Surrey and Gloucestershire take centre stage at Lord's on Saturday for this season's first domestic final aiming to shrug off the disappointment of defeat in this week's C&G Trophy.

Surrey went down by six wickets at Headingley while Gloucestershire lost by three runs in a tense finish against Durham, the West Country side's first defeat in the knockout stage of a cup competition in three years.

Gloucestershire's glorious run had stretched back to July 8, 1998, when Surrey beat them in a NatWest Trophy second round match.

Since then Gloucestershire have won four successive Lord's finals and will be aiming to make it five in a row in the Benson & Hedges Cup showdown on Saturday.

But despite their formidable one-day record, Gloucestershire will probably go into the game as underdogs against the all-star Surrey outfit. When comparing the squads, it all comes down to hard cash, as far as Gloucestershire coach John Bracewell is concerned.

He said: "There was an article about Darren Gough thinking of transferring to Surrey. They've got the budget. We haven't got the budget to even contemplate negotiating with Darren Gough or Mark Ramprakash.

"Economically the final on Saturday will be a bit like Manchester United playing Yeovil."

But Bracewell is confident that once again Gloucestershire can defy the odds and come out on top. "We have always been the underdogs, haven't we. People have been very reluctant to place a bet on us in all these finals.

"The longer it goes on the more difficult it becomes to place a bet on the side because history says this (success) can't continue for final after final.

"But you shouldn't mark everything on history. All that counts is what is going to happen on the day. People said you couldn't beat the four-minute barrier but it happened and then the floodgates opened.

"Surrey have an excellent side but if there is a weakness in their line-up, it's their ability to play swing bowling."

Surrey skipper Adam Hollioake felt that neither side would be adversely affected by their midweek defeats. "I do not think that really comes into it come Saturday. We will be playing in front of a packed crowd and we both know all about winning," he said.

Surrey wicket-keeper Alec Stewart said the side had to be on top of their game if they were to emerge victorious on Saturday.

He said: "Gloucestershire are a very fine one-day side. They've had the experience of playing in the last four finals, winning them all, and they've set the benchmark in English domestic one-day cricket.

"We played badly at Headingley – we know we can play better, and we're looking to play better on Saturday because once you get to the final the important thing is to win it.

"We've got a good chance - they're obviously favourites with their previous success, but we've got a lot of very talented individuals and we've got to make sure we do the basic things right.

"It doesn't count for much that Gloucestershire have finally lost a one-day knockout match. What matters is how we play. We've done very well to get to the final, and the only thing that matters on Saturday is that we play well and to our full potential."

His colleague, paceman Martin Bicknell, is delighted to have reached the final after suffering a number of semi-final defeats. He said: "I'd hate to think how many semi-finals I've lost with Surrey.

"It's well into double figures and the win over Notts in the semi-finals was only the third I'd enjoyed at that stage of a competition.

"Things have seemed to conspire against us in semi-finals but you take the rough with the smooth and these things even themselves out in time.

"Now we are up against the one-day kings and it's a chance to test ourselves against them. We fancy our chances. If we play like we did in the semi-final, I think we'll be hard to stop."

Both teams have their injury problems. Surrey's Graham Thorpe is back training after his calf injury but has ruled himself out of the game while Alex Tudor has a side strain which kept him out of the Yorkshire match.

Gloucestershire pace bowler Jon Lewis is out with a possible stress fracture and opening batsman Tim Hancock is sidelined with a broken bone in his right hand.

Squads:

Gloucestershire: Hewson, Barnett, Windows, Harvey, Taylor, Snape, Russell, Alleyne, Ball, Cawdron, Averis, Hardinges, Cunliffe.

Surrey: Butcher, Ward, Ramprakash, Stewart, Brown, A. Hollioake, B. Hollioake, Bicknell, Saqlain Mushtaq, Murtagh, Giddins, Tudor, Salisbury.

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