Surrey take on Worcestershire this week in a crucial LV County Championship match at Guildford.

After their recent win against Durham, Surrey will be hoping for another one to help boost their season after a disappointing start.

The battle between two of County cricket’s most seasoned pros, Graeme Hick and Mark Ramprakash will be one to watch. Ramprakash, the man who has been Surrey’s most consistent run scorer for many years, has been punishing County attacks at will since he came into the first-class arena in 1987. He is nearing that magical mark of 100 hundreds and at the time of writing he is just eight shy. Last season he finished with a first-class average of over 100, something that only four other batsman have managed in the history of first-class cricket.

Hick on the other hand has 134 hundreds to his name. After playing 24 years of first-class cricket, the 41 year old has over 40,000 runs.

The chance to watch these two players in the “up close and personal” surroundings of Guildford is something that should not be missed.

Click here for more information about this year's festival that begins on Wednesday 25 July.

As a team, Surrey have some fond memories of playing at Woodbridge Road over the years. The Club’s first recorded match at Woodbridge Road, Guildford dates back to the 13 July 1938 against Hampshire in the County Championship. Today, www.surreycricket.com looks back at some of the most memorable moments since that first game…

13 July 1938
Surrey v Hampshire, Surrey won by an innings and
71 runs

Surrey won the toss and elected to bat first in the side’s first Championship fixture at Woodbridge Road. Edward W. Whitfield racked up 138 on a decent batting wicket to lead the home side to 433, before restricting the visitors to 218 in reply. Unsurprisingly, Surrey enforced the follow on, and Hampshire we dismissed for just 144 (John F.
Parker with 4-52 and Robert J. Gregory with 3-34, the pick of the bowlers) as Monty Garland-Wells’ team eased to a comfortable win.

26 and 27 June 1946
Surrey v Hampshire Surrey won by 9 wickets

The first County Championship match to be held at the ground after the Second World War ended in another win over Hampshire. The visitors had a horrendous first innings, with five of their players departing for ducks as they slid to 17-5 and 48 all out. Alec Bedser and Alf Gover shared the bowling honours with five wickets apiece. Surrey fared notably better with Robert Gregory’s 82 at the top of the innings enabling his side to post 222. Hampshire put up a brave fight second time around, with Gerry Hill posting an excellent century, but it was merely delaying the inevitable as Surrey cantered home, chasing their total of 69 for the loss of just one wicket.

3-5 June 1967
Surrey v Leicestershire Surrey won by 10 wickets

Leicestershire won the toss and chose to field, a fatal error in a match that the Midlands side lost convincingly. Having posted 252, thanks to 90 from Stewart Storey, Surrey set about ripping through Leicestershire’s top order. The visitors were dismissed for 93, with Pat Pocock’s 4-20 the star turn. Following on, Leicestershire were able to reach 186 second time around to force the game into a fourth innings, but a target of 28 was little more than a formality for openers John Edrich and Michael Edwards, as Surrey enjoyed another successful week at Woodbridge Road.

29-31 August 1973
Surrey v Northamptonshire Surrey won by an innings
and 3 runs

A one-sided encounter saw Surrey post what appeared to be a modest 259. However, in answer to Surrey’s first innings total, Northants crumbled to 64 all out with only three batsmen reaching double figures, and Robin Jackman following up his 48 with the bat with a devastating 6-25 with the ball. Following on, the visitors rallied to put 192 on the board, but Colin Milburn’s half-century was not enough to prevent an innings defeat for the visitors.

20-24 July 1995
Surrey v Nottinghamshire Surrey won by 171 runs

Having won the toss and chosen to field, Notts restricted to Surrey to 239 with only Graham Thorpe and Ali Brown passing fifty. Joey Benjamin (5-53) struck early on in Notts’ reply to leave the visitors reeling on 38-3, but half-centuries from New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns and ‘keeper Wayne Noon, and a useful knock of 33 from bowler Jim Hindson led the visitors to 324. On an excellent batting wicket, Surrey made no mistake second time around with Darren Bicknell batting through the innings for a superb 228 and Graham Thorpe collecting his second fifty of the match as Surrey posted 528. Faced with a daunting fourth innings target of 444, Nottinghamshire showed character
to take the fight to the Surrey bowlers, but despite useful contributions from the middle-order, four wickets for left arm spinner Richard Nowell ensured Surrey’s margin of victory was ultimately a comfortable one.

19-21 July 2000
Surrey v Leicestershire Surrey won by 10 wickets

Martin Bicknell was destructive at his destructive best, recording match figures of 16-119 in a one-man master class at Woodbridge road seven years ago. However, despite Bicknell’s seven wickets in the first innings, Leicestershire reached 318 and then proceeded to dismiss Surrey for 288 to gain a slender advantage at the halfway
stage. Determined not to let his efforts go to waste, however, Bicknell fired himself up once more to claim a further nine wickets at the second attempt. The visitors were bundled out for just 87, and Mark Butcher and Ian Ward did the necessary with the bat.

Click here for more information about this year's festival that begins on Wednesday 25 July.

Add to Del.icio.us Digg it share on Facebook (What is this?)

• Get the Short Sleeve Top, Navy