Surrey face relegation scrap

The Oval this season is not a happy place. As recently as 2002, Surrey were being spoken of as domestic cricket's Manchester United - winning the trophies and attracting the best players. But two years later and many of the big names have moved on, the finances are tight, and now the unpalatable reality of possible relegation to the Championship's second division beckons.

At the weekend Surrey became the first side to lose to relegation favourites Northamptonshire, a result which leaves them third from bottom, with just one win all summer. They occupy the same position in the Sunday League, and their NatWest Trophy ambitions disappeared at the first hurdle when they were humiliated by Ireland. Only continuing success in Twenty20, where they are again in the this weekend's finals, offers any solace.

Steve Rixon, who took over as coach at the start of the season after the less than harmonious departure of Keith Medlycott, admitted that he faces a challenge but remained optimistic about the future. "I am doing things behind the scenes and I have no qualms that it will come together," he said. "If you sit there and start to worry about that it will occupy all your thoughts and time, and you will not get your job done."

Rixon refused to dwell on the current predicament, preferring to highlight that the club are building for the future. "If we are going to be a force in years to come we are going to have to do it with the kids coming through," he admitted. "The likes of Rikki Clarke and Scott Newman are the ones we must look to, because the Hollioakes and Ramprakashes will not always be around."

Surrey's late-season scrap was to have been boosted by the short-term signing of Brett Lee, but that has been scuppered by his surprise inclusion in Australia's Champions Trophy squad.

A small consolation was the news that Alex Tudor was preparing to return from injury to play his first Championship game in a year.