Surrey head up the M1 to face last season’s champions Nottinghamshire in a mouth-watering clash between the sides who currently occupy the top two in Division One of the Rothesay County Championship.
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH PLAY?
The match will be broadcast live on the Nottinghamshire YouTube channel, with a link placed on the Kia Oval Match Centre and Club’s social media channels. Video highlights and a written match will be available at the end of each day of play. Regular video clips and match updates will be available on the Club’s social media channels.
SQUAD NEWS
Dan Worrall is part of a squad for the first time this season. He is also joined by Gus Atkinson.
James Taylor has gone on loan to Kent for 14 days and will be available for their match against Gloucestershire this weekend and against Durham at Beckenham.
Ben Foakes will spend an extended period on the sidelines after picking up a soft tissue injury in the match against Essex. Tom Lawes remains sidelined with a soft tissue injury picked up in the same game.
LAST TIME OUT
Surrey got their first win of the 2026 campaign with a thrilling victory over Sussex at the Kia Oval.
After winning the toss, Jordan Clark took five wickets as Surrey reduced Sussex to 92/7, before some lower runs from Hudson-Prentice (53), Carson (105) and captain Robinson (100*) dragged Sussex to 358/9 declared.
Surrey responded in classic fashion, with Burns (77) and Sibley (187) putting on 148 for the first wicket, with Patel adding 67 in his first match of the season. First-class debutant Adam Thomas scored 120, putting on 161 runs for the eight wicket with Sean Abbott (76) as Surrey piled on 622.
Matt Fisher struck twice in the first over, as Surrey reduced Sussex to 76/4 at stumps on the third day. Sussex rallied as Charlie Tear added 61 to be bowled out for 277, leaving Surrey to chase 14 runs for victory, which they achieved by eight wickets.
Go behind-the-scenes with E3 S3 of Second Glance.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Previewed by Jon Culley, ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
Captain: Haseeb Hameed
Head coach: Peter Moores
2025 finish: 1st
2025 leading run-scorer: Haseeb Hameed (1,258)
2025 leading wicket-taker: Brett Hutton (38)
Key winter moves: The loss of Pakistan seamer Mohammad Abbas to Derbyshire was an unexpected blow. ln his place, Mohammad Ali, another experienced Pakistan quick, is set to play in the last six Rothesay County Championship rounds; Australian seamer Fergus O’Neill, who took 21 wickets in four appearances at the start of 2025, could play in the first eight. The impressive South African wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne returns and the early availability of England’s Ben Duckett after cancelling his IPL deal is a real boost.
What we’re looking forward to seeing: The battle to be the county’s No 1 spinner. After his sensational end to the 2024 season, teenage off-spinner Farhan Ahmed was in pole position last April before Liam Patterson-White, the left-armer whose career had lost direction a little, was handed a recall and subsequently made himself impossible to leave out. Leg-spinner Calvin Harrison has moved to Northamptonshire but another left-armer, Joe Pocklington, who impressed in the Metro Bank One Day Cup, adds to the competition.
Aiming to catch the Test selectors’ eye: Haseeb Hameed has had a fragmented international career so far but after 2,349 first-class runs at 58.72 over the last two seasons, including seven centuries, three of them doubles, two carrying his bat, he’s surely worth another look. A pretty good player when last selected, he remains technically sound but scores at a markedly quicker tempo.
Final thought: After two seasons nearer the bottom of the Division One table than the top, Nottinghamshire’s dethroning of Surrey still seemed a slightly fanciful notion until it happened, thanks to Josh Tongue spearheading a brilliant win at the Kia Oval in the penultimate round. Tongue may not be around often this year and it would be a good moment for Dillon Pennington to realise his full potential. Defending their title will not be easy, but confidence is high.
