SURREY V SOMERSET at the
Kia Oval (LVCC1), 17-20 APRIL 2013
Amazingly, seven out of the
last nine championship meetings between these two sides have ended
in stalemate. During that time, the bat has governed the ball; which
will be a relief to Somerset, who were skittled out for 132 and
186 by Durham in Week One.
Mind you, the Cidermen were without overseas player Alviro Petersen for that game.
Only Craig Kieswetter (21 and 72) and James Hildreth made double
figures in both innings up at the Riverside. But, over the last
couple of years, Nick Compton and Marcus Trescothick have been two
of the most consistent batsmen on the county circuit, with
first-class batting averages of 76.24 and 64.09 respectively. On the
flip side, Jos Buttler is becoming something of an enigma. Naturally
talented, certainly, but he has only hit two championship hundreds
in 52 completed innings. The Somerset attack looks all the stronger
for Alfonso Thomas's decision to turn his back on the IPL and George
Dockrell, a 20-year-old slow left-armer, is improving with each
game. The weak link, however, are the Overton twins, who are most
definitely ones for the future, but at 19-years-of-age are proving
expensive.
Factoid alert... Last week, all
eight toss-winning captains chose to bowl first. However, teams
batting first at The Oval have lost only two County Championship
matches in the last four seasons (W10 D12 L2).
Four players look set to debut for their new
employers - Graeme Smith, Gary Keedy and Vikram Solanki for the
hosts and Alviro Petersen for the visitors. Stuart Meaker goes into
the clash with 145 first-class career wickets; while, for Somerset,
James Hildreth will start with 9,911 f-c runs against his name.
Game one and already there's a surprise omission - Jason Roy has not
been named in the Oval outfit's 13-man squad, despite playing in more four-dayers
for the county
than anyone other than Batty and De Bruyn in 2012. At Monday's AGM,
Chris Adams hinted strongly that Surrey are likely to field just four
front-line bowlers for this game, which would make it a case of four
from Gareth Batty, Jade Dernbach, Gary Keedy, Tim Linley, Stuart
Meaker and Chris Tremlett.
OPPONENT |
DATE |
RESULT |
VENUE |
SURREY |
OPPONENT |
Lancashire |
11-14 Sep 2012 |
Match Drawn |
Liverpool |
367 |
142-2d |
Nottinghamshire |
4-7 Sep 2012 |
Won By 195 Runs |
The Oval |
269 & 304 |
227 & 151 |
Somerset |
28-31 Aug 2012 |
Match Drawn |
Taunton |
317 & 360-5d |
294 |
Middlesex |
15-18 Aug 2012 |
Won By 8 Runs |
The Oval |
144 & 341 |
232 & 245 |
Durham |
7-9 Aug 2012 |
Lost By An Inns & 38 Runs |
The Riverside |
129 & 143 |
310 |
Despite losing to Durham last week, Somerset do at least go into
this clash with a game under their belts. Put simply, Surrey will
have to hit the ground running against one of the sides that started
the season as one of the leading fancies for the title. Also, the
Cidermen are at full strength with Petersen's arrival. When he last
played a championship game at the Oval the South African made 210,
for Glamorgan. The forecast suggests we might lose some time to the
weather, which, if the pitch favours the batsmen, favours the draw,
as, indeed, I do on this occasion.
M Trescothick (capt), N Compton, A Petersen, J Hildreth, C Kieswetter
(wk), J Buttler, P Trego, A Thomas, J Overton, G Dockrell and S
Kirby.
Jeff Evans and Richard Kettleborough.
DATE |
RESULT |
VENUE |
TOSS |
DECISION |
SURREY |
SOMERSET |
28-31 Aug 2012 |
Match Drawn |
Taunton |
Surrey |
Bat |
317 & 360-5d |
294 |
16-19 May 2012 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
Somerset |
Bat |
388 & 239-7 |
512-9d & 180 |
12-15 Aug 2008 |
Match Drawn |
Taunton |
Surrey |
Field |
406-9 |
401-3d |
30 May - 2 Jun 2008 |
Lost By 8 Wickets |
Whitgift School |
Somerset |
Field |
326 & 227 |
446 & 111-2 |
19-22 Jul 2006 |
Match Drawn |
Guildford |
Somerset |
Bat |
717 |
688-8d |
14-16 Jun 2006 |
Won By 4 Wickets |
Bath |
Surrey |
Field |
266 & 356-6 |
342 & 276 |
3-6 Jul 2002 |
Match Drawn |
Taunton |
Somerset |
Field |
608-6d & 324-5d |
554 & 329-7 |
24-27 May 2002 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
220 & 332 |
253 & 45-1 |
23-26 Aug 2001 |
Match Drawn |
Taunton |
Somerset |
Bat |
278 & 294-6 |
373 & 311-6d |
6-9 Jun 2001 |
Won By 6 Wickets |
The Oval |
Somerset |
Bat |
403 & 210-4 |
377 & 234 |
14-16 Jun 2000 |
Won By An Inns & 213 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
548 |
145 & 190 |
26-29 Apr 2000 |
Match Drawn |
Taunton |
Somerset |
Field |
185 |
302-8d |
26-29 May 1999 |
Won By 7 Wickets |
The Oval |
Somerset |
Bat |
558-9d & 49-3 |
199 & 405 |
21-24 May 1998 |
Lost By 165 Runs |
Taunton |
Surrey |
Field |
241 & 245 |
176 & 475 |
23-26 Apr 1997 |
Match Drawn |
The Oval |
Somerset |
Bat |
209-8 |
463 |
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