SURREY V SOMERSET at Whitgift School (LVCC1), 30 MAY - 2 JUNE 2008

In the championship these two sides have only come up against one another twice in the last five seasons, but both matches were memorable. At Bath, in 2006, Surrey won inside three days after winning the toss and inserting their hosts. In the return match, at Guildford, the man who now captains the Cidermen, Justin Langer, struck a career best 342 - the highest individual score ever by a Somerset batsman.

Unfortunately we are not in the grip of the kind of summer we enjoyed two years ago, when the first day of the Surrey v Somerset championship clash at Guildford was officially the hottest day in the UK that year. With the forecasters saying that there could be rain on two of the next four days, it looks as though this game will see an extension of the frustrations we all experienced at yesterday's FPT fixture at Whitgift.

The visitors' vice-captain Andy Caddick is still not ready to return to first-team action following a back operation, so Somerset are likely to field the same team that beat Kent last weekend. If Caddick were fit it would be interesting to see who the Cidermen would opt to leave out of their attack, which may not send a shiver down many batsmen's spines, but has performed with credit in this summer's LV County Championship.

Charl Willoughby, Ben Phillips, Peter Trego and Steffan Jones are all averaging under 27.85 with the ball at the moment. Also, in 23-year-old seamer Mark Turner's only appearance this term he took three wickets at 17.66 runs apiece. Sadly, Somerset's spinners - Ian Blackwell and Mike Munday - haven't yet followed their seamers' lead.

With the bat it was always going to be a question of whether Marcus Trescothick and Langer were going to take apart Division One attacks in the same way they did in Division Two last season. Trescothick has already passed 500 championship runs for the season and averages 71.85, with 2 hundreds. Langer (50.28) and James Hildreth have also reached three figures for this term. If opener Neil Edwards and keeper Craig Kieswetter were more consistent with the willow one would have to say that Somerset are potential champions.

Jonathan Batty needs 9 dismissals for 500 first-class dismissals. Ali Brown needs 68 runs for 15,000 career f-c runs. Matt Nicholson needs 1 wicket for 400 career f-c wickets and 2 wickets for 50 for Surrey. As everyone should now by now, Mark Ramprakash needs one hundred for 100 f-c hundreds. Of the Somerset contingent Ian Blackwell needs 9 wickets for 200 f-c wickets for Somerset. Justin Langer needs 27 runs for 2,000 f-c runs for Somerset. Peter Trego needs 7 wickets for 100 f-c wickets for Somerset. Charl Willoughby needs 3 wickets for 150 f-c wickets for Somerset.

The major piece of team news is that Alistair Brown has been dropped from Surrey's championship line-up following a run of 33, 0, 0 and 6 in the last two four-day matches. It is likely that he will be replaced by Matthew Spriegel, who, if he does play, will be making his first-class debut for the Brown Caps. The other change is that Chris Jordan comes in for Murtaza Hussain. 

With rain in the South Croydon air, the only way I can see a result is if the seamers make the most of the moisture that will be in the pitch. Both sides appear to be evenly matched, but I am going for a draw on the basis that the weather forecasters are right for once. 

M Trescothick, N Edwards, J Langer (capt), J Hildreth, Z de Bruyn, I Blackwell, P Trego, C Kieswetter (wk), B Phillips, S Jones and C Willoughby.

Allan Jones and Richard Kettleborough.

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