WORCESTERSHIRE V SURREY at Worcester (LVCC1), 6-9 JUNE 2007

All of the pre-match headlines are about Graeme Hick, who is just 64 runs away from posting a 40,000-run first-class career. In some ways it is fitting that centre stage is being given over to Hick (451 runs at an average of 50.11), who has been the only batsman to score a championship hundred for Worcestershire this season. It helps to gloss over the fact that this match is Division One's basement battle, or as someone unfairly described it to me the other day - Watford v Charlton.

The betting market reflects the chasm between seventh-placed Lancashire, who are 7-1 to win the title, and Surrey (60-1) and Worcestershire (160-1).

Below Hick, in a distant second, third and fourth in the Pears' batting averages are Vikram Solanki (26.44), Phil Jaques (22.55) and Stephen Moore (22.22). But, as disappointing as those three have been with the bat this summer, Ben Smith and wicketkeeper Steve Davies have fared even worse.

Worcestershire's bowling attack has also performed woefully. Kabir Ali (19 wickets at 27.52 runs apiece) has been the sole threat. At the other end Dewald Nel has come in and done adequately, while Gareth Batty has stemmed the flow of runs without looking threatening.

Azhar Mahmood needs 6 wickets for 500 f-c career wickets and Scott Newman needs 135 runs for 5,000 f-c career runs. For Worcestershire, Gareth Batty has 291 first-class wickets, while Graeme Hick has 39,936 first-class runs and Roger Sillence has 981.

Surrey's 13-man squad includes Stewart Walters and Jade Dernbach, but it remains to be seen whether heads will roll in order to accommodate them. Nayan Doshi has been dropped, but Jimmy Ormond (hamstring) and Mohammad Akram (calf) are both out of contention due to injury.

Worcester has not been a lucky ground for Surrey in recent years. Last season's victory there was the first enjoyed at New Road by the Brown Caps since 1983. So, this is a potential banana skin. As awful as Vikram Solanki's men have been this summer, the visitors aren't in the best of cheer either. On paper, however, Surrey are by far the stronger of the two sides.  

P Jaques, S Moore, V Solanki (capt), B Smith, G Hick, S Davies (wk), G Batty, Kabir Ali, D Bollinger, N Malik and D Nel.

Ian Gould and Allan Jones

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