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PREVIEW: FRIENDS PROVIDENT T20 - SOUTH GROUP by Marcus Hook

Surrey are now 40-1 to win Division One of the LV County Championship and 25-1 to win the Yorkshire Bank 40. Yet, surprisingly, the South Londoners are fourth in the betting, at 9-1, for the Friends Life T20, which gets underway this week. So, what am I driving at? Well, not only does the Twenty20 provide a way for Surrey to salvage something from their wretched season, a break from the other two forms of the game can only be a good thing.

Apart from their convincing victory over Hampshire in the YB40 curtain-raiser, the Oval outfit have not registered a win against county opposition this season. So, one might make the mistake of assuming Surrey stand no chance in the FLt20. However, you would be wrong. If they can play with a bit of freedom and string a few wins together over the next week or so then anything is possible.

Twenty20 cricket celebrated its tenth birthday recently. June 13, 2003 was when it all started. Somewhat fittingly, Surrey's first match was against their fiercest rivals Middlesex. The South Londoners won with four balls to spare and over the next year set the standard by racking up 13 successive victories.

Adam Hollioake, the first man to hold the trophy aloft, said a few years later: "At Surrey, we had a definite strategy and we stuck to it. We targeted short boundaries and tried to hit sixes. When we bowled, instead of going for yorkers and containment, as some counties did, we tried to take wickets. It came off, but it helped that we had some bloody good players."

Indeed, the Oval outfit, whose first defeat in T20 cricket came in the second final, were laden with top class names like Alistair Brown, Mark Ramprakash, Hollioake himself, Azhar Mahmood - who returns to the Surrey fold for this year's campaign - and Jimmy Ormond.

You will often hear it said that Twenty20 cricket is a lottery. Not so. Sure, there are one or two unusual results, but the teams that, in the words of Adam Hollioake, are true to their strategy generally come out on top.

Under Chris Adams numerous changes of personnel, from one game to the next, contributed to Surrey failing to reach the last eight. Indeed, not since losing in the semis in 2006, when Alan Butcher was their manager, have the Oval outfit managed to get out of their group.

For me, Surrey's best T20 eleven right now would be: Davies (wk), Roy, Pietersen, Ponting, Maxwell, Solanki (capt), Ansari, Azhar Mahmood, Tremlett, Dernbach and Keedy. (12th man: Wilson). If Alec Stewart and Stuart Barnes are loyal to that nucleus, aside from the international call-ups and injuries that will no doubt get in the way, then I believe Surrey are more than capable of progressing.

The top two in each regional group are guaranteed a place in the quarter-finals, with the two best third-placed sides taking the other two spots. In short, Surrey don't even have to top the South Group. So, which opponents are likely to stand in Surrey's way? Well, you can make a case for all six of the teams in their group. If the Yorkshire Bank 40 is anything to go by, Hampshire and Kent appear to be brimming with confidence.

Just the other day, Kent pulled off a remarkable victory against Sussex at Canterbury, when they chased down a target of 337 with nine balls to spare thanks to a whirlwind 118 off 53 balls from Darren Stevens. Whether it is with bat and ball, Stevens is a key player for the Spitfires. But Sussex bounced back to end the only remaining unbeaten run in this season's competition, which had belonged to Nottinghamshire. So, even though the Sharks face an uphill task in the YB40, it would be no surprise to anyone if the seasiders left their mark on the Twenty20.

New Zealander Scott Styris is back again as Sussex's second overseas player. But the likes of Chris Nash, the England wicketkeeper Matt Prior and Luke Wright are just as key to the Sharks. Momentum is everything in the T20, so Surrey's group matches home and away to Sussex, both of which come early in the piece, will undoubtedly set the tone.

The reigning champions Hampshire - Surrey's first opponents - are also expected to be there or thereabouts once again. Winners in 2010 and 2012, not to mention semi-finalists in 2011, the Royals boast the likes of Dimitri Mascarenhas and Sohail Tanvir. Interestingly, Hampshire will just have the one overseas player (Tanvir) owing to Glenn Maxwell's decision to throw his lot in with Surrey. What does Maxell know, I wonder?

Apart from when they won it in 2008, Middlesex have failed to turn up for the Twenty20, which is astonishing. The North Londoners have started the season strongly and if Tim Murtagh and Toby Roland-Jones get it together with the new ball, they too have a chance.

Finally, there's Essex, who, of course, trounced Surrey in the YB40 a few weeks ago. That performance, as much as any other this summer, put a nail in Chris Adams's coffin. But if the Eagles are to progress, much depends on their two big hitting all-rounders - Graham Napier and Ryan ten Doeschate.

At the start of the season I tipped Warwickshire for the title. But if you're asking me now, my advice would be to keep an eye out for Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex. Mind you, I did say Yorkshire and Durham would be relegated in the championship. Where are they now? First and second respectively!

Surrey's Friends Life T20 group fixtures:
Wed, 26 June - Hampshire Royals at the Rose Bowl
Fri, 28 June - Sussex Sharks at Hove
Sun, 30 June - Kent Spitfires at Canterbury
Wed, 3 July - Sussex Sharks at the Kia Oval
Fri, 5 July - Middlesex Panthers at the Kia Oval
Mon, 15 July - Essex Eagles at the Kia Oval
Fri, 19 July - Hampshire Royals at the Kia Oval
Thu, 25 July - Middlesex Panthers at Lord's
Fri, 26 July - Kent Spitfires at the Kia Oval
Wed, 31 July - Essex Eagles at Chelmsford

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