SURREY V WORCESTERSHIRE at Guildford (LVCC1), 25-28 JULY 2007
With the Guildford Festival likely to be a wet one according to the weather
forecasters, the storm clouds appear to be following Worcestershire wherever
they go right now. One look at the championship table also suggests that
it's sink or swim time for both of these teams.
The visitors for this game have struggled even more than their counterparts
to bowl sides out this summer. Other than Kabir Ali (26 championship wickets at
an average of 29.46), only Gareth Batty has taken five wickets in an innings
this term. But the former Surrey all-rounder's victims have come at a cost of
43.36 runs apiece. When these two teams met at New Road in June, Nadeem Malik
dismissed Mark Ramprakash twice in the match, but his total of 11 wickets have
been even more pricey.
With the bat, Graeme Hick (515 runs at an average of 46.81) has led the way
and will no doubt fancy Guildford's short boundary. 26-year-old opener Stephen
Moore has also made two championship hundreds, and skipper Vikram Solanki will
take confidence from the career best 232 he made against the Brown Caps, when
Mark Butcher's men held on for a draw six weeks ago.
Jonathan Batty is five catches away from 400 in first-class cricket. Mark
Butcher has 24 f-c hundreds for Surrey. Richard Clinton needs 100 runs for 1,000
f-c runs for the county. Scott Newman has 4,961 f-c runs and Mark Ramprakash
needs one more hundred for 40 in total for Surrey in f-c cricket. Of the likely
Worcestershire line-up, Gareth Batty has 299 first-class wickets and Graeme Hick
has 134 f-c hundreds.
Surrey have announced the same squad of twelve that travelled to Headingley and
secured a soggy draw against the Division One leaders.
OPPONENT |
DATE |
RESULT |
VENUE |
SURREY |
OPPONENT |
Yorkshire |
20-23 Jul 2007 |
Match Drawn |
Headingley |
229 |
307 & 2-1 |
Durham |
8-10 Jul 2007 |
Won By 6 Wickets |
The Oval |
243 & 154-4 |
191 & 204 |
Worcestershire |
6-9 Jun 2007 |
Match Drawn |
Worcester |
370 & 281-9 |
701-6d |
Kent |
30 May - 2 Jun 2007 |
Lost By An Inns & 79 Runs |
Whitgift |
166 & 319 |
564-5d |
Sussex |
16-19 May 2007 |
Match Drawn |
Hove |
626-3d |
365 & 372-3 |
The weather forecast is none too promising, especially for day two, but the weathermen have got in wrong in the past
- like when there was an entire first day's play at Guildford in 2001 despite
predictions of a deluge. But
with so much rain around at the moment, the chances are that everyone will have
their work cut out trying to stage some sort of a contest. Maybe the tactic for
the toss-winning captain will be to bowl first in the hope of being set a target
on Saturday, which they are saying will be mostly dry, though overcast.
P Jaques, S Moore, V Solanki (capt), B Smith, G Hick, S Davies (wk), G Batty, R
Sillence, Kabir Ali, D Bollinger and N Malik.
Jeremy Lloyds and Roy Palmer.
DATE |
RESULT |
VENUE |
TOSS |
DECISION |
SURREY |
WORCS |
6-9
Jun 2007 |
Match Drawn |
Worcester |
Worcs |
Bat |
370 & 281-9 |
701-6d |
8-10
Aug 2006 |
Won By An Innings &
107 Runs |
Worcester |
Worcs |
Bat |
576 |
304 & 165 |
17-20
May 2006 |
Lost By 2 Wickets |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
501-7d & 136-3d |
353-9d & 287-8 |
3-6
Aug 2004 |
Won By 68 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
375 & 329-5d |
295 & 341 |
23-26
Jun 2004 |
Match Drawn |
Worcester |
Worcs |
Field |
155 & 187-8 |
400-4d |
20-23
Apr 1999 |
Match Drawn |
Worcester |
Worcs |
Field |
223 |
15-1 |
3-6
Jun 1998 |
Won By 79 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Bat |
502-7d & 130-4d |
367 & 186 |
18-21
Jun 1997 |
Match Drawn |
Worcester |
Surrey |
Bat |
452-9d |
81-1 |
19-22
Sep 1996 |
Lost By 124 Runs |
The Oval |
Surrey |
Field |
Forfeited & 299 |
362 & 61-1d |
1-5
Jun 1995 |
Lost By 134 Runs |
Worcester |
Worcs |
Bat |
183 & 152 |
204 & 265-7d |
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