In an ironic twist, the next round of championship games, following on from the first Test, have prompted the England team management to show great kindness to the counties which have contracted England players. Alex Tudor in particular has been given a rest, although the others were able to put their feet up for most of the last three days. The batsmen were all able to get some practice against left arm quick medium bowling, a particular boon for Stewart, Butcher and Thorpe, who welcome Somerset and left arm seamer Matthew Bulbeck to the Oval.

Given the easy pace of days four and five at Lord's, and the lack of recent practice evident in the side's performance in the first three days of the Test, it makes perfect sense that the contracted players will also be free for this round. It would, after all, be a shame if the series were to be lost because the Sri Lankans have had more practice in English conditions than their hosts this summer.

Frizzell County Championship Division One 
                          P   W  L  D  Bat Bowl  Deduct Points
Surrey                    3   3  0  0  11   9    0.25   55.75
Leicestershire            4   2  1  1  15  11    1.00   53.00
Lancashire                4   2  1  1  11  12    0.00   51.00
Hampshire                 4   1  1  2  13  11    0.00   44.00
Somerset                  3   1  0  2  11   8    0.00   39.00
Kent                      3   1  1  1  10   7    0.00   33.00
Sussex                    3   0  1  2  11   8    0.00   27.00
Warwickshire              3   0  2  1   5   7    0.00   16.00
Yorkshire                 3   0  3  0   2   9    0.00   11.00

Surrey v Somerset, Kennington Oval (24th - 27th May)

Viewed from The Oval, the table has a rosy glow. Since the round three dispatch of Lancashire, Martin Bicknell has returned to form with five for 26 and Ali Brown has delivered a trademark 40-ball half century. The entire top order took advantage of the university match at Fenners, and the Lord's Test, to occupy the crease after a feeble first innings effort against a keen and accurate Lancashire attack.

In recent years home advantage has been key in this fixture, with Somerset winning well in `98 and having the better of rain-affected draws in 2000 and 2001. But their hosts have dropped just a single point out of 60 in the last three Oval meetings.

Surrey's Ian Salisbury has secured 33 wickets against the visitors in the past four seasons, and he also welcomes back his spin twin Saqlain for this fixture. The runs have been spread around too, with 11 Surrey players posting first-class fifties so far, and six with centuries. With a full cast to choose from and 20 wickets a game so far in the course of their three convincing wins, Surrey will be looking to pull even further ahead in the early stages of the title race.

For Somerset Cox and Bowler are once again the core of a batting side that also features wicket-keeper Rob Turner and hard-hitting spinning all-rounders Keith Dutch and Ian Blackwell. The availability of Andy Caddick, who enjoys bowling at the Oval, may be crucial to their chances, especially if Richard Johnson's hamstring still rules him out, in what seems likely to be an uphill struggle for the Cidermen.

Either Surrey's 100% record or Somerset's undefeated status will be lost in this contest between the two highest-placed sides, who each have just three games under their belts. In recent seasons even one-sided games between the two have provided captivating cricket, and with both teams loaded with internationals, veterans and up-and-coming prospects, this should be no exception.

Sussex v Leicestershire, Horsham (24th – 27th May)

Sussex are likely to be without the exceptional form of their captain and leading batsman Chris Adams, who was injured in training for their B&H quarter-final defeat, Adams' 466 runs, with three centuries in three games have been the highlight of their season so far. His supporting cast has been on song too though, with Michael Yardy and overseas player Murray Goodwin scoring well, backed up lower down the order by the likes of Robin Martin-Jenkins. They score their runs at a fair rate too.

The South coast team, one of three sides yet to record a victory, will be hoping that the cloudy conditions forecast for this weekend will help their seam attack improve its penetration and take 20 wickets for the first time this season. The first two years of the two-division championship have shown that the key to success in the top flight is the ability to bowl sides out twice, and only Jason Lewry and James Kirtley have so far achieved strike rates sufficient to the task.

Leicestershire have weathered the extraordinary exodus at the end of last season amazingly well, recording two wins in four games and losing narrowly in their nail-biting season opener against Lancashire. They have outshone both the other promoted sides by significant margins already.

Darren Stevens, in his sixth year as a first-class cricketer, has scored just 1711 from 66 innings, but 395 from six this season has delighted the county's fans as their unexpected star turn, showing once again the ability of the club's highly-rated Jack Birkenshaw to spot and develop talent. The rest of the batting has been strong too, and Leicestershire have the highest batting points average in the division, with 15 out of a possible 20.

The bowling is lead by the vastly experienced Test veteran Phil DeFreitas, who has had excellent and unexpected support from Darren Maddy, whose 15 wickets continue the late blooming he started last season. But Devon Malcolm has yet to produce one of the spectacular wicket-hauls that have characterised his seemingly unending first-class career.

Weather permitting, this looks likely to be a high scoring encounter, but it remains to be seen whether either side can force a win.

Yorkshire v Hampshire, Leeds (24th – 27th May)

With the wheels hanging off the creaking Yorkshire bandwagon, out of the B&H and last in Division One, this match against promoted Hampshire approaches the status of a must-win contest. Yorkshire come into this game after five straight championship defeats (fortunately just three this season) since claiming the 2001 title, this includes two innings defeats by championship leaders and arch-rivals Surrey.

The champions at least come into this game with their captain, overseas player and batting mainstay Darren Lehmann showing some of the form that brought the championship to Headingley for the first time since 1968. The return of their Test players also gives a fillip to their chances, especially given the Test century by their own Pennine-hopping run machine Michael Vaughan. So far they have raised a paltry two batting points while seven of their rivals have already reached double figures. The good news is that the batsmen put up a fight in their game against Somerset and produced some runs, but they have still only mustered one century in six innings, from Craig White, and no batsman has passed the 200-run mark for the campaign.

Their bowling too has failed to prosper in the usual fashion - the only five wicket haul so far being the inimitable Steve Kirby's 5-129 achieved while Surrey were peppering the boundary boards. Sidebottom and Hoggard have disappointed so far, but both are hard-working young men with real talent who will surely improve as the season goes on. Given targets to bowl at their seam attack, all-conquering last year, should prosper again.

Hampshire bring the best record of any of the promoted teams into this game, and John Crawley returns from international duty to strengthen their batting, which has benefited from improvements by Shaun Udal and the arrival of South African wicket-keeper Nick Pothas, as well as the contributions of overseas player Neil Johnson and captain Robin Smith.

Bowling success has been headed by Dimitri Mascarenhas, who spearheaded their home victory against Kent, and Chris Tremlett, with neither of their internationals, Alan Mullally or Udal, at their best yet.

Despite some batting success, Hampshire have been forced to follow on twice and their bowling has been taken for huge first innings totals in three of four matches. The contest between their varied bowling and Yorkshire's erratic batsmen is set to be one of the most interesting of this round of matches.

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