WARWICKSHIRE V SURREY at Edgbaston (CC1), 9-12 JULY 2003

There are easier places to obtain a result than Edgbaston, where only one championship game has not seen the fourth day in the last two and a half seasons. But the way things have been going for the Bears, they would probably settle for holding Surrey to a draw. After making a decent enough start in the County Championship, Warwickshire have not won for four matches and their innings defeat down at Hove appears to have knocked the stuffing out of them.

The midlands county have hardly been helped by the recent absence of Ashley Giles and Jim Troughton, both of whom are on England one-day duty. But they still have players that other sides would dearly love to sign, but who continue to fall short of what many expect. Players like Ian Bell, for instance, who, along with Brown, Frost and Wagh, has been ever present, yet averages just 31.85 with the bat in the championship.

Warwickshire have not had a good season as far as overseas players are concerned. At first they thought that Shane Bond would be leading the attack, but he had commitments to fulfil with New Zealand then fell injured. So, the Australian fast bowler Michael Clark was signed, but he broke down and only played in one championship match. Collins Obuya was brought in, but the Kenyan leg-spinner has also struggled for fitness. And, finally, Waqar Younis has simply struggled to run through sides.

That said the former Surrey, Glamorgan and Pakistan fast bowler is currently topping Warwickshire's championship bowling averages with 13 wickets at 26.76 runs apiece. Not far behind is Melvyn Betts, who has been one of this summer's plus points for the Bears. Dougie Brown continues to bowl manfully, but if he wasn't such a workaholic he would be a prime candidate for getting the chop.

Given the prevalence of good pitches this summer it is somewhat surprising that Bell, Powell, the skipper, and Trott continue to be so inconsistent. The situation has not been helped by wicketkeeper Tony Frost losing form with the bat at the wrong time. In his last three championship matches his run has gone 11, 15, 1, 4, 11 and 17. Thank goodness for Warwickshire's sake that Nick Knight and Mark Wagh continue to chug along at over fifty.

For Surrey, Alec Stewart is approaching 15,000 first-class career runs for the club. He needs 103 more. Additionally, Mark Butcher is just one wicket away from taking his 100th in the County Championship.

The indications are that Warwickshire just want to get through this game, which is a fairly negative view to have. Surrey, on the other hand, are really on top of their game at the moment and can only be stronger than they were against Kent for welcoming back Azhar Mahmood and Adam Hollioake. With weather only forecast to be a factor on day two, not even a good Edgbaston pitch will be able to hold back the indomitable Oval outfit.

Ian Ward is fighting to overcome the groin strain he picked up during last Thursday's pre-match practice; which has kept the left-handed opener on the sidelines for longer than expected. Alistair Brown travels as cover. With the pitch at Birmingham likely to favour the bat, both of Surrey's frontline spinners will play, thus making it likely that Alex Tudor will have to make way for Azhar Mahmood.   

M Powell (capt), N Knight, M Wagh, I Bell, I Trott, T Frost (wk), DR Brown, G Wagg, C Obuya, M Betts and Waqar Younis.

30 Apr - 3 May 2003	Match Drawn	The Oval
27-30 Aug 2002	Match Drawn	Edgbaston
10-13 Jul 2002	Lost By 31 Runs	The Oval
21-23 Jul 1999	Won By An Innings & 123 Runs	Edgbaston
23-27 Apr 1998	Won By An Innings & 49 Runs	The Oval
2-5 Jul 1997	Lost By 5 Wickets	Edgbaston
29-31 Aug 1996	Won By An Innings & 164 Runs	The Oval
4-8 May 1995	Lost By 91 Runs	Edgbaston
14-18 Jul 1994	Lost By 256 Runs	Guildford
17-18 Jun 1993	Won By 8 Wickets	Edgbaston
17-20 Jul 1992	Match Drawn	Guildford
6-8 Aug 1991	Won By 67 Runs	Edgbaston
7-10 Jul 1990	Won By 168 Runs	The Oval

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