WARWICKSHIRE BEARS V SURREY LIONS at Edgbaston (TSL1), 9 MAY 2004

With the exception perhaps of Mark Wagh, the present Warwickshire side appears to have been built with one-day cricket in mind. Consequently, this punter backed them to win this summer's first division title at 10-1. After losing their opening to games you can now get the Bears at 18-1! Not surprisingly, Surrey's price to win the competition has also lengthened since their opening day defeat to the Glamorgan Dragons. Currently, it is 11-2, but another loss tomorrow would probably cause that to double overnight.

If the Lions are concerned that their batting has failed to click, they can think on. Only one Warwickshire batsman - Ian Bell - has struck a limited-overs half-century in the opening few games of the season. With Penney and Ostler failing to make any impression, it has been somewhat surprising that Jim Troughton has not been activated.

On the other side of the coin, the Bears appear to have a very settled five-man attack in Pretorius, Carter, Wagg, Brown and Hogg with Bell's medium pace up Nick Knight's sleeve just in case. The pick of their bowlers has been the ever-youthful Dougie Brown (seven wickets at 14.57 runs apiece); only Graham Wagg has genuinely been "got after".

Top of the list of approaching landmarks is Mark Butcher's 150th one-day appearance for Surrey; and Butcher needs one more wicket for fifty in the limited-overs arena.


The Lions have won three out of their last four limited-overs meetings with Warwickshire, however they have lost on their last two visits to Edgbaston. There is little doubt that the Bears will be seeking to avenge the drubbing they were handed in last year's Twenty20 Cup final, and with morale likely to be rock bottom in the Surrey camp following their recent C&G Trophy exit any sensible person would have to say: "Warwickshire win".


Surrey's squad shows a number of changes following the debacle against Ireland in midweek. Out of the twelve go Benning, Murtagh, Salisbury and Shahid, while in come Mark Butcher, Rikki Clarke, Scott Newman and Graham Thorpe.


N Carter, N Knight (capt), M Wagh, I Bell, J Trott, T Penney, D Brown, B Hogg, T Frost (wk), G Wagg and D Pretorius.

19 Jul 2003 T20 Won By 9 Wickets Trent Bridge
13 Jul 2003 NL Lost By 6 Wickets Edgbaston
4 May 2003 NL Won By 25 Runs The Oval
30 Aug 2001 NL Won By 123 Runs Whitgift School
29 Jul 2001 NL Lost By 3 Wickets Edgbaston
9 Aug 2000 NL Won By 103 Runs Whitgift School
23 Jun 2000 NL Won By 7 Wickets Edgbaston
26 Apr 1998 NL Lost By 8 Wickets The Oval
6 Jul 1997 NL Lost By 48 Runs Edgbaston
1 Sep 1996 NL Won By 2 Wickets The Oval
10 Jul 1996 NWT Won By 88 Runs Edgbaston
7 May 1995 NL Won By 47 Runs Edgbaston
17 Jul 1994 NL Lost By 13 Runs Guildford
7 Jun 1994 B&H Lost By 4 Wickets The Oval
20 Jun 1993 NL Won By 18 Runs Edgbaston
19 Jul 1992 NL Lost By 6 Wickets The Oval
23 Jun 1991 NL No Result Edgbaston
7 May 1991 B&H Lost By 1 Run The Oval
8 Jul 1990 NL Won By 15 Runs The Oval

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