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Surrey go into this evening’s clash with Middlesex confident in the knowledge that they have the wood on their north London rivals.

Since Twenty20 cricket began in 2003, Surrey have not lost to Middlesex and Alan Butcher’s men will be desperately keen to keep this record in tact.

A big crowd is expected to turn out this evening for the 5.30pm start at the home of cricket.

Surrey, former winners in 2003 and finalists in 2004, will be buoyed by the return of Azhar Mahmood, who has missed the last few matches with an ankle problem. The Pakistani international will be a huge boost for the side, who has missed his extra pace with the ball and heavy hitting with the bat.

World record holder for most wickets in an innings for an English domestic Twenty20 match, Tim Murtagh has also been included in the Surrey 13. Last year in the corresponding fixture, the 24 year old snared the miraculous figures of 6-24 from four overs to help Surrey come away with the win.

The Surrey 13 is; Jonathan Batty (wicket-keeper), James Benning, Mark Butcher, Mark Ramprakash, Ali Brown, Rikki Clarke, Azhar Mahmood, Ian Salisbury, Tim Murtagh, Nayan Doshi, Jade Dernbach, Stewart Walters and Scott Newman.

Meanwhile, the Brit Oval is preparing for their first of four Surrey home matches beginning tomorrow with a match against the Kent Spitfires. For more information about Twenty20 at the Brit Oval, click this link.

Injury News

James Ormond, who has been troubled be a knee problem, will play in the second eleven trophy match against the MCC tomorrow at Vine Lane. It is likely that Ormond will feature for Surrey at some stage throughout the Twenty20 round matches if he comes through tomorrow’s game with no problems.

Mohammad Akram is unavailable for this evening’s match because of a hip flexor problem. The Pakistani pace bowler first noticed the injury in Surrey’s last Championship match with Glamorgan. At this stage it is not clear when he will be available again.

Neil Saker has tendonitis in his right bicep, which requires some rest for a couple of days. However, the injury is not serious and it is expected that he will be available for the Sussex match this Friday at Hove if required.

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On Sunday 25th June an audience of over 18000 witnessed a spectacular event as Sir Elton John played at The County Ground, Hove. Not only was it a success in front of show but also the behind-the-scenes running of the event.

This was a major project taken on by Sussex County Cricket Club, Marshall Arts, Brighton & Hove City Council and the Emergency Services and it was a massive achievement for all concerned.

Inspector Kevin Claxton of Sussex Police said, “We are very pleased that the Elton John concert was a huge success. Many  parties were involved and consulted, from Sir Elton’s management and the promoters, to the Cricket Club, various City Council departments, Stewarding and the emergency services. It is clear that all agencies worked excellently together, in planning and running the event. This resulted in an absolute minimum of disruptive behaviour, no arrests, and a first-class event for those attending. It demonstrates to us the value of successful multi-agency working in running top-rate events in the city, in a safe and crime-free way.”

A council spokesperson said: “The event went smoothly and was a great success .  The council received only very few number of noise-related complaints in comparison to the large number of people who enjoyed the evening.”

Barrie Marshall of Marshall Arts said, “Elton John is a superb artist of whom there are very few. He has attained an extraordinary level of achievement both musically and as an entertainer throughout his career.

“His performance yesterday at the County Ground gave a crowd of 18,000 the opportunity to experience this for themselves.

“As promoters we have been very privileged to have been able to promote Elton John at such a wonderful ground, whose staff, led by Ian Waring and Brian Jeffries, have worked tirelessly with us to make the show a success. We look forward to being able to bring more artists  of this calibre to Hove in the future.”

This concert is the first that Sussex CCC has ever staged and to have such a high profile performer as our inaugural guest artist was an ambitious move.  Having been so closely involved with the set-up, the event and break down we can see exactly what such an event entails.  For example:  there were over 150 workers on site for six days, nine kilometres of cabling was used and on the day itself 500 gallons of Pimms was consumed, 4000 punnets of strawberries eaten and over 1000 buckets of ice used.

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