Surrey opt for youth

Nottinghamshire may include Matt Wood in their line-up

Surrey have named a 13-man squad for their last LV County Championship game of the season against Nottinghamshire at the Brit Oval.

Led by the experienced Mark Ramprakash, it has a youthful look to it, with relegation almost inevitable.

Chris Murtagh is set to open the batting alongside Scott Newman after impressing in the NatWest Pro40 match against Leicestershire at the weekend.

There are also places for Lee Hodgson, England Under-19 seamer Stuart Meaker and spinner Simon King, all of whom are yet to make their championship debuts for the club.

Shoaib Akhtar is included in the squad again, after an inauspicious match against Hampshire last week, with Alex Tudor also being given another chance to stake a claim.

Matt Wood could be included in the Nottinghamshire team at the Brit Oval after being included in the 12-man squad.

Wood could force is way into the opening partnership or bat in the middle order unless they decide to retain the four-pronged pace attack of Mark Ealham, Andre Adams, Darren Pattinson and Charlie Shreck.

“We might go with four seam bowlers or include Matt to add depth to our batting but we’ll make a late call on that after we’ve had a chance to look at the conditions,” coach Mick Newell said.

“If we are going to beat Surrey then we have to get Mark Ramprakash out twice on a good pitch which is never an easy task. Surrey have more championship batting points than any other side and we know how capable they are of posting big scores.”

Lying in fourth position with a game in hand on first-placed Hampshire, Notts will also keep an eye on second-placed Somerset who begin at Yorkshire on Wednesday and third-placed Durham who host Sussex.

“It’s more than likely that the winner will come from the current top four but there are one or two other teams who can join the race if they win this week,” Newell added.