SURREY V SOMERSET at Guildford (LVCC2), 19-22 JULY 2006

Tomorrow marks Somerset's third visit to Guildford for a championship clash with Surrey. On the previous occasions they have beaten a track to Woodbridge Road, in 1976 and 1989, the Cidermen have been involved in a couple of low-scoring encounters. With the hosts rumoured to be thinking of fielding three front-line spinners, one wonders what Cameron White's men are like against the turning ball; and even whether the Guildford CC groundsman has been instructed to prepare a "bunsen".

Sadly, for the visitors, if Somerset have a weakness right now it is their lack of a wicket-taking spinner. Ian Blackwell, never the most prolific in the championship, is out for most of the season with a shoulder injury and Dan Cullen is currently unavailable; which explains why Justin Langer is filling the second overseas player's spot. Even when he was around, though, Cullen wasn't much to write home to Australia about with a record of seven wickets at 54.42 runs apiece in four-day cricket. Consequently, Wes Durston has sent down some of his part-time twirlers, which he has done with a tad more success.

Even though White has also been a disappointment with the ball, the 22-year-old Victorian has led Somerset from the front in terms of his batting. The stand-in skipper is comfortably the Taunton-based outfit's leading run-maker with ?? at an average of ??, including ?? centuries in the County Championship. Apart from him, only Keith Parsons and Peter Trego have so far shown any application in Division Two this year; and Parsons, with a broken hand, is out of the reckoning for this game.

With 23 wickets at 42.21 runs apiece, Andy Caddick has a surprisingly poor championship record against Surrey. Ian Salisbury, on the other hand, licks his lips at the prospect of facing Somerset. Not only has he taken 77 wickets against them, including a career best 8-60, but one of his two first-class hundreds also came against the Cidermen.

Ian Salisbury is set to make his 300th first-class appearance, Jonathan Batty has 398 dismissals for Surrey, Mark Butcher has made 9,938 f-c runs for his county, while Rikki Clarke needs 6 more wickets for his 100th in f-c cricket. If Jimmy Ormond plays, he is four away from collecting 200 f-c wickets for the Brown Caps. Meanwhile, Somerset's Matthew Wood has nine first-class hundreds to his name, including a pair against Surrey at Taunton in 2002, while Wes Durston is three away from making 1,000 runs for his county.

Anil Kumble steps off the plane one day and 24 hours later he finds himself in Surrey's championship squad. So, just who will make way to accommodate him? Well, my money is on Nayan Doshi. One hopes that Neil Saker will be given a run in the side following good performances with the ball away from home against Somerset and Northants, but Martin Bicknell is breathing down the youngster's neck. Alistair Brown (hamstring), Mark Butcher (back) and Mark Ramprakash (back) are all said to be fit enough to play. Nevertheless, James Benning is on standby. 

With Somerset subsiding to 127 all out in less than forty overs, in their second innings against Derbyshire at batsmen-friendly Taunton on Monday, and Anil Kumble fresh off the plane, would it be a surprise to anyone if I went "Surrey win"?  

J Langer, M Wood, A Suppiah, J Francis, C White (capt), J Hildreth, P Trego, C Gazzard (wk), S Francis, A Caddick and C Willoughby.

Allan Jones and George Sharp.

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