Date: May 6 to 9
Start time: 11am
Game: Surrey v Notts
Competition: Frizzell County Championship Division One
We caught up with our Director of Cricket to get his views on the forthcoming trip to the Brit Oval.
Is this our biggest game of the Championship season so far?
Newell: Well, both teams have started well in four-day cricket with a win and a draw from their first two games, so it should be a good battle.
Are they not the force they once were?
Newell: Surrey are a team that expect to finish in the top three. That?s the noise they always make and rightly so because they still have some very good players. But then again, so do we and we?re playing very good Championship cricket at the moment, so we will go there full of confidence looking forward to the challenge.
So how do you beat them?
Newell: We won?t be changing our game plan. We are expecting it to be a high-scoring game so getting the runs on the board in the first innings will be all-important. Whoever can get their noses ahead after the first innings will be in a very strong position.
And our batsmen have certainly started the season in form, with six getting hundreds already?
Newell: Yes, I?m delighted to say they?ve carried on where they left off. We?ve played on two very good wickets so far and have taken advantage of them accumulating batting points along the way. We think this will be another good wicket so we need to carry on our form. Hitting six centuries in the first two games is an excellent start and we need to keep making them if we are to challenge the likes of Surrey and Warwickshire.
Injury news:
Paul Franks? returns to the squad after missing three one-day matches with a rib injury.
Squad:
Gallian, Bicknell, Singh, Fleming (cap), Hussey, Read (wkt), Ealham, Franks, Swann, Harris, Smith, Sidebottom, Patel.