It will be the battle of the spinners at the Brit Oval this week with Harbhajan Singh, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq and Chris Schofield all on show as Surrey and Sussex lock horns in the LV County Championship.

Surrey fought hard on the final day at the Riverside against Durham last week and will have taken heart from a gutsy performance in the second innings. Jonathan Batty was the mainstay on that occasion and his return to form with a century will be a boost to the side’s batting line-up.

Chris Schofield returns to the squad fresh from playing for the England Lions in a NatWest Series One Day warm up against India. Whilst Mark Butcher will also return to action having been rested by Cricket Manager Alan Butcher for the Brown Caps’ victory over the Derbyshire Phantoms in the NatWest Pro40 yesterday.

Surrey and Sussex have gone head-to-head on four occasions already this season and it is Surrey who hold the psychological advantage with two victories in the Twenty20 and Friends Provident Trophy. Surrey also came out on top in the LV County Championship match at Hove earlier in the season, where the Sharks were dependent upon a double century from Murray Goodwin in the second innings to save them from an innings defeat.

In injury news

Rikki Clarke will return to action for the second team in their home fixture against Kent at Wimbledon.

With Clarke’s return the Surrey medical team are pleased to announce a fully fit squad.

The full squad to take on Sussex is as follows:

Newman
Batty
Ramprakash
Butcher
Walters
Benning
Schofield
Nicholson
Singh
Ormond
Jordan
Akram

Match information

As always, ball-by-ball commentary will be available from www.surreycricket.com and you will be able to catch some of the highlights of the day’s play by watching Surrey TV.

Tickets are available from the ticket office, costing £12 for adults and £6 for under 16s. Gates will be open from 10am.

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