottinghamshire. Thankfully, there has been one team worse than Surrey in Div One of this season's County Championship - Notts, who, to be fair, looked the worst side in 2018 if you went by the four-day contests the Oval outfit were involved in. Indeed, Surrey have triumphed in each of their last four championship clashes with the Trent Bridge outfit and won them handsomely. So, no pressure; although the weather forecast for the final week of the season suggests it will be akin to a Scottish four-piece from the 1980s - Wet Wet Wet.

Like Surrey, Notts have found runs hard to come by in the County Championship. Four men have inched past the 600-mark for the campaign - Joe Clarke (average 31.05), Chris Nash (30.52), Steve Mullaney (29.26) and Ben Duckett (27.39). But a longer tail than most has also contributed to their undoing, once exposed; hence the reason why Samit Patel (17.20) has been loaned out to Glamorgan and Tom Moores (14.04) dropped.

Had Ravi Ashwin been available as Notts' overseas player for all 14 games, Surrey might have sweated over possible relegation. As it is, Notts have not won a championship game since June of last year (when they overcame Essex by 301 runs at Chelmsford) despite Ashwin's 34 wickets at 24.58 runs apiece at the back-end this year. Liam Patterson-White, when pressed into action, has also impressed with his slow left-arm. But of the seamers only Luke Fletcher has shown any real consistency.

Surrey v Nottinghamshire - First-Class Records Sheet

With a fair wind, both Morne Morkel (who, by the way, is rumoured to be bowing out of county cricket after this week) and Rikki Clarke (who looks odds on to be named Surrey's Player of the Season) could get to 50 first-class wickets for the season. Morkel has 44 and Clarke 42. Jordan Clark, if he plays, will start the match on 99 f-c career wickets; and Ben Foakes (224ct, 23st) is three away from 250 first-class dismissals. Of the Notts contingent, the only meaningful milestone that might be reached in this match is Ben Duckett notching up a 1,000-run season in f-c cricket. The 24-year-old currently has 928 for the season, helped, in no small part, by his 216 against Cambridge MCCU at the start of term.

There are no changes to the 13-man side that travelled to Essex, lost by an innings for the first time in three years and were bowled out for less than 200 for the fourth time running. The last occasion Surrey were dismissed for under 200 in the County Championship four times back-to-back was in 1986, when, in actual fact, they had five such successive failures - 95 and 152 at Trent Bridge v Notts, 144 and 64 against Hampshire at Basingstoke and 158 in the first dig away to Gloucestershire.

Rain, rather than the cricket, to be the winner.

S.Mullaney (capt), B.Compton, C.Nash, J.Clarke, B.Duckett (wk), J.Evison, R.Ashwin, P.Coughlin, L.Patterson-White, J.Ball and J.Blatherwick.

To be announced.

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