County Championship preview: Surrey

2011 in a nutshell A late charge to secure promotion back to Division One, along with Middlesex, plus the CB40 triumph, made it a season to savour for the Oval club How they finished County Championship second in Division Two CB40 Winners Friends Life t20 fourth in South Group What they'll be playing in this season LV County Championship Division One, CB40 Group B, Friends Life t20 South Group Captain Rory Hamilton-Brown Coach/head of cricket Chris Adams Ins Jon Lewis (Gloucestershire) Outs Michael Brown (retired), Chris Schofield (released), Simon King (released) Overseas players Murali Kartik (Ind), Jacques Rudolph (SA), Dirk Nannes (Aus) - t20 Key player Stuart Meaker, Jade Dernbach, Steve Davies and Chris Tremlett, when available, all have points to prove, and should relish the step up to the top flight – as will Mark Ramprakash. Kartik could also prove a handy signing after Somerset, where he played last season, dithered How will they get on this season? Talk of Surrey being title-contenders is premature given that they have won only 13 of their last 64 Championship matches. But their squad is a rich mix of young players and old pros, and should do well. Jon Lewis has signed from Gloucestershire, and joins Dernbach, Meaker, and Tremlett in the strongest fast-bowling attack on the circuit. The batting is swashbuckling but a little unreliable, especially given that Mark Ramprakash's form finally started to fall away last year. Jacques Rudolph and Murali Kartik are an excellent pair of signings