SURREY V YORKSHIRE at the Micky Stewart Oval (LVCC)
20-23 SEPTEMBER 2022

Top plays host to sixth in what will be Surrey's final home game of the 2022 season. 

Yorkshire have won just a solitary red-ball game this season, but with more draws than anyone else their Division One status looks assured. However, one of their few defeats came at the hands of Surrey, who pulled off a thrilling success at Scarborough a couple of months ago, winning a high-scoring contest with just three balls to spare.

Last week, Northants proved a tougher nut for the Oval outfit to crack than Hampshire experienced. Indeed, Hampshire taking the seven wickets they needed, in just 27 overs, after the final morning of their game against Northants the week before had been washed out, could prove pivotal in terms of the destiny of this summer's County Championship.

Even though Surrey hold an eight-point advantage going into the two remaining rounds of fixtures, it may not be enough if Hampshire polish off strugglers Kent and Warwickshire. In short, a high-scoring victory against Yorkshire represents the South Londoners' minimum requirement over the course of the next four days.

The Yorkies have struggled with the ball in this summer’s County Championship due to the groin injury that has hitherto sidelined dependable seamer Ben Coad (11 wickets at 19.90), and the back issue which struck Matt Fisher down after just one outing.

The bulk of the work has therefore fallen to Jordan Thompson (42 championship wickets at 31.76 runs apiece) and former skipper Steven Patterson (31 at 29.03). Although off-spinner Dom Bess has weighed in with 33 wickets, they have come at a cost of 42.78. But look out for George Hill, 21, who has proved a useful partnership breaker since adding medium pace to his repertoire.

With the top three in Yorkshire's championship batting averages - Brook, Malan and Root - unavailable for this match due to England, Surrey will no doubt seek to capitalise on the fact that Jonny Tattersall is, on paper at least, the biggest threat with the bat. Tattersall, who recently took over the Yorkshire captaincy, has 374 runs at an average of 53.42. Kohler-Cadmore is averaging 37.83, Revis 33.37, Hill 32.52 and Lyth 32.15.

Surrey v Yorkshire - First-Class Records Sheet

If he plays, Ben Mike, recently signed from Leicestershire, could make his championship debut for the visitors. George Hill (914) and Jordan Thompson (930) go into this game eyeing-up 1,000 first-class career runs, while, for Jonny Tattersall (1,914), passing 2,000 f-c runs is a possibility. For Surrey, Tom Curran will start needing a further 5 wickets for 200 in first-class cricket and Ryan Patel wanting 94 runs to hit the 2,000-mark in f-c.

Ben Foakes and Ollie Pope look set to return from international duty as neither is centrally contracted to England (at least, not yet). 

With Surrey back to something approaching full strength, I've got to be optimistic about their chances. However, rain is forecast to interrupt the final day. Will the South Londoners have wrapped things up in their favour by then? Let's hope so.

A.Lyth, F.Bean, G.Hill, T.Kohler-Cadmore, W.Fraine, J.Tattersall (capt, wk), M.Revis, D.Bess, J.Thompson, B.Coad and S.Patterson.

Russell Warren and Alex Wharf.

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