Surrey head to the south coast to face Hampshire in their final match of the 2025 season.
The Three Feathers go into the final match week in second place of Division One, 14 points behind leaders Nottinghamshire.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH PLAY?
The match will be broadcast live on Hampshire’s YouTube channel. A link will be available on the Kia Oval Match Centre and the Club’s social media channels. Video highlights and a written match report will be available at the end of each day of play, with clips and updates available on the Club’s social media channels.
SURREY SQUAD
Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar comes into the squad for this week’s match. 17-year-old Academy all-rounder Ralphie Albert is named in a County Championship squad for the first time.
ECB centrally contracted players Gus Atkinson, Ollie Pope, Jamie Smith, Sam Curran, and Will Jacks are all unavailable.
Cam Steel remains sidelined with an ankle injury. Jordan Clark once again misses out due to illness.
LAST TIME OUT VS HAMPSHIRE
Earlier this summer, Surrey and Hampshire played out a draw in the second round of matches. Dom Sibley hit the first century of an outstanding summer as Surrey scored 253 in the first innings. Dan Worrall and Jordan Clark took three wickets apiece as Hampshire were then rolled for 219.
Sibley (105) smashed his second century of the match as Surrey piled on 342. Ollie Pope (65) and Jamie Smith (84) contributed to set Hampshire the task of chasing 376 in just over a day. Surrey reduced Hants to 30/3 late on the third day, before a rearguard effort from Nick Gubbins (117) and Toby Albert (78*) took Hampshire close to the target before a rain shower forced handshakes with Hants 300/5.
HAMPSHIRE
The south coast county sit in eighth place, just two points above the relegation zone heading into the final round of fixtures.
Previewed by Alex Smith – ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay
Captain: Ben Brown
Head Coach: Adi Birrell
2025 highest run-scorer: Ben Brown (732)
2025 highest wicket-taker: Kyle Abbott (48)
Key winter moves: The winter has been tumultuous with James Vince moving to Dubai – after attacks on his family house last summer – while Mo Abbas hasn’t been retained as overseas. That is over 1,000 runs and 36 wickets from last season alone to recover. Experienced top-order batter Mark Stoneman has been added to somewhat fill the Vince void, while a battery of fast bowlers will replace Abbas. Sonny Baker, who has arrived from Somerset, is one of them.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: The fastest of fast bowling attacks. Abbas’ exit frees up space for some of the quickest young talent on the circuit. Baker, John Turner, Scott Currie, Brad Wheal and Eddie Jack can all bowl in the vicinity of 90mph. Kyle Abbott will once again lead the attack, with the experienced heads of Keith Barker and James Fuller helping to oversee the crop of wunderkinder.
Player to watch: Tom Prest will soften the blow of Vince’s migration. He ticks the batting aesthetic, quick-scoring and slip fielding boxes, and most importantly the run scoring. Prest is quite simply a Vince clone with 24 rather than 14 on his back. Three centuries last year at an average of just over 48 suggest he could not only get out of Vince’s shadow in 2025, but eclipse it.
Final thought: Hampshire have finished in the top three in each of the past three seasons, with 2024’s second-place finish their highest since 2005. One further step shouldn’t be that big, and yet without Vince it feels massive. Ben Brown is now captain, with the likes of Nick Gubbins and the increasingly impressive Liam Dawson crucial in filling the leadership and batting vacuum. Indian-based GMR Group took over Hampshire over the winter – making them the first overseas-owned county – although little is expected to change off the field in 2025.
