SURREY v LEICESTERSHIRE at Leicester (LVCC2),
26-29 APRIL 2006
Surrey should be buoyed by the fact that, in each of their
last five championship clashes with Leicestershire, they have compiled at least
one sizeable total. But making his championship debut for his new county
tomorrow will be
Pakistan's Mohammad Asif, whose credentials (he has taken 25 Test wickets in
just five appearances) would suggest that he could be a match-winner for the
Foxes.
Having said that, unless Stuart Broad can continue where he
left off last summer, Asif could find himself ploughing a lone furrow with the
new ball. As this season's matches progress Leicestershire will obviously be
hoping that Henderson and Snape's spin can have a greater say than it did in
2004 and 2005. But the form book suggests it will take a spectacular shift in
their confidence levels for it be realised.
With the bat, Darren Robinson (who has come through a late
fitness test), HD Ackerman and India's Dinesh Mongia all acquitted themselves
well last term. If Darren Maddy can just get back to where he belongs and keeper
Paul Nixon can carry on defying the ageing process, the Foxes could prove
difficult to breakdown.
Jimmy
Ormond goes into this contest with a total of 192 f-c wickets for Surrey, while,
in career terms, Mark Butcher, who is one away from his 30th f-c hundred, has
14,949 runs to his name and Tim Murtagh has 851. Hundreds for Alistair Brown,
Scott Newman and Mark Ramprakash will also see notable first-class career
landmarks being registered. Also worth noting are that Brown has made 910 f-c
runs against Leicestershire, while Butcher's tally against the Grace Road outfit
currently stands at 848. Finally, Rikki Clarke is one away from claiming his
50th championship wicket.
Martin Bicknell and Mohammad Akram, both of whom are nursing groin injuries, are
sidelined, which is a certainly a blow in Bicknell's case. Over the course of
Martin's career Leicestershire's Darren Maddy has been his "rabbit"
and, in total, Bickers has taken 77 Foxes wickets at an average of just 21.45.
Anyway, in terms of who is playing tomorrow the same twelve as for the
Derbyshire match, less Akram, but plus Tim Murtagh, has travelled up to Grace Road.
OPPONENT |
DATE |
RESULT |
VENUE |
SURREY |
OPPONENT |
Derbyshire |
19-22 Apr 2006 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
308 & 476-8d |
492 |
Middlesex |
21-24 Sep 2005 |
Won By An Inns & 39 Runs |
The Oval |
686-5d |
404-5d & 243 |
Warwickshire |
10-13 Sep 2005 |
Match Drawn |
Edgbaston |
225 & 313-5d |
338 &26-0 |
Hampshire |
24-27 Aug 2005 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
378 & 302 |
361-6d |
Gloucestershire |
16-19 Aug 2005 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
463 |
350 &294-6 |
Well, the weather forecast suggests that we are in for four full days of
cricket, so I can't continue to use the outlook as an excuse to sit on the
fence. On the basis that Surrey are still the 2-1 favourites to win Division Two
and Leicestershire are 20-1, and that you have to go back to 1995 to find the Brown
Caps' last championship defeat at Grace Road, all I am prepared to say is that a
home win would represent a major surprise. But could Mohammad Asif end up being
the Foxes' secret weapon?
D Robinson, D Maddy, H Ackerman, D Mongia, J Maunders, J Snape (capt), P Nixon
(wk), S Broad, C Henderson, D Masters and Mohammad Asif.
Peter Hartley and Vanburn Holder.
DATE |
RESULT |
VENUE |
TOSS |
DECISION |
SURREY |
LEICS |
21-24
Aug 2003 |
Match Drawn |
Leicester |
Surrey |
Bat |
501 & 117-2 |
166 & 636-4d |
14-17
May 2003 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
560-8d |
200 & 185-8 |
18-21
Sep 2002 |
Won By 483 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
494 & 492-9d |
361 & 142 |
14-16
Aug 2002 |
Won By 7 Wickets |
Leicester |
Surrey |
Bat |
540 & 42-3 |
290 & 289 |
4-7
Jul 2001 |
Match Drawn |
Leicester |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
102 & 478-9 |
165 & 472-8d |
16-19
May 2001 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
190 |
246 & 94-5 |
19-21
Jul 2000 |
Won By 10 Wickets |
Guildford |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
288 & 119-0 |
318 & 87 |
7-9
Jul 2000 |
Won By An Inns & 178 Runs |
Oakham School |
Surrey |
Bat |
505 |
143 & 184 |
9-12
Jun 1999 |
Match Drawn |
Leicester |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
501 |
272 & 239-4 |
17-19
Sep 1998 |
Lost By An Inns & 211 Runs |
The Oval |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
146 & 228 |
585-6d |
21-24
May 1997 |
Match Drawn |
Leicester |
Leicestershire |
Field |
278 & 166-5 |
340 |
13-17
Jun 1996 |
Won By 108 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
452 & 242-6d |
411 & 175 |
27-29
Jul 1995 |
Lost By An Inns & 37 Runs |
Leicester |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
218 & 248 |
503 |
23-25
Jun 1994 |
Won By An Inns & 50 Runs |
The Oval |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
501 |
263 & 188 |
29
Apr - 2 May 1993 |
Won By 89 Runs |
Leicester |
Surrey |
Bat |
245 & 315 |
255 & 216 |
14-17
Aug 1992 |
Lost By 72 Runs |
The Oval |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
218 & 193 |
216 & 267-5d |
14-17
Jun 1991 |
Match Drawn |
Leicester |
Surrey |
Field |
90-1d & 261-8 |
232 & 133-3 |
11-14
Aug 1990 |
Won By An Inns & 5 Runs |
The Oval |
Leicestershire |
Bat |
420-9d |
244 & 171 |
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