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Test of Surrey's reserves

Surrey, in spite of a trophy-less 1998, can take solace from the fact they came as close as at any time in the last couple of decades to achieving their holy grail, the championship title, last secured in 1971.

Victory over Leicestershire in the final game would have made them champions, and it was no mean feat to have headed the table for three months last summer without so many key players.

Absenteeism looms even more discouragingly over the club this year with Alec Stewart, Graham Thorpe and Adam Hollioake probably unavailable until the second half of June.

With Test calls likely to follow for Mark Butcher and Alex Tudor, it was imperative to strengthen a staff stretched so thin last summer that the second-team coach, Alan Butcher, was called up for a championship match in August.

The reluctance to reconfirm Saqlain Mushtaq as overseas player is a direct result of the county's insistence that the Pakistan Board guarantee his availability for the whole of the season, after the World Cup.

His September summons for the Sahara Cup, which ruled him out of the Leicestershire match, might have cost Surrey the championship. Without the Pakistan Board's pledge, the county might consider re-engaging Brendon Julian.

Also welcomed back is Darren Bicknell, who did not play a single championship game last season owing to a serious back injury. Now looking as fit as he has ever done, he will be aiming to resume his opening partnership with Mark Butcher.

Even without their heavyweight England one-day trio, Surrey's middle order, led by Alistair Brown (1,035 championship runs in 1998 at 49), hardly looks under-powered. Nadeem Shahid, Ian Ward and Jason Ratcliffe totalled 1,661 championship runs between them last year.

The pace bowling is still led by Martin Bicknell, who was an ever-present last year when he took 65 championship wickets at 20 apiece. Bicknell, once so injury-prone, has missed only three championship games in the last three seasons. Tudor, by contrast, played only 10 games last summer, partly because of Surrey's wise policy of not over-bowling him.

The new arrivals include another Butcher, Gary, who could set a record if he becomes the third member of his family to play for the same county within 12 months. Still only 24, having made his Glamorgan debut at 19, Butcher offers all-round options, as does the former Yorkshire off-spinner, Gareth Batty.

Completing the new intake are Ian Bishop, a tall outswing bowler once on the Somerset staff, Gordon Greenidge's son Carl, who played an Axa League game last year, and Kevin Barratt, a left-handed batsman from Devon.

Team Details & First-Class fixtures

Staff: R M Amin, K A O Barratt, G Batty, J N Batty, M A V Bell, J Benjamin, D J Bicknell, M P Bicknell, I E Bishop, A D Brown, G P Butcher, M A Butcher, C Greenidge, A J Hollioake (capt), B C Hollioake, J A Knott, M W Patterson, J D Ratcliffe, I D K Salisbury, Saqlain Mushtaq, N Shahid, A J Stewart, G P Thorpe, A J Tudor, I J Ward.

New players: K Barrett, G Batty, I E Bishop, G P Butcher (from Glamorgan), C Greenidge.

Released: A Patterson.

Beneficiary: DJ Bicknell

1998 Record

Championship: 5th (W10, L5, D2)
Axa League: 18th
NatWest Trophy: 2nd round
B & H Cup: Semi-final

First-class fixtures

April:
Tues 13 Gloucestershire (Oval). Tues 20 Worcestershire (Worcester). Wed 28 Northamptonshire (Northampton).

May:
Fri 14 Essex (Oval). Wed 26 Somerset (Oval).

June:
Wed 2 Kent (Tunbridge Wells). Wed 9 Leicestershire (Leicester). Tues 15 Lancashire (Oval). Wed 30 Durham (Oval).

July:
Wed 14 Hampshire (Guildford). Wed 21 Warwickshire (Edgbaston).

Aug:
4 Glamorgan (Oval). Wed 18 Sussex (Hove). Tues 24 Derbyshire (Derby).

Sept:
Wed 1 Nottinghamshire (Oval). Thurs 9 Middlesex (Lord's). Wed 15 Yorkshire (Oval).