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Surrey have lost seven out of their last ten one-day meetings with Yorkshire, but will take heart from having a reasonably good record against them at The Oval. They will also know that, after winning their opening game against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, the Phoenix have not fired in any of their five outings since then. Consequently, the Tykes find themselves rooted to the bottom of the NCL Division One table, albeit with a game in hand over the one of the three teams to have recorded two victories this term. But with three of the nine sides going down at the end of the season, one would have to say tomorrow's visitors are already staring relegation in the face. For Surrey, who enjoyed an unbeaten Twenty20 group campaign, this will be their first opportunity since losing to Derbyshire in the C&G Trophy quarter-finals to regain their form in a traditional one-day sense. As Martin Bicknell told www.ovalworld-online.com, the defeat at Derby was a huge let down for all concerned. "It was very disappointing that we didn’t do ourselves justice," he said, adding: "But Derbyshire are a difficult side to play. Kaif got too many basically. Then when we got off to a bad start - that got them going even more and it was difficult for us to get going again.” But for Bicknell and the rest of the Surrey players, it helps if the spectators are behind them, like in the Twenty20 Cup where he said: "It was great fun playing in front of big crowds.” Yorkshire's problem in limited-overs cricket has been a lack of runs. Only two batsmen have made more than 135 runs in eight outings this summer. In addition nobody averages more than 32.87. What they need is a Ramprakash or a Thorpe, both of whom are going along at over fifty for Surrey. Significantly the Phoenix have recently sought to strengthen by bringing in New Zealand's Stephen Fleming and the young Indian batsman Yuvraj Singh. Martin Bicknell has never bowled to either of the left-handers. "Fleming and Yuvraj are two quality players, and two players I have never bowled to before,” he said, adding: "I’d rather bowl at right-handers, but in a one-day game you take it as you find it.” Thankfully for the Phoenix their bowling is a bit more reliable. That said, two or possibly three of their most frugal operators will not be available. Gough and McGrath will be at Bristol, where England are taking on Zimbabwe, and next year's beneficiary Chris Silverwood is fighting to be fit. That just leaves off-spinner Andy Gray, who, whilst being economical, has struggled to take wickets. For that, seamers Tim Bresnan and Ryan Sidebottom will be relied upon. For Bicknell, he stands just one wicket away from matching Robin Jackman's club record 234 in one-day league cricket. Should Alec Stewart continue to keep Jon Batty out of the Surrey side he needs 23 more runs to equal Monte Lynch's record number of one-day league runs for Surrey. Finally, Graham Thorpe requires one more hundred for his tenth in limited-overs cricket for the county.
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