Mark Ramprakash dropped by Surrey after poor start to county season

Surrey have omitted Mark Ramprakash from their squad for Wednesday's County Championship fixture against Somerset after the former England batsman's miserable start to the season. Ramprakash suffered the third pair of his long career in Surrey's last game against Worcestershire last week, with the additional unwanted distinction of both dismissals coming in the same day. That left the 42-year-old with 62 runs from eight Championship innings this season, and Surrey's director of cricket, Chris Adams, has made the "difficult" decision to omit the oldest player on the county circuit. "We have not selected Mark Ramprakash for the game against Somerset which was a very difficult decision to make," Adams said. "Mark has had a tough start to the season and has not made the impact with the bat that he would have wanted to. "But you do not score the amount of runs that Mark has without knowing your own game and I know he will work hard to find his form again. The challenge now for Mark is to push hard to regain his place for the remainder of the season." Surrey will therefore make at least two changes to their batting lineup, with Kevin Pietersen back on England duty after a rare county appearance at Worcester. Jason Roy and Chris Jordan are likely to come into the side, although Surrey also have the seamers Jade Dernbach and Stuart Meaker available again after they played for the England Lions last week.