SURREY V YORKSHIRE at the Kia Oval (SSCC1), 11-14 JULY 2016

Eighth plays host to fifth in Division One. Fifth? That's right, Yorkshire, like Surrey, go into this match on the back of a defeat. The defending champions have only two victories in this season's County Championship - against Surrey in May and in last month's Roses Match against Lancashire at Headingley. In the latter, the Tykes owed their success to late order runs from the likes of Adil Rashid, Tim Bresnan, Steven Patterson and, in the second innings, Liam Plunkett.

Indeed, given the absence of Bairstow and Root (who are on international duty), the only players currently averaging over 38.00 with the bat in the Yorkshire squad to face Surrey are Bresnan (290 runs at 58.00), Plunkett (47.00) and Rashid (40.12). The Tykes' biggest batting concern is the form of Andrew Gale, who has only mustered 251 runs at an average of 17.92 in this season's County Championship. In the past, Gale has handed the captain's armband to Alex Lees for the greater good. Assuming overseas player Kane Williamson is available and Jack Leaning is set to get another go, the clever money is on Lees leading Yorkshire out in this one.

If the weather holds, the visitors will be looking to their bowling attack to chart a course to victory. They would be in with a better chance were it not for injuries to Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom. Nevertheless, the ever-reliable Steven Patterson, who is fit and available, has bagged 27 championship wickets at an average of 26.22 in 2016. If he plays, keep an eye out for 25-year-old off-spinner Azeem Rafiq forming a spin partnership with England's Adil Rashid.

Surrey v Yorkshire - First-Class Records Sheet

The number of first-class hundreds by Surrey batsmen now stands at 1,999, following Aaron Finch's 110 against Warwickshire at Guildford. Finch (2,972) is approaching 3,000 f-c runs. Yorkshire's Andrew Gale and Liam Plunkett both look set to make their 150th first-class appearance. Gale (7,943) is closing in on 8,000 f-c career runs.

There could well be a batting shake-up in the offing. The fit again Dominic Sibley looks set to play his first championship game of the season, after impressing in the T20 Blast. Also, Jason Roy returns to the Surrey fold after being named England's Player of the Series for the recent ODI rubber against Sri Lanka. James Burke (ankle) and Gary Wilson (international duty) do not feature in Surrey's 13-man squad.

The weather remains a factor, even though it's July. The forecasters aren't making too many promises about days one and two being rain-free. If, as they suggest, this contest will lose almost a day's play over the four, I can't see it ending in anything other than stalemate. Recent history backs this up. Since 1978, Surrey have only lost to Yorkshire at the Oval on just one occasion - in 2007, when the current Yorkshire manager - the former Aussie fast bowler Jason Gillespie - shared in a 246-run ninth wicket stand with Tim Bresnan.

A.Lyth, A.Lees (capt), K.Williamson, J.Leaning, D.Willey, T.Bresnan, A.Rashid, L.Plunkett, A.Hodd (wk), S.Patterson and A.Rafiq.

Neil Bainton and Martin Saggers. Surrey have not lost a championship match in which either Bainton or Saggers have been one of the umpires since April 2012. Since then, the Oval outfit have won four out of nine - the most recent being their 228-run victory over Notts a few weeks ago, in which Bainton stood. Combined leg-before-o-meter: 18.7% of dismissals.

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