The oldest rivalry cricket resumes this week as Surrey travel to Canterbury to face Kent in the Vitality County Championship
Rory Burns’ side will be looking to get their first victory of the 2024 season after drawing their opening fixtures against Lancashire and Somerset.
Play at Canterbury will get underway at 11:00am, with the Dukes ball being used.
The players will wear black armbands as a tribute to the passing of Raman Subba Row CBE and Derek Underwood.
SURREY SQUAD
Surrey name a 16-player squad for the trip to Kent.
Dan Worrall and Conor McKerr return to the squad following injury.
As England centrally contracted players, Gus Atkinson and Ollie Pope have been rested for this fixture by the ECB.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH THE GAME?
The game will be broadcast live on Kent Cricket’s YouTube channel – with a link being put into the Surrey Match Centre. A link to the broadcast will be available before the start of each day of play.
Surrey’s social media channels will provide live updates from The Kia Oval, with updates and clips posted throughout the day.
A written report with highlights and reaction from the play available at the end of each day.
A live text commentary section will be available on the Match Centre.
LAST TIME OUT
Last weekend Surrey drew with Somerset at The Kia Oval after a thrilling run chase on Monday evening.
Somerset fell from 196/1 to 285 all out as Cam Steel continued his fine form with the ball – taking 4/50. Dom Sibley scored his first hundred at The Kia Oval since returning as Surrey replied with 428. Rory Burns (75), Jamie Smith (51) and Ben Foakes added half-centuries.
Surrey restricted Somerset to 162/6 before Lewis Gregory (80), Kasey Aldridge (42) and Craig Overton (52) took Somerset to 351 while taking time out of the day. Somerset were eventually dismissed for 351 to give Surrey a chase of 209 in 19 overs.
As a show of intent from Rory Burns’ side – openers Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrance attacked from the off, getting the score to 90/0 before Jamie Smith was dismissed with the first ball of the eighth over. At the end of the 14th over, Surrey was 123/5 when the players shook hands.
Surrey took 14 points from the match.
KENT
Captain: Daniel Bell-Drummond
Head Coach: Matt Walker
2023 finish: Eighth (Division One)
2023 highest run-scorer: Ben Compton (735)
2023 highest wicket-taker: Wes Agar and Matt Quinn (both 21)
Over the winter, Daniel Bell-Drummond replaced Sam Billings as Kent’s Club Captain – although Billings will remain in charge of the Vitality Blast side.
Kent have been boosted by the recruitment of Matt Parkinson from Lancashire. The leg-spinner – with a Test appearance in recent memory – will add match-winning potential to their bowling attack. Wicketkeeper batter Jordan Cox swapped Kent for Essex over the winter.
LAST TIME OUT VS KENT
Surrey recorded a memorable victory at Canterbury in 2023, that saw the Three Feathers chase 501 in the fourth innings.
Jamie Smith, Dom Sibley and Ben Foakes scored centuries as Surrey chased the seemingly unimaginable target with relative ease on the fourth day to win by five wickets.
The run-chase was the eighth-highest first-class chase on record and second highest in County Championship history – with Middlesex chasing 502 runs to beat Nottinghamshire in 1925 remaining on top.
