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County Championship Preview: Surrey v Somerset
THE MATCH
Somerset travel to the Kia Oval to face Surrey in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship this week.
Day one of this fixture is tomorrow (Friday April 25th).
Somerset are currently 8th in the Division One table with 29 points from three fixtures whilst Surrey are 7th with 38 points after the same number of games.
SCHEDULED HOURS OF PLAY:
Morning session: 11am to 1pm
Afternoon session: 1:40pm to 3:40pm
Evening session: 4pm to 6pm
Tickets for this match are still available.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP TO DATE?
You can keep up to date using the dedicated Match Centre on this website which will feature a live stream of the action courtesy of Surrey CCC.
In-play updates will also appear on our X feed (formerly Twitter).
In addition to this, a report on the day’s play along with quotes will be posted on this website.
THE OPPOSITION
Captain: Rory Burns
Head Coach: Gareth Batty
2024 finish: Champions
2024 highest run-scorer: Rory Burns (1,073)
2024 highest wicket-taker: Dan Worrall (52)
Key winter moves: The arrival from Yorkshire of Matt Fisher is expected to strengthen still further Surrey’s all-powerful fast-bowling stocks. Fisher, at 27, sees the move as a chance to push on an already promising career and reach new levels in both county and international cricket. From the start of May, too, the champions’ enviable pace battery will be boosted by Nathan Smith, who joins as Surrey’s latest overseas signing and who is available, outside any New Zealand commitments, for the rest of the summer.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: Can anyone stop Surrey, champions for the last three seasons, completing a fourth consecutive title triumph? And will newly-qualified pace ace Dan Worrall, the spearhead of the glorious ‘three-peat’ with 139 wickets at 21.17 since joining Surrey for the start of the 2022 season, continue his remarkable late-career Surrey surge by winning an England Test call at 33?
Player to watch: Although many eyes will be on Fisher, who won his only England Test cap of an injury-studded career to date in March 2022, expect exciting 22-year-old Tom Lawes to kick on this season. Lawes, who can also bat in the lower middle order, already has 74 first-class wickets at 24.36 but – swinging the ball both ways at sharp pace – he can get much better yet.
Final thought: As ever, Surrey will have to juggle their considerable resources cleverly given the many calls from England red-ball and white-ball squads, plus the Indian Premier League during the county season’s early stages. The spine of the championship team, however, looks as reassuringly solid as before: skipper Burns and Dom Sibley at the top of the order, Ben Foakes to keep wicket peerlessly and add consistent runs to a strong and deep batting line-up, while Jordan Clark (116 wickets in the last three years) helps Worrall (and Lawes) lead the attack.
TEAM NEWS
Somerset have named the following squad for the match:
VIEW FROM THE DRESSING ROOM
On the eve of the fixture, Somerset Head Coach, Jason Kerr said: “We’ve played some really good cricket so far, but we’ve also had a couple of sessions where we’ve found ourselves behind the 8-ball. We showed good character in our second innings at Hampshire to get back beyond parity.
“We’ve seen some brilliant individual performances so far but we’ve not quite managed to pull it together for long enough and that’s why we’ve not got that win yet. The reality is that you need to play better cricket for longer than the opposition if you want to win matches.
“The toss at the last two games has been crucial and I expect it will be similar this week. You always get a good wicket at The Oval and we showed last season that we are capable of putting them under pressure there. The guys are relishing this opportunity to get that first win of the season.”
CLASSIC MATCH
We travel back in time to 1993 for our classic First Class match between these two sides at The Oval.
Somerset traveled to take on Surrey in August of that year and it was a match which saw Somerset Captain, Richard Harden lead from the front whilst Andre van Troost was at his mercurial best.
The toss was won by Surrey’s Alec Stewart and he invited the visitors to bat first. It looked to have been the right decision as Somerset slipped to 49 for two. Iain Fletcher top scored with 63 as Somerset finished day one on 275 for nine.
The declaration came over night and van Troost immediately accounted for Surrey openers, Rehan Alikhan (0) and Darren Bicknell (0) to leave the home side reeling on one for two.
The Dutch seamer ripped through the Surrey line up to finish with figures of five for 47 from his 18 overs as the hosts were dismissed for 199 inside 68 overs. Mushtaq Ahmed and Neil Mallender also impressed, claiming two wickets each.
Batting for a second time, Somerset lost openers Mark Lathwell and Andy Hayhurst to Joey Benjamin for just 14 runs but Harden saw off the West Indian and also Waqar Younis.
The Somerset skipper made an impressive 132 and was well supported by Rob Turner (70) as the pair added 151 for the fourth wicket. The visitors eventually declared at 344 for seven.
By the close of day three, Surrey, who were without the injured Stewart, had reached 36 for one.
On the final day, the home side were dismissed for 139, with van Troost and Mushtaq Ahmed both claiming three wickets as Somerset claimed a comprehensive victory by 281 runs.
WPA PREDICTIONS LEAGUE
So, you think you know your cricket do you? Here’s your chance to prove it!
Powered by WPA Health Insurance, the new game allows you to score points on every Somerset matchday.
Collect points throughout the year for correct predictions and make your way up the leaderboard to prove that you are the font of all cricketing knowledge!
The top Scorers for each competition will receive a prize.
Watch. Predict. Win!
EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW
If you are planning to attend the match, all the information you need can be found on the official Surrey CCC Website.
NEXT MATCH
Somerset are next in action when we take on Essex at the Cooper Associates County Ground in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.
Day one of this match is on Friday May 2nd.
Tickets for this match are still available.
