By Mark Church BBC London 94.9 Surrey commentator

Butcher's knee problem has kept him out since June last year

Surrey captain Mark Butcher will miss the start of the new season because of his persistent knee injury.

Butcher, 36, missed the second half of the last campaign due to the problem.

Surrey manager Chris Adams told BBC London 94.9: "He is very likely not to figure in the first game, maybe the first two games of the season.

"That's an ongoing target for him, his progress has been exceptional. He has worked very hard and is looking stronger by the day."

Surrey open the new season with a home fixture against Gloucestershire on 15 April, and Adams says he now has a difficult decision to make as to who should replace Butcher as skipper.

Adams added: "I think we've got to be realistic, he's not going to be there on the 15th and in that case we've got to make sure that tactically we've got people to step in and deliver in that role.

"I've identified two people, Usman (Afzaal) and Michael Brown, two very different characters. What I'm hoping is that they will be able to work together in some capacity over the next week.

"They'll both get opportunities to lead before we make that decision ahead of the 15th, but I've been impressed with both of them."

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