Surrey return to red ball action on Thursday as table-toppers Nottinghamshire visit the Kia Oval for the Festival of Red Ball Cricket ’26
With six matches left to play, it’s all to play for in Division One. 25 points separate Notts at the top and Surrey in seventh.
FESTIVAL OF RED BALL CRICKET
This weekend’s fixture with Nottinghamshire is the Kia Oval’s Festival of Red Ball Cricket ’26, with plenty of activations taking place across the match. The ever-popular Beer and Real Ale festival will once again take place on the Pavilion Forecourt across Days 1-3. The Club are also encouraging supporters to take up our Work From Oval spaces on the first two days of the match. This week’s Work From Oval space will be Roof Terrace of the JM Finn Stand for non-members, and in the Pavilion for members. Saturday is Family Day, with lots of family-friendly activities taking place in the Jardine Suite under the JM Finn Stand.
Members can enjoy exclusive Q&As with Ali Brown (Day 1), David Smith (Day 2) and Zaheer Abbas (Day 3).
HOW CAN I KEEP UP WITH PLAY?
The match will be broadcast live on Surrey’s YouTube channel. A link will be placed on the Kia Oval Match Centre. Surrey’s social media channels will post regular updates throughout the match. A written match report, video highlights and the Oval & Out podcast will be available at the end of each day.
SURREY SQUAD
Ollie Pope and Matthew Fisher have been released from the England Test squad and are available for selection. Gus Atkinson, Jamie Smith and Dan Lawrence are playing for England against Pakistan at Headingley.
Surrey have been bolstered with the overseas signing of all-rounder Mahipal Lomror, as well as the leg spin of Rahul Chahar.
Neither Sam Curran nor Will Jacks are in Surrey’s squad for today’s resumption of the Rothesay County Championship. Sam Curran has been assessed for a groin injury and will undergo surgery on Friday. He will not be available for the remainder of the home season. Will Jacks is currently recovering having had a successful operation to remove his appendix. We will monitor his recovery and assess availability ahead of the Sri Lanka series.
LAST TIME OUT VS NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Surrey and Nottinghamshire went head-to-head in a fierce battle in May at Trent Bridge. Both teams were full of quality, with 14 of the 23 players used in the match having played international cricket.
Dan Worrall, playing his first match of the season, took 6/73 on the first day. Joe Clarke (129) and Jack Haynes (82) offered firm resistance as Notts amassed 415 on a flat wicket.
Surrey replied with 449, with Dan Lawrence leading the way with 104. Dom Sibley (77), Adam Thomas (46) and Jordan Clark (54) offered valuable contributions as Surrey went into the third innings in the lead. Gus Atkinson was struck on the head while batting. Reece Topley replaced him as a concussion replacement.
Despite the best efforts of the Surrey attack on an extremely flat pitch, Ben Duckett hit 203 not out before both teams shook hands with Notts 414/4dec.
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE
Previewed by Jon Culley, ECB Reporters Network, supported by Rothesay
Captain: Haseeb Hameed
Head coach: Peter Moores
2025 finish: 1st
2026 leading run-scorer: Joe Clarke (815)
2026 leading wicket-taker: Liam Patterson-White (32)
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.
